Not knowing anything about "social proof" or why it's important to know when it appears online, but the term appeared online well before 2007. For example, http

Not knowing anything about "social proof" or why it's important to know when it appears online, but the term appeared online well before 2007. For example, https://web.archive.org/web/20000511115153/http://www.isoc.org/inet99/proceedings/3g/3g_2.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20000511115153/http://www.isoc.o... (from 2000) says: > Social proof. In many social situations, one of the mental shortcuts on which we rely, in determining what course of action is most appropriate, is to look to see what other people in the vicinity are doing or saying. This phenomenon, known as social proof, can prompt us to take actions that may be against our self-interest without taking the time to consider them more deeply. Cults from the Jonestown Temple to Heaven's Gate, for example, provide cogent evidence of how strong the effects of that phenomenon can be in the right circumstances. [19] Therefore, it's likely an artifact of Google trends. Various sources cite: White, S. H. (1977). Social proof structures: The dialectic of method and theory in the work of psychology. Life-span developmental psychology: Dialectical perspectives on experimental research, 59-92 as the source of the term.