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The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last
From the founder of Wikipedia, a sweeping reflection on the global crisis of credibility and knowledge, revealing “the rules of trust” that transformed Wikipedia from a scrappy experiment into a global utility used by billions of people—and how those rules can help others build things that last
“An important book . . . both hopeful and practical.”—Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
From the beginning, people predicted Wikipedia’s demise. Instead, this global experiment in sharing knowledge and expertise online has become part of the fabric of modern, connected life. Today, every month, people view Wikipedia 11 billion times—just in the English language. The Internet’s encyclopedia has become a global utility, like water or electricity, and we rarely pause to consider the extraordinary fact of its existence.
Long before it became the biggest collection of knowledge in the history of the world, Wikipedia had to overcome its greatest getting strangers on the Internet to trust each other. They had to trust that others would not be abusive or uncivil. They had to trust that others would not unfairly change or erase their contributions. They had to trust that people had good intentions.
Trust, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says, is a treasure. But it is not inanimate, like gold or gems. Trust is a living thing that can and must be cultivated. This book will show you how. And it will reveal how his organization, this one-time punchline, has become a global authority—in the same two decades when the public’s trust in everything else, from government to social media, has trended backwards.
Every community on earth depends on trust; it underpins our capacity to know things, and it is at an all-time low. Inspiring, approachable, and packed with candid lessons from the early days of Wikipedia, The Seven Rules of Trust is a guide to kickstarting a positive loop of accountability and creativity—and to building things that stand the test of time.
“An important book . . . both hopeful and practical.”—Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
From the beginning, people predicted Wikipedia’s demise. Instead, this global experiment in sharing knowledge and expertise online has become part of the fabric of modern, connected life. Today, every month, people view Wikipedia 11 billion times—just in the English language. The Internet’s encyclopedia has become a global utility, like water or electricity, and we rarely pause to consider the extraordinary fact of its existence.
Long before it became the biggest collection of knowledge in the history of the world, Wikipedia had to overcome its greatest getting strangers on the Internet to trust each other. They had to trust that others would not be abusive or uncivil. They had to trust that others would not unfairly change or erase their contributions. They had to trust that people had good intentions.
Trust, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says, is a treasure. But it is not inanimate, like gold or gems. Trust is a living thing that can and must be cultivated. This book will show you how. And it will reveal how his organization, this one-time punchline, has become a global authority—in the same two decades when the public’s trust in everything else, from government to social media, has trended backwards.
Every community on earth depends on trust; it underpins our capacity to know things, and it is at an all-time low. Inspiring, approachable, and packed with candid lessons from the early days of Wikipedia, The Seven Rules of Trust is a guide to kickstarting a positive loop of accountability and creativity—and to building things that stand the test of time.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2025
69 people are currently reading
1300 people want to read
About the author
Jimmy Wales
5 books16 followersJimmy Donal Wales, also known as Jimbo Wales, is an American Internet entrepreneur and former financial trader. Most notably, he co-founded Wikipedia, a nonprofit free encyclopedia, and Fandom (formerly Wikia), a for-profit wiki hosting service. He has also worked on Bomis, Nupedia, WikiTribune, and Trust Café (formerly WT Social).
Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Wales attended Randolph School and earned finance degrees from Auburn University and the University of Alabama. While in graduate school, he taught at two universities, but left before completing a PhD to work in finance, later becoming chief research officer at Chicago Options Associates.
In 1996, he co-founded Bomis, which funded the free peer-reviewed encyclopedia Nupedia (2000–2003). On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and others, he launched Wikipedia, which grew rapidly. Wales became its promoter and public face, though he has at times disputed Sanger's role, claiming sole founder status.
Wales has served on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees since its creation, holding its board-appointed "community founder" seat. He gives annual "State of the Wiki" addresses at Wikimania. For his role in creating Wikipedia, Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006.
Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Wales attended Randolph School and earned finance degrees from Auburn University and the University of Alabama. While in graduate school, he taught at two universities, but left before completing a PhD to work in finance, later becoming chief research officer at Chicago Options Associates.
In 1996, he co-founded Bomis, which funded the free peer-reviewed encyclopedia Nupedia (2000–2003). On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and others, he launched Wikipedia, which grew rapidly. Wales became its promoter and public face, though he has at times disputed Sanger's role, claiming sole founder status.
