The issues of the ability to manipulate social consciousness are extremely relevant and are in the field of interdisciplinary discussions. Different subjects, structures, organizations, institutes, able to manipulate social relations depending on the goals set are singled out. The actively discussed activity of expert communities as an institution partly responsible for the formation of social consciousness is due to a number of reasons. One of the main concerns is the association of the communities with the political forces and their partial dependence on them. To understand the extent of the influence of expert communities on decision-making, it is necessary to turn to the consideration of the conditions of their existence, the peculiarities of formation and functioning, as well as models of their interaction with different subjects. The author examines the issue of trust in expert communities and factors that can contribute both to lowering and raising confidence. Expert communities are considered as the subject capable of ensuring the prediction and analysis of the underlying system processes at an appropriate level, proposing ideas that will subsequently become the basis or the basis of accepted development concepts. Also, the article indicates the possibility of conflicts of interest between expert communities, the background of their occurrence and methods of prevention.