James Cameron and Nicholas Christakis just authored a new book titled “Connected,” discussing the intricacies of social networks. While not having had a chance to read through the whole of their findings, I was drawn to one observation about our behaviors having a ripple effect on our network of friends.

Not just our friends, actually, but our friend’s friends as well.

Apparently, with up to three degrees of separation, we have the ability to affect others moods, decisions, buying habits and voting patterns, among other things. This goes double for members of the same sex in a social group. We all have an understanding that we humans love to follow the herd, but I certainly like to think that my moods and my decisions are my own, and no one else’s.  Apparently not.

And while in some ways that saddens me that we are SO susceptible to what others say and feel, it can also be very comforting. We create these social networks, whether online, or in the traditional sense, on purpose. There is a sense of contentment and community that we find in turning to others on our good days and bad days, and it’s great that we can rely on the opinions of those we find useful. Our social networks are our safety net, and if that means that when a friend is having a bad day, that saddens us, and we feel empathetic, I think that makes us all the more “Connected,” as it were.

In terms of how this relates to the marketing sphere, I think the most obvious connection is that we are influencers over our network in a very real and measurable way. As consumers, we now live in a world with online ratings for every product in our lives. Every choice we make as consumers becomes a very deliberate one, and I know I feel a responsibility to let the greater internet community know if a product has either over/underwhelmed me. In so doing, we take care of this network we’ve created. It all seems like a win-win to me.