Some online communities such as CSU's Interact will automatically be judged highly credible because of the reputation, honesty and expertise of its provider. Interact is an online reflection of CSU in the physical world. In addition, by directly addressing factors such as ease of use and risk (eg through password protection), Interact provides an online community in which high levels of trust are almost taken for granted.
In contrast, Facebook must work hard to develop trust in its users. It is not an integral part of an inherently trustworthy environment as Interact is, and so must pay careful attention to usability, sociability and sustainability design features.
The fact that it has a large and varied user base, compared to Interact, probably also means that there are many design challenges which undermine the development of trust. Interact, with its smaller, specialised, password protected community doesn’t face these challenges to the same extent.
For example, while Facebook has been very successful in its design of usability and sustainability features it falters in the area of risk. Privacy concerns are an ongoing major issue with Facebook (Criticism of Facebook, n.d.). These concerns are compounded by the wide variation in risk tolerance amongst the Facebook community. Apart from the privacy settings, which are not an obvious feature in Facebook, users are unrestricted in the amounts and detail of information they can reveal about themselves and about others. The feelings that some people may feel when using the site - vulnerability, lack of safety, cautiousness and negativity are the hallmarks of risk.
Reference:
Criticism of Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook#Privacy_concerns
In contrast, Facebook must work hard to develop trust in its users. It is not an integral part of an inherently trustworthy environment as Interact is, and so must pay careful attention to usability, sociability and sustainability design features.
The fact that it has a large and varied user base, compared to Interact, probably also means that there are many design challenges which undermine the development of trust. Interact, with its smaller, specialised, password protected community doesn’t face these challenges to the same extent.
For example, while Facebook has been very successful in its design of usability and sustainability features it falters in the area of risk. Privacy concerns are an ongoing major issue with Facebook (Criticism of Facebook, n.d.). These concerns are compounded by the wide variation in risk tolerance amongst the Facebook community. Apart from the privacy settings, which are not an obvious feature in Facebook, users are unrestricted in the amounts and detail of information they can reveal about themselves and about others. The feelings that some people may feel when using the site - vulnerability, lack of safety, cautiousness and negativity are the hallmarks of risk.
Reference:
Criticism of Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook#Privacy_concerns
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