Wales has served on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees since its creation, holding its board-appointed "community founder" seat. He gives annual "State of the Wiki" addresses at Wikimania. For his role in creating Wikipedia, Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 11, 2025
Not shockingly a great book from the founder of a web site that literally changed how information flows in the world. There’s one part of me that worries that Wikipedia is from a bygone era of the internet, but he makes a strong case that I’m wrong.
By sticking to a proven set of principles, all which they are willing to change in the service of the encyclopedic mission, Wikipedia is leading with integrity by example. I generally see eye to eye with Wales on his practice of radical transparency, putting your money where your mouth is and giving people the benefit of the doubt.
I find it so interesting that the site logs all changes and conversations publicly. The IT nerd in me is fascinated by the complexity of that problem. I’m also just shocked that I have not seen those logs brought up in more news stories. I guess that fact that Wikipedia is so serious about facts, tone and kindness comes through and keeps those discussions from being too controversial.
By sticking to a proven set of principles, all which they are willing to change in the service of the encyclopedic mission, Wikipedia is leading with integrity by example. I generally see eye to eye with Wales on his practice of radical transparency, putting your money where your mouth is and giving people the benefit of the doubt.
I find it so interesting that the site logs all changes and conversations publicly. The IT nerd in me is fascinated by the complexity of that problem. I’m also just shocked that I have not seen those logs brought up in more news stories. I guess that fact that Wikipedia is so serious about facts, tone and kindness comes through and keeps those discussions from being too controversial.
November 28, 2025
Jimmy Wales was a founder of Wikipedia; his 2025 self-congratulatory manifesto The Seven Rules of Trust, written with Dan Gardner, attempts to draw life and business wisdom from this Wikipedia experience.
It may or may not be surprising that, as a teen in the early 2000s, I went through a phase of being an unsolicited Wikipedia editor, mostly about articles on my niche interests in the time, as well as taking pleasure in as monitoring change logs and reverting vandalism (which I'm sure bots and AI do these days). I remember getting a few barnstars (the free prize fellow Wikipedians can give to each other) for my effort, but otherwise my efforts were largely unremarkable and unremarked upon, and occasionally frustrating when legitimate edits I would make citing reliable sources would be removed by other editors with differing opinions who'd more fiercely gatekeep pages. Nowadays every time I visit Wikipedia and have to scroll past obnoxiously long solicitations for donations, I scroll by guilt-free knowing that I did my time, unpaid, and I won't be investing further.
So it is with some cynicism that I listened to this audiobook, where Wales glowingly gushes about everything Wikipedia has ever done right (and mentions almost nothing it's done wrong) and how it is an amazing example that every other business/organization should be following. In what other setting would a business model where everyone works for free in perpetuity be sustainable? I agree in principle with most of Wales' points, I do think this book is more of a victory lap for Wales than a practice, scalable solution for the masses.
My statistics:
Book 352 for 2025
Book 2278 cumulatively
It may or may not be surprising that, as a teen in the early 2000s, I went through a phase of being an unsolicited Wikipedia editor, mostly about articles on my niche interests in the time, as well as taking pleasure in as monitoring change logs and reverting vandalism (which I'm sure bots and AI do these days). I remember getting a few barnstars (the free prize fellow Wikipedians can give to each other) for my effort, but otherwise my efforts were largely unremarkable and unremarked upon, and occasionally frustrating when legitimate edits I would make citing reliable sources would be removed by other editors with differing opinions who'd more fiercely gatekeep pages. Nowadays every time I visit Wikipedia and have to scroll past obnoxiously long solicitations for donations, I scroll by guilt-free knowing that I did my time, unpaid, and I won't be investing further.
So it is with some cynicism that I listened to this audiobook, where Wales glowingly gushes about everything Wikipedia has ever done right (and mentions almost nothing it's done wrong) and how it is an amazing example that every other business/organization should be following. In what other setting would a business model where everyone works for free in perpetuity be sustainable? I agree in principle with most of Wales' points, I do think this book is more of a victory lap for Wales than a practice, scalable solution for the masses.
My statistics:
Book 352 for 2025
Book 2278 cumulatively
August 22, 2025
“The Seven Rules of Trust” by Jimmy Wales goes behind the scenes of Wikipedia to explain how it was founded and (more surprisingly) how it gained the trust of the masses and is still going strong, 20+ years later. Wales outlines seven principles that were at the heart of Wikipedia’s culture which led to their success. He also draws examples from other online endeavour (like AirBnB and Uber) to show parallels and effective counterexamples. Ultimately, Wales does a great job of illustrating what it looks like when you develop tools with the end user’s trust in mind.
