The word "stranger" carries negative connotations in society, especially when associated with the Internet. Parents are lectured by authorities to monitor their children's use of chat rooms. E-mail filters remove millions of unwanted and sometimes grotesque advertisements from strangers looking to make a quick buck every day. People are told to be wary of other people on networking sites. Even in the physical world, strangers are subjected to a keener eye and skepticism from those around them. But if you meet a stranger in a setting not defined by 1's and 0's, at least you can pin a face on his identity, a sense of security that cannot be attained online. Aside from societal worries, how can the online stranger overcome his bad rap when the word "strange" is the root of his name, suggesting "weird" and "foreign"? Who exactly is this dark, obscure person we're told to stay away from?
[...] profits. The inclination of the players to watch each other for signs of trustworthiness can be seen as due diligence; they're trying to gather information on the other person to determine whether that person makes a good partner. Fortunately for me, I didn't need to read this study to figure out the importance of due diligence. One of my hobbies, one I've neglected lately due to college life, is film writing. Film writing is as much as a business activity as it is literary. [...]
[...] According to Steve Nielson, President and CEO of PartnerUp, “Entrepreneur's generally Kraynak 3 have very specific skill sets that they're looking for in a partner.” Without these complimentary and shared interests, the business relationship would be unable to thrive. Perhaps this is where strangers gain the upper hand against friends. Partners who are friends before the business started may carelessly overlook the abilities and skills of the other, each wanting mostly to work with a as opposed to a business partnership between strangers based on matching talent and qualifications. [...]
[...] I quickly backed out of the deal and I never heard from him again. My experience correlates perfectly with the results from the study. His true intentions were unclear, so I was unable to place trust in him. Strangers wishing to form online ventures must communicate this information in order to successfully bridge a business relationship. My story illustrates the importance of knowing your stranger to the point where he's not quite a stranger anymore. What I did is what can make online stranger-based businesses thrive and sometimes more enduring than friend-based ventures. [...]
[...] Kraynak 4 Of course not. He wouldn't even consider the thought. So this issue of trust brings up a question: how do online strangers trust each other to form a business together? In this venue, it seems on the surface that friends have the advantage. If they've known each other a long time, trust would have been built around the behavioral patterns they recognized in each other. When Tom recounts how his other friend, Bill, stayed out of trouble and never cheated on tests, he'd be inclined to place trust in him at the prospect of a business opportunity. [...]
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