"Net - fluence" the power of you, me, them and us.

The internet didn’t just appear one day on everyone’s computer nor did it become the world’s most popular communication tool because one person said it was a good idea or that some company decided to market it as the next big must have item of the decade. No my friends, you, me, them, us and Al Gore made the internet what it is today. Everyone that has an email account, has made a purchase online, used the internet to lookup information or has added text to a website is guilty of Net -fluencing. We have either directly and/or indirectly influence business, organizations, friends, strangers, business and even politics. According to a February 2009 Harvard Business School study “Do Friends Influence Purchases in a Social Network” Our ability to Net - fluence increased as we embrace web 2.0 technologies and online social networks. The study classifies social networking members into groups based on the number of network connections that person had. Users who have limited connection to other members were not influenced by friends’ purchases. (This group represents 48% of the users). However, a positive Net - fluence effect was observed in moderately connected users. These users exhibit “keeping up with the Joneses” behavior. On average, this Net - fluence translates into a 5% increase in revenues. (This group represents 40% of the users). In contrast to this group, highly connected users show a negative effect of contagion. To maintain distinctiveness, these users tend to reduce their purchases of items when they see their friends buying them. This negative social effect reduces the revenue for this group by more than 14%. (This group represents 12% of the users). Essentially, People that don’t have a lot of connections don’t get influenced - no connections / no influence. You don’t need a Harvard degree to understand that. People that have moderate connections show a positive influence – this is the “keeping up with the Joneses” effect and the desire to be part of the norm. People that have a lot of connections show a negative influence –Recommendation are often seen as sponsored ads and the connections see themselves as trend setting non conformist. So the more people that are connect to you, the less likely you will able to sell them on buying a great car, going to a wonderful restaurant or getting that new digital camera. I like my medium size circle of friends. We gladly share experiences, thoughts, questions and more importantly I trust what they say is sincere.