Wales’ principles range from simple ideas like “transparency builds trust” to more nuanced ideas like ”the rules of trust will not deliver if you don’t.” I found his argument on the importance of a strong and clear purpose for individuals working together particularly interesting because we usually don’t think of trust in those terms.
There were a few parts of Wales’ argument I wasn’t 100% sold on, including his hyper-optimistic view of AI and the positive role technology can play in fixing our current crises of trust. With that said, I did really appreciate that Wales is self-aware of his own flaws and offers the critiques others have shared of him up-front in the book itself.
Overall, this was a super interesting book, well-written, and offers helpful insight for anyone looking to better understand the origins of Wikipedia. I’d argue this should also be recommended reading for anyone working in technology and AI today, because so many of Wikipedia’s “old school” principles are ones I wish the tech industry would listen to more carefully.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wales’ principles range from simple ideas like “transparency builds trust” to more nuanced ideas like ”the rules of trust will not deliver if you don’t.” I found his argument on the importance of a strong and clear purpose for individuals working together particularly interesting because we usually don’t think of trust in those terms.
There were a few parts of Wales’ argument I wasn’t 100% sold on, including his hyper-optimistic view of AI and the positive role technology can play in fixing our current crises of trust. With that said, I did really appreciate that Wales is self-aware of his own flaws and offers the critiques others have shared of him up-front in the book itself.
Overall, this was a super interesting book, well-written, and offers helpful insight for anyone looking to better understand the origins of Wikipedia. I’d argue this should also be recommended reading for anyone working in technology and AI today, because so many of Wikipedia’s “old school” principles are ones I wish the tech industry would listen to more carefully.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 15, 2025
Jimmy Wales' love letter to Wikipedia through the lens of trust. While overall it seems slightly too idealistic to me (honestly probably a "shoot for the next galaxy and you'll land among the stars" kind of thing), I do find the trust framework he presents to be applicable in various contexts from big organizations to individual person-to-person interactions. By the end, I'm leaving with a little more motivation and useful nuggets than before. Jimmy narrates the audiobook, which I appreciated for the authenticity, consistent with other times I've heard him speak. I'm glad to have listened to this book!
November 23, 2025
Brother write a blog post Christ
November 12, 2025
Simple, easy to read book, and I liked it, partly because I love Wikipedia so much. There’s much in the book about Wikipedia’s history and how it functions. The major part of the book is about “trust” of course, and it was fine, nothing revolutionary or surprising I don’t think. Good stuff, and I wish everyone would take it to heart. But I don’t think I would have been nearly as excited about the book if it weren’t by the founder and leader of Wikipedia.
November 30, 2025
I generally feel lukewarm about this book. Not particularly groundbreaking to me because I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating the mechanisms of trust at least on an individual level already, but I can think of at least a few people who could benefit from reading it.
I like his optimistic philosophy on solving the current political divides—I, too, often wish politicians had a greater propensity toward constructive discussions. I try to live optimistically and assume good intent of others, but in this current setting, it has gotten really damn hard to offer that to strangers. This was a good reminder why it’s important to keep trying.
I really appreciate Wikipedia as a resource. I’ve used it for many years to indulge my random curiosities. From quantum entanglement to the Kentucky Meat Shower incident to the plot of the entire Saw franchise because I’m morbidly curious but too scared to watch them myself—Wikipedia is a gift.
There are only a few things I didn’t like. First, it was pretty repetitive, which I didn’t really mind because I was listening to it on audiobook while doing housework, but I could see myself losing attention if I were reading a physical copy.
Second, something was said toward the very end that I admittedly had a pretty visceral gut reaction to but then considered further. Jimmy, if you ever read this, I’m taking a page out of your book and strictly assuming good intent until proven otherwise here. I really didn’t like the suggestion you had for adding an AI bot to Wikipedia. AI as it is right now would most likely make errors and spread disinformation that could otherwise be avoided, but even if/when it’s better later, it also just feels… wrong to the Wikipedians who’ve spent thousands of collective hours writing all the detailed pages Wikipedia has to offer. I think that rather than giving people the complete and utter convenience of a bot, they should be taught how to easily sift through information to find what they want to know. We need to foster curiosity in people! I’m a bit scared that we’re losing that these days.
