Conversations about military service invariably involve influencers and those they influence, positively or negatively, and the influence dynamics play a huge role in the outcome of the decision. This dynamics was the inspiration for LifeAsAMarine.com, a site created for the Marine Corps and the first site to leverage functionality used in social networks to engage visitors and encourage participation. The [...]

Britney Spears has more than six million followers however if you consider the influence of her fans on Twitter, most of them have zero influence. Such are the findings of a study by Sysomos, a social media monitoring and analytics company which helps people locate key influencers in their areas of interest with its social media analytics tool. For more [...]

Brian Solis presents the findings of a recent study which he co-led with Vocus. Solis starts by providing his own definition of influence: ”Influence is the ability to cause desirable and measurable actions and outcomes.” Solis then reviews the findings from the Vocus Influencer poll. 90% of respondents saw a vast difference between popularity and influence. 84% saw a correlation [...]

A study conducted at Northwestern University determined that celebrities like Ashton Kutcher with millions of Twitter followers are mostly ignored on the social media site, resulting in very little if any influence. When the researchers applied their mathematical algorithm to the countless s that appear on Twitter each day, they found that experts in certain fields were much more likely [...]

Nobodies are the new somebodies. That’s the advice from Guy Kawasaki, who says It’s no longer big business and media giants who determine whether or not a new service or product will succeed. It’s the unknowns, ordinary folks who have become the key influencers. And companies must remember that when they are trying to win people over to their ideas, [...]

An article by Brian Solis. An ExactTarget and Co study reveals an important part of the social ecosystem that demonstrates why businesses need to consider not just a 360 approach, but a socialized approach. Of the consumers surveyed, 72% publish blog posts at least monthly, 70% comment on blogs, and 61% write at least one product review monthly. The social [...]

Knowing how to participate and when to engage are essential components to any initiative be it a product launch, sales prospecting or a political campaign. A new approach is an absolute necessity for today’s businesses and organizations, one that takes key insights from what we’ve seen in political initiatives. The good news is that it’s not all that different from [...]

A post by Michael Wu, Ph.D. is Lithium’s Principal Scientist of Analytics, digging into the complex dynamics of social interaction and group behavior in online communities and social networks. Are your relationships important to you? Michael Wu thinks that most of you would answer “yes,” since most people value their interpersonal relationships and want to develop them and maintain them. [...]

It used to be that influence was mostly based on someone’s level of expertise and the respect they had within their community. Today, social media influence certainly has something to do with expertise but it also has a lot to do with the size of your following. This is where things start to get interesting because the size of someone’s [...]

Kristin Dziadul, in  the “A New Generation” blog, outlines 20 ways for increasing your influence online. From being transparent, to following great people, making connections online and continuing the relationship offline, she covers the whole gamut of building influence online. For more articles about a related topic, see also Identifying Your Mass Influencer and Engaging The Influencer on Twitter To [...]

Research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could provide insights for technologists designing the next wave of social networks. The two-year study spearheaded by Damon Centola, an assistant professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, suggests that events on social networks can change behavior for health-related practices, but digging deeper into the findings appears to reveal much more. [...]

Tamsen McMahon outlines 4 parameters that define influence: influence is simple which makes it complicated, influence is contextual, influence is the product of reach and authority, and.. (most) influence is invisible. For more articles about a related topic, see also 5 Ways to Get the Support of Social Media Influencers and 5 Ways to Get The Support of Social Media [...]

Fast Company launched a contest to find the most influential people online. The prize for “these” influencers is that the winners get their photo in Fast Company in varying sizes according to who is more influential (aka has more votes). The more influence, the larger your photo. The only problem is that this has nothing to do with influence. It [...]

Paul Greenberg, the “godfather of CRM,”. asks: “How do you quantify the influence of a book and its author? He wonders how many books The Cluetrain Manifesto sold in its first few printings when it was published in 2000? Lots? Maybe. Maybe not. Influential. Yes. What’s the right balance between the new channels of influence and the traditional channels? Is [...]

A presentation by Andrea Harrison, from RazorFish. Harrison explains that social is not a platform, but that relationships are the focus, and platforms the means. She describes 4 primary integrated capabilities that are necessary to succeed in the new social: media/search, WOM, platforms and marketing solutions. She gives 5 pointers: Social influence marketing is more than WOM; Your social strategy [...]