Or... "Don't Dump Your Fat Friends"

James Fowler, author of CONNECTED notes social networks are not new. We have always had closed communities of friends, and friends’ friends’ friends.

We live within a huge social network, and have incredible impact on one another and people beyond our own network. Lots of our actions are motivated by social actions even when we don’t see the connection. Exponential numbers means one interaction can leads to 100 more.

Findings of scientific study discussed in his book, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives -- How Your Friends' Friends' Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do, reveal the “profound influence on one another's tastes, health, wealth, happiness, beliefs, even weight, and how social networks form and how they operate.”

Causes of similiraties and clustering
influence
homophily - common type
context

Your behavior is magnified by other people and also amplified as it spreads.

Interestingly enough, women are stronger influencers (on their circle by three degrees) than men, demonstrated through study on drinking and social pressure.

And it’s not influence as perceived by social media metrics, lots of followers on Twitter, but yet the influence between true and trusted friends - your true social circle.

Facebook clusters: identity, shared interests (bands, movies), and behavior. Mobilize people online by getting their friends involved.

Weigh in on your social network on our social network here.