Also, I do hear that AI costs tremendous amounts of energy and produces a lot of environmental waste, or at least that’s the norm for the AI industry right now. I don’t know a whole lot about that aspect of it so I cannot truly confirm or deny it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if I haven’t been lied to in this case. Corporations have been abusing the environment for their own profit for decades. I don’t think generative AI should be a widely publicly used tool UNTIL we can figure out a way to power it all with clean energy. I don’t know if these are things you’ve considered already, but I’m going to assume that we ultimately want the same thing—for everyone to have free access to the entirely of humanity’s knowledge, articulated as accurately and neutrally as possible. I trust you will uphold that. :)
I like his optimistic philosophy on solving the current political divides—I, too, often wish politicians had a greater propensity toward constructive discussions. I try to live optimistically and assume good intent of others, but in this current setting, it has gotten really damn hard to offer that to strangers. This was a good reminder why it’s important to keep trying.
I really appreciate Wikipedia as a resource. I’ve used it for many years to indulge my random curiosities. From quantum entanglement to the Kentucky Meat Shower incident to the plot of the entire Saw franchise because I’m morbidly curious but too scared to watch them myself—Wikipedia is a gift.
There are only a few things I didn’t like. First, it was pretty repetitive, which I didn’t really mind because I was listening to it on audiobook while doing housework, but I could see myself losing attention if I were reading a physical copy.
Second, something was said toward the very end that I admittedly had a pretty visceral gut reaction to but then considered further. Jimmy, if you ever read this, I’m taking a page out of your book and strictly assuming good intent until proven otherwise here. I really didn’t like the suggestion you had for adding an AI bot to Wikipedia. AI as it is right now would most likely make errors and spread disinformation that could otherwise be avoided, but even if/when it’s better later, it also just feels… wrong to the Wikipedians who’ve spent thousands of collective hours writing all the detailed pages Wikipedia has to offer. I think that rather than giving people the complete and utter convenience of a bot, they should be taught how to easily sift through information to find what they want to know. We need to foster curiosity in people! I’m a bit scared that we’re losing that these days.
Also, I do hear that AI costs tremendous amounts of energy and produces a lot of environmental waste, or at least that’s the norm for the AI industry right now. I don’t know a whole lot about that aspect of it so I cannot truly confirm or deny it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if I haven’t been lied to in this case. Corporations have been abusing the environment for their own profit for decades. I don’t think generative AI should be a widely publicly used tool UNTIL we can figure out a way to power it all with clean energy. I don’t know if these are things you’ve considered already, but I’m going to assume that we ultimately want the same thing—for everyone to have free access to the entirely of humanity’s knowledge, articulated as accurately and neutrally as possible. I trust you will uphold that. :)
December 14, 2025
After nearly 25 years of existence, how can we learn about trust from Wikipedia?
From its inception, Wikipedia has been mocked and looked down upon: the media lambasts it, teachers discourage it, and Encyclopedia Britannica compares it to a public restroom. It makes sense in hindsight: how can an open encyclopedia be a source of reliable, trustworthy information? Everyone can edit, so there will be people vandalising, advertising, or pushing their own agenda. However, to the present day, if you Google anything, the first result that comes out (after the AI-generated response by Gemini) would likely be from Wikipedia. Heck, some of the search summaries Google did originate from Wikipedia.
The book may seem flattering at times, however, as someone who frequents Wikipedia, I believe many arguments Wales presented hold water. The book elucidates the rules of trust from Jimmy Wales' observations on Wikipedia and how it was able to maintain its position as the "last best place on the internet". Although the lessons may be intuitive to some (transparency, good faith, purpose,...), the use of Wikipedia as examples makes the lesson more intriguing and relevant. To show that this model can work outside of Wikipedia, he draws an example from a subreddit named r/Changemyview, a popular subreddit where people let their views be challenged. It has been immensely successful, with millions of followers and thousands of contributions per week. Not just a lesson of trust, Wales also reflect on the increasing polarization the world is facing (especially in the last chapter) and how Wikipedia maintains the level of trust unseen elsewhere online. While made to be a shining example, Wikipedia and our subreddit is not free from the polarization of discourse: Elon Musk and conservatives denounce Wikipedia, while r/changemyview has to ban topic on transgender people as it has become too hostile.
