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Social proof just means herd behavior where animals that don't know what to do in some novel situation simply take cues from their peers and do what everyone el
by nonameiguess 6y ago
Social proof just means herd behavior where animals that don't know what to do in some novel situation simply take cues from their peers and do what everyone else is doing. There is nothing at all inherently positive about that. Just in humans, mob behavior, witch burning and pitchforks and all that, are all examples of people acting on social proof.
In fact, the exact opposite concept of this could exist, scrape Twitter for consumers to show them who they shouldn't do business with, and it would still be social proof.
- motoxpro 6y agoSorry, I am using social proof in the business context, not the academic context. When people use it in a business context, they typically mean "I don't know if I can trust this company, therefore, I can use my friends/community/peers to see if this company has built trust with someone I also trust." Again, in this context, a company will always seek out positive social proof.