№ 2 - 2001
Barsukova S.Yu.
Enforceable Trust in the World of Social Networks

To minimize social risk, man prefers to deal with those he trusts. This preconditions significance of networks as stable practices of social contacts. Finance, information, as well as political, cultural and other resources run along their routes within such networks. But the trust of the network world, far from being based on belief in contractor’s individual honesty, rests, instead, on the possibility for the net to regulate the conduct of its members enforcing their compliance with the norms adopted. The social network’s ability to control its members’ conduct turns out to form enforceable trust between them. Conditions of the formation of enforceable trust, its benefits and costs are discussed in the article.