(also if you want to see how this polarization has affected Wikipedia, go to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the Gaza genocide talk page, where there is a myriad of banners advising users to remain calm and discussions long enough to fill an encyclopedia volume)
From its inception, Wikipedia has been mocked and looked down upon: the media lambasts it, teachers discourage it, and Encyclopedia Britannica compares it to a public restroom. It makes sense in hindsight: how can an open encyclopedia be a source of reliable, trustworthy information? Everyone can edit, so there will be people vandalising, advertising, or pushing their own agenda. However, to the present day, if you Google anything, the first result that comes out (after the AI-generated response by Gemini) would likely be from Wikipedia. Heck, some of the search summaries Google did originate from Wikipedia.
The book may seem flattering at times, however, as someone who frequents Wikipedia, I believe many arguments Wales presented hold water. The book elucidates the rules of trust from Jimmy Wales' observations on Wikipedia and how it was able to maintain its position as the "last best place on the internet". Although the lessons may be intuitive to some (transparency, good faith, purpose,...), the use of Wikipedia as examples makes the lesson more intriguing and relevant. To show that this model can work outside of Wikipedia, he draws an example from a subreddit named r/Changemyview, a popular subreddit where people let their views be challenged. It has been immensely successful, with millions of followers and thousands of contributions per week. Not just a lesson of trust, Wales also reflect on the increasing polarization the world is facing (especially in the last chapter) and how Wikipedia maintains the level of trust unseen elsewhere online. While made to be a shining example, Wikipedia and our subreddit is not free from the polarization of discourse: Elon Musk and conservatives denounce Wikipedia, while r/changemyview has to ban topic on transgender people as it has become too hostile.
(also if you want to see how this polarization has affected Wikipedia, go to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the Gaza genocide talk page, where there is a myriad of banners advising users to remain calm and discussions long enough to fill an encyclopedia volume)
July 25, 2025
This book is brilliant, and so absolutely beautifully honest.
It's fascinating to get so much detail of what was/is going on behind something so huge and popular as Wikipedia.
The author's writing style felt so humble and relatable. And the entire time reading it, I just wanted to call up Jimmy Wales and exclaim a loud and excited, "Thank You! You're making the biggest difference in my book launch, and you don't even know it." Because sometimes hearing about someone else's early steps and where that's lead them over the years is EXACTLY the right medicine against giving up or feeling low.
It is my opinion that a good nonfiction book should always feel like talking to a great and very experienced friend. And I don't know whether it's because Jimmy Wales is talking about The Seven Rules of Trust as a subject, or perhaps it's just his impeccable decades honed business ethics, but reading his story (that also felt so personal) really did make me both trust him, and also rediscover new ideas regarding trust issues in people.
Overall, it's the perfect value of fact based and informative, and pleasantly soothing for anyone who's just starting some business adventure and needs a supportive outlook.
Thank you so much to Crown Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The best business book I've read this year!
It's fascinating to get so much detail of what was/is going on behind something so huge and popular as Wikipedia.
The author's writing style felt so humble and relatable. And the entire time reading it, I just wanted to call up Jimmy Wales and exclaim a loud and excited, "Thank You! You're making the biggest difference in my book launch, and you don't even know it." Because sometimes hearing about someone else's early steps and where that's lead them over the years is EXACTLY the right medicine against giving up or feeling low.
It is my opinion that a good nonfiction book should always feel like talking to a great and very experienced friend. And I don't know whether it's because Jimmy Wales is talking about The Seven Rules of Trust as a subject, or perhaps it's just his impeccable decades honed business ethics, but reading his story (that also felt so personal) really did make me both trust him, and also rediscover new ideas regarding trust issues in people.
Overall, it's the perfect value of fact based and informative, and pleasantly soothing for anyone who's just starting some business adventure and needs a supportive outlook.
Thank you so much to Crown Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The best business book I've read this year!
December 25, 2025
This book is about Wikipedia, the largest online encyclopedia that many of us use on a daily basis. It explores how Wikipedia is not a typical company and is instead run largely by volunteers. The book takes a deeper look into the culture of this nonprofit organization that provides an enormous amount of knowledge to the world.
Some of the key principles the organization follows include assuming good faith and maintaining civility. It also emphasizes disagreement grounded in facts rather than personal attacks—something that is often lacking in social media today. Remaining independent is a challenging task in the modern world, where news sources frequently take political sides to retain viewership and content creators post polarizing material for attention. Wikipedia’s goal, however, is not to take a stance but simply to present the facts. Overall, this is an informative read on the policies and values that have kept Wikipedia alive and made it a household name today.
