Once again we can see that social proof is most powerful for those who feel unfamiliar or unsure in a specific situation and who, consequently, must look outside of themselves for evidence of how best to behave there.

In psychology, the concept of ‘social proof’ suggests that people like to follow the crowd. If everyone else is doing it, you assume it’s the right thing to do. Other people influence your actions more than you realize. For example, if you had to pick between two new bars and you could see that one was packed while the other isn’t, you’d assume that the empty one sucked and the popular one was much better! But just because everyone else is doing it does not mean it’s right. Slavery used to be legal, but now nearly everyone would agree that it’s inhumane, degrading and immoral.

The principle of social proof says so: The greater the number of people who find any idea correct, the more the idea will be correct.

The patrolman’s account provides certain insights into the way we respond to social proof. First, we seem to assume that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they must know something we don’t. Especially when we are uncertain, we are willing to place an enormous amount of trust in the collective knowledge of the crowd. Second, quite frequently the crowd is mistaken because they are not acting on the basis of any superior information but are reacting, themselves, to the principle of social proof.

their social influence (how many people followed them and what their influence was) in order to optimize attention and influence per dollar. Done at the scale

frequently the crowd is mistaken because they are not acting on the basis of any superior information but are reacting, themselves, to the principle of social proof.

Number of users may not be the perfect test, but it will be very close. It’s what acquirers care about. It’s what revenues depend on. It’s what makes competitors unhappy. It’s what impresses reporters, and potential new users.

Acquaintances, in sort, represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.

from Bill Clinton speech-
People are more impressed by the power of our example rather than the example of our power...

Make a freaking impact and start providing value! Let money come to you! Look around outside your world, stop being selfish, and help your fellow humans solve their problems. In a world of selfishness, become unselfish.

Need something more concrete? No problem.
Make 1 million people achieve any of the following:
Make them feel better.
Help them solve a problem.
Educate them.
Make them look better (health, nutrition, clothing, makeup).
Give them security (housing, safety, health).
Raise a positive emotion (love, happiness, laughter, self-confidence).
Satisfy appetites, from basic (food) to the risqué (sexual).
Make things easier.
Enhance their dreams and give hope.
… and I guarantee, you will be worth millions.

One of the most underrated and underappreciated proven patterns is the news feed. Facebook’s powerful network effects allow the site to attract its users, but its innovation of the news feed has made it a world-class business.

Telling effective stories is not easy. The difficulty lies not in telling the story, but in convincing everyone else to believe it. Much of history revolves around this question: how does one convince millions of people to believe particular stories about gods, or nations, or limited liability companies? Yet when it succeeds, it gives Sapiens immense power, because it enables millions of strangers to cooperate and work towards common goals.

Network effects make a product more useful as more people use it

Powerful content communicated in a compelling story can energize your network to help you achieve your mission.