Digital Communities Drive Trust in an Era of Fake News

A few years ago, when oil prices plummeted and the global market began to contract, Pink Petro created the first global digital community for women in energy.

During times of crisis, our need for community becomes profound.

Women and men were drawn to our mission to unite energy leaders around the world and bring an end to the gender gap in energy.

But Pink Petro quickly became more than just a platform to promote inclusion in energy. It became a trusted digital community, a resource for critical news and insights on the energy transition, tech disruptions, policy and workforce shifts happening to shape the next era of our industry. It’s become a place to create a culture that’s powering our story into the social age, where everyone everywhere is connected.

Throughout history, communities have played a vital role in disseminating news and information. You relied on those close to you to keep you up to date on everything you needed to know. It was a matter of survival, not just curiosity.

But the model has always been flawed.

Did you ever play the game of telephone in school? If you did, you saw how the same information could change dramatically as it was passed from person to person.

There are also those who would manipulate the process of news dissemination for personal gain.  That particular flaw has come to light recently, as the concept of community as a reliable news source has come under fire. The prevalence of “fake news” circulating on various social media platforms has created a justified lack of trust. And the increasing polarization of major news media has left us wondering about tainted stories and underlying agendas.

And this doesn’t mean communities are losing their outsized role in providing us with the news and information we want and need.  If anything, their power is growing.

In the world of energy, digital communities like Pink Petro are giving our industry a voice they’ve never had before. They are providing its people an opportunity to participate in that conversation and shape it.  At Pink Petro we believe it’s about promoting both genders with a focus on giving women a seat at the table, a voice on stage and online.  This gives the world outside the industry a chance to explore the opportunities energy has to offer.

We also believe that orchestrating a balanced energy conversation, one that promotes a mix of resources drives the very thing we stand for: inclusion.  Inclusion of people, genders, generations, nationalities, ideas, technologies, and

In an industry now in fierce competition for talent with industries we power like tech, finance and healthcare, this is critical.   It’s also critical as our industry faces more increased scrutiny for the years we’ve done very little to own our value and story publicly.

There’s a trick, though. The big social media networks have grossly underestimated the importance of trust in building community. That’s why we’ve made trust core to what we do. We know our members because they make Pink Petro what it is. If we don’t look out for them, we’re not doing our job. We connect people and give them a voice; but we also inform and educate.

That’s a big job — just like the old days, only with a lot more technology.

The insights and conversations at conferences are vital to the growth of the industry. But they don’t stop at events nor do they need to be closed to our industry.  They need to continue where consumers and the next generations are hungry for information: online and in trusted communities.

I hope you’ll join us online and on social media. The time is overdue. 

It’s time we own the story in the relationship and social era, drive ongoing insights, and articulate our value to society.