Who do you trust?

The issue of trust has been on my mind lately. For all the changes that the internet has wrought on our society, the basic question, "Who do you trust?" has not changed at all. We trust our friends, peers and family members. And research would suggest that those with a lot of "social clout," that is, people with hundreds of "friends,"  contacts, or followers from the (new) usual places like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or Twitter rank pretty low on the old trust-o-meter.

I am talking about trust strictly as it relates to comments and reviews you might seek out when you're heading out to the marketplace to buy a product or service.

It's refreshing to see an old world remnant like good ol' word of mouth still going strong in this digital age. Authenticity rules the day and consumers own brands today as never before.