At the opening of Globes’ Tech IL conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, publisher and accountant Alona Bar-On said the latest Edelman research points to a world retreating into “reality bubbles” in 2026. She said the annual trust index, now in its 26th year, surveyed 34,000 people in 28 countries and captured broad global trends in confidence and trust.
Bar-On said researchers called the trend “Insularity,” or social withdrawal into self-contained bubbles. In her description, it is driven by polarization, a sense of grievance, fear of being left behind in the AI era, rising cost of living, geopolitical tensions, misinformation and a global pandemic. She said 40% of respondents in both developing and developed countries believe they will become unnecessary.
Asked how to reverse the trend, Bar-On said the answer lies in shared value, fairness, cooperation, professionalism and consistency. “We do it in four words, more facts and fewer opinions,” she said, adding that there is strong demand for economic reality to be explained to readers, investors and decision-makers with more facts and fewer opinions. She said Globes avoids an opinion section because strongly amplified opinions can “reach strange places.”
Bar-On also presented Globes’ promising startups project, which will be revealed during the conference. She said this year drew a record 103 participating venture capital funds, up from 80 last year, and noted that the project has run for 20 years and is the longest-running of its kind in the media. She said it creates a lasting knowledge base for investors and readers and highlights young companies already affecting industries and consumers. Globes also disclosed the sponsors of the conference and said its system filters out violence, racism, incitement and other inappropriate speech in line with its trust code.