Some of the key principles the organization follows include assuming good faith and maintaining civility. It also emphasizes disagreement grounded in facts rather than personal attacks—something that is often lacking in social media today. Remaining independent is a challenging task in the modern world, where news sources frequently take political sides to retain viewership and content creators post polarizing material for attention. Wikipedia’s goal, however, is not to take a stance but simply to present the facts. Overall, this is an informative read on the policies and values that have kept Wikipedia alive and made it a household name today.
November 2, 2025
The irony of someone denying a globally accepted crime against humanity talking to us about trust. He is actively destroying trust and making money from it. The depths that human beings can sink to will always shock me.
This man is every bit a part of the group that has devastated our world and our lives. Him having so much influence over humanity's collective knowledge is equally terrifying and in character for people like him.
Every word in this book is just describing himself. This is like if Trump wrote a book about what's gone wrong with the USA since 2015. Spider man is pointing at himself.
This man is every bit a part of the group that has devastated our world and our lives. Him having so much influence over humanity's collective knowledge is equally terrifying and in character for people like him.
Every word in this book is just describing himself. This is like if Trump wrote a book about what's gone wrong with the USA since 2015. Spider man is pointing at himself.
November 9, 2025
Reads less like a revelation and more like a confident summary of ideas that are already well known — a bit of a self-congratulatory tour through the Wikipedia of trust-building. The rules themselves are sensible but hardly groundbreaking.
What struck me more was the larger question it skirts: how will our trust in AI evolve? The story of elevators offers a useful analogy — once, people feared getting into a lift without an operator; today, we step in without a thought. Perhaps trust in AI will follow a similar path — from anxiety to acceptance, not through persuasion, but through quiet familiarity and reliability over time.
What struck me more was the larger question it skirts: how will our trust in AI evolve? The story of elevators offers a useful analogy — once, people feared getting into a lift without an operator; today, we step in without a thought. Perhaps trust in AI will follow a similar path — from anxiety to acceptance, not through persuasion, but through quiet familiarity and reliability over time.
December 10, 2025
This book is simple and easy to read, diving into the history and workings of Wikipedia. I am a fan of the Wikipedia. While the discussion on "trust", etc. was fine; there is nothing revolutionary or surprising here. That said, it is good to talk about these things.
Here are the seven rules (I stole them from Wikipedia),
"For Wales, the solution to division in society lies in trust, for which he provides seven rules on how to build:
1. Make It Personal
2. Be Positive About People
3. Create a Clear Purpose
4. Be Trusting
5. Be Civil
6. Be Independent
7. Be Transparent
These rules serve as subheadings for each of the first seven chapters of the book."
Here are the seven rules (I stole them from Wikipedia),
"For Wales, the solution to division in society lies in trust, for which he provides seven rules on how to build:
1. Make It Personal
2. Be Positive About People
3. Create a Clear Purpose
4. Be Trusting
5. Be Civil
6. Be Independent
7. Be Transparent
These rules serve as subheadings for each of the first seven chapters of the book."
November 18, 2025
Picked this up after reading an interview with Jimmy Wales where I was impressed with his thoughtful perspective on polarization . I’m not sure that anything in here is groundbreaking, but the “rules of trust” are well thought and described with clear anecdotes. Moreover, by the end his infectious enthusiasm and optimism had chipped away at my cynicism over the current state of affairs.
Too much bandwidth is being consumed by the loudest and most extreme voices. I truly believe most people crave civility and this book charts a path for us to regain the personal connections to reunite us.
Too much bandwidth is being consumed by the loudest and most extreme voices. I truly believe most people crave civility and this book charts a path for us to regain the personal connections to reunite us.
November 14, 2025
As a Wikipedian, this book was a real joy to read. The 7 Rules of Trust reminds us that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, one built on a simple principle: we assume good faith. Jimmy Wales, a self-declared pathological optimist, writes about how clarity of purpose and human collaboration can help us build trust against the odds. A thoughtful, hopeful read for anyone who believes that good and lasting things are built one well-intended act at a time.
December 15, 2025
This quick read spoke to me. It spends a lot of time talking about how other businesses and people gained trust to their benefit. From Quakers, to Airbnb, Uber, elevators, etc.
