Would You Believe People Trust Their Real Friends Over Bloggers?

from the oh-my! dept

Thu, Apr 3rd 2008 12:57pm — Mike Masnick

In what may be one of the most pointless studies done in quite some time, a research firm has discovered to its own amazement that people tend to trust their own friends more than well known bloggers. Well, I should certainly hope so. Were there really people out there who thought that folks with high trafficked blogs actually held more sway than a personal friend? This is really nothing more than a retread of a (much more academic) report back in January noting that so-called "influentials" don't really have very much influence. What that study found was that "word of mouth" works, but where those recommendations come from tend to be somewhat random. So things bubble up from everywhere, rather than starting with well-known bloggers. This shouldn't be surprising to anyone, but after a few years of ridiculous media coverage suggesting that top bloggers have influence, it's nice to see a few reminders that influence is a much more democratic system.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: bloggers, common sense, friends, influence

14 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2008 @ 1:41pm

So the question you have to ask yourself, Mike, is why try?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chronno S. Trigger, 3 Apr 2008 @ 1:56pm
  
  Re:
  Because I would trust him over you any day. That is why he tries.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
WarOtter (profile), 3 Apr 2008 @ 1:53pm

The Kill list is longer
Okay, so now my "To Kill After The Revolution" list is as follows:
1. Lawyers
2. Politicians
3. H2 & H3 Drivers
4. Research Firms
...
10. Profit!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2008 @ 1:59pm

yeah seems pretty crazy Mike. Hey would you mind bringing my car back? I mean I let you borrow it 'cause you seem like a good guy, but I was thinking it was just for the day. You know its been almost 2 weeks!?!?!

:)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
GearsofWar, 3 Apr 2008 @ 3:07pm

Were there really people out there who thought that folks with high trafficked blogs actually held more sway than a personal friend?

No one except the folks with highly trafficked blogs, who told their affiliates that it had to be true, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book about it. :p
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Bob, 3 Apr 2008 @ 3:20pm

Would You Believe ...
"Would You Believe People Trust Their Real Friends Over Bloggers?"

Since I'm reading this in a blog....

Should I?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
another mike, 3 Apr 2008 @ 3:39pm

I want to believe
What if you don't have any real friends? Does the study say I should start trusting my imaginary friends over bloggers? I don't think I should; they tell me to do things that sound very dangerous.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- ev(il)angelist, 3 Apr 2008 @ 4:57pm
  
  Re: I want to believe
  "Does the study say I should start trusting my imaginary friends over bloggers?"
  
  Since Christians have been doing this from the beginning, yes.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2008 @ 5:41pm
    
    Re: Re: I want to believe
    "Since Christians have been doing this from the beginning, yes."
    
    Yay, this has nothing to do with anything. Congrats on looking like a toolbox on the internets.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2008 @ 5:43pm
    
    Re: Re: I want to believe
    Flaimbait.
    
    Aside from that, it reminds me how amazingly strong the faith of an aithiest is. If there IS a God of some sort, he must have a sense of humor for that.
    
    Personally, I prefer science. God may or may not exist according to science. There just isn't any scientific proof of his existence.
    
    And as the saying goes, absence of proof is not proof of absence . . .
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - BTR1701, 4 Apr 2008 @ 7:04am
      
      Re: Re: Re: I want to believe
      > Flaimbait.
      
      The word is actually "flame". And I'm not even going to bother with "aithiest"...
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kiba, 3 Apr 2008 @ 3:58pm

Trust of Experts
I trust your economic reasoning more than my lowly emotional friends.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Oliver Young, 3 Apr 2008 @ 5:42pm

Read Write Web Coverage and Tipping Point
I was a bit surprised that the usually levelheaded RRW blog decided that this means "Malcolm Gladwell's popular theory about key influencers moving markets may not be valid."

Now I have not read the research like I should, but from what I can tell from the press release the report is indicting the idea that "popular" but unfamiliar people like Scoble can influece. Gladwell's book is most focused on personal relationships.

Am I crazy, or are folks a little too eager to throw Gladwell under the bus?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike (profile), 3 Apr 2008 @ 6:14pm
  
  Re: Read Write Web Coverage and Tipping Point
  Oliver, very tempted to make a point about how if RRW's "blink" analysis of it was that it disproves Gladwell, then... how can he complain?
  
  But that would be mean. :)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]