Social Influence

Everyone thinks that they are authentic and autonomous and not following the crowd.  Nevertheless, social influence has a huge effect on how people chose and how they act.  Social influence leads to conformity.  It is like a stampeding herd which no one knows how it got started nor which direction it will go.  An excellent example of this is the Arab Spring.  NO ONE KNEW that a small event in Tunisia would lead to leaders being overturned in governments through out the Middle-East.  Who could have predicted the power of the social influence involved?  Sure, there were many other factors that came into play, like the social media aspect of Facebook and Twitter.  But aren't they social influences? 
Social Influence is the power to change and influence people's thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  This can be accomplished through imitation, conformity, compliance, obedience and persuasion.  As Sunstein and Thaler would say: through social nudges.
Conformity is changing your behavior to fit in with a group.  Some social psychologist contend that they can even predict when a person will conform according to a person's social expectation due to social norms.  (I have been talking about this through-out my posts--scroll down for more information and connections)
Sunstein and Thaler in Nudge argue that culture, politics, economic decisions and advertising all rely on the notion of social influence.  They state that "the effects of social influences may or may not be deliberately planned by particular people but small interventions and coincidences, at a key stage, can produce large variations in outcomes."  The way this can be accomplished so easily is just to mention this is what "most people prefer" or "this is the most popular item" or "growing numbers of people are switching to" or this is the "top 5 searches on google."  Then with this in mind, think of the power of the news stating the results of a Pew or Gallop poll.  The power of social influence is immense.  Therefore, people conform to what they think other people expect and what other people are doing.  The sad thing about this (and there are many) is who starts the direction of the nudge?  Where does it begin?  If everyone is following or conforming, who is leading?  Accordingly, it is the choice architects.  It is the agents of influence and change.  Are you down-loading a song because you know it is a good or because 546,000 others have downloaded that song, that video, etc.  Just try to pay attention to how often someone... is trying to get you to conform and follow-the-leader.  This isn't kindergarten, it is time to pay attention to the choices you are making.