One example I really liked was Buckleys, a cold medicine brand. Their slogan was something like "It tastes awful, but it works" which worked super well. Who knew criticizing your product would be advantageous? People agreed with the first part, and said hey, they told the truth, since they clearly have a track record of doing so, maybe the second half is true too!
In this world where trust is slipping, and your faith in humanity has worsened, I think this book was a great read that restored some of my faith in humanity. And also encouraged me to understand that there are people out there that benefit from the chaos, and want solutions like Wikipedia to go away.
I liked learning about Wikipedia's origin, and all the disbelief. What their values are, some of their processes, how focused they are on "just the facts", and how debate oriented they can be (everyone has a say). I will say after reading this book, I am officially drinking the kool-aid, and a big fan of Wikipedia.
I recommend everyone takes a minute to read this!
One example I really liked was Buckleys, a cold medicine brand. Their slogan was something like "It tastes awful, but it works" which worked super well. Who knew criticizing your product would be advantageous? People agreed with the first part, and said hey, they told the truth, since they clearly have a track record of doing so, maybe the second half is true too!
In this world where trust is slipping, and your faith in humanity has worsened, I think this book was a great read that restored some of my faith in humanity. And also encouraged me to understand that there are people out there that benefit from the chaos, and want solutions like Wikipedia to go away.
I liked learning about Wikipedia's origin, and all the disbelief. What their values are, some of their processes, how focused they are on "just the facts", and how debate oriented they can be (everyone has a say). I will say after reading this book, I am officially drinking the kool-aid, and a big fan of Wikipedia.
I recommend everyone takes a minute to read this!
December 10, 2025
While Wikipedia has its faults, I use it almost daily as do most others. He mention several times how unlikely the creation of a free online encyclopedia seemed at the time and I do agree with that. Reading about the background and how it grew to what it is today was very interesting. This book got me thinking about what else could be possible that we now think of as impossible.
The rules he gives can be applied to a variety of scenarios and I overall enjoyed this read.
The rules he gives can be applied to a variety of scenarios and I overall enjoyed this read.
November 24, 2025
This book communicates an essential idea in this moment: how can we build systems to trust each other when the world seems to be pushing us ever further towards division? No individual part of the book was revolutionary, but the fact that Wikipedia has gained the public’s trust is, and it should be studied for the future.
November 18, 2025
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales explains how the secret recipe for how to heal polarization, post-factuality and distrust by employing the same "secret sauce" that made Wikipedia a success: Trust.
If you already know Wikipedia very well as a contributor (like me), it's not much new here (therefore 3⭐). If you need a non-technical, but rather sociological/psychological explanation on how a giant social experiment like Wikipedia works, this book would be an interesting primer (for this: 4⭐)
If you already know Wikipedia very well as a contributor (like me), it's not much new here (therefore 3⭐). If you need a non-technical, but rather sociological/psychological explanation on how a giant social experiment like Wikipedia works, this book would be an interesting primer (for this: 4⭐)
November 20, 2025
Refreshing to read something optimistic about the internet. Interesting insights into the founding of Wikipedia as well as the rules and processes that make it all work. While the seven rules are basic, they are explained with unique perspectives I never thought of.
November 22, 2025
Worth reading for anyone interested in solving the problems of the modern era. It's an important look into why Wikipedia works while social media fails. Would have liked to see more about Wikipedia's history and policies though...
November 25, 2025
I admire Jimmy Wales’ philosopy and achievement. Trust is fundamental and the culture of Wikipedia an inspiring model of what human cooperation can achieve. This book gets five stars for the importance of the message and the accessibility of the writing. Anyone could read it!
November 1, 2025
Explains how wikipedia can grow large, stay accurate, and maintain a neutral voice in a world of tribes, trolls, and bots that can change any article at will. 4.5 stars.
November 10, 2025
Strongly recommend this book.
November 12, 2025
Required reading for anyone that is need of something positive in our current turbulent world. There are good people and solutions. Wales reminds us of these.
November 19, 2025
The Wikipedia stuff is interesting.
Chapter 1 is useful.
Chapter 1 is useful.
November 22, 2025
Probably the best non-fiction book I've ever read. Every politician should read it to learn how to find consensus.
November 23, 2025
Good and interesting, but many repetitions or arguments. Seems more time could have put into writing it, and was missing some more in depth analysis.
November 24, 2025
Kjære venner på goodreads. Jeg anbefaler dere denne boken.
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