mattyford.com

James Fowler, co-author of the book “Connected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives” dropped by The Colbert Report recently to promote his new book.

While the interview contained the usual Colbert grilling (I like how he threatened to turn the interview into 400 requests to play Mafia Wars), it did raise some interesting points about Social Networks and their abilities to influence our family and friends.

James Fowler on Colbert Nation

With your standard friends on Facebook, you actually assert little or no influence on them for things like music tastes, movies or brand interactions (and vice versa). This all changes if the person has uploaded and tagged a photo with you - these friends now exert the same amount of influence as close friends and family in the real world.

So if you are a brand trying to influence Facebook users, remember that your targets may be much smaller than you think - while a person my have hundreds of friends, unless they appear in photos with the person, you may be wasting your time.