A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization

Type Journal Article Author Robert M. Bond Author Christopher J. Fariss Author Jason J. Jones Author Adam D. I. Kramer Author Cameron Marlow Author Jaime E. Settle Author James H. Fowler Volume 489 Issue 7415 Pages 295-298 Publication Nature ISSN 1476-4687 Date Sep 13, 2012 Extra PMID: 22972300 PMCID: PMC3834737 Journal Abbr Nature DOI 10.1038/nature11421 Library Catalog PubMed Language eng Abstract Human behaviour is thought to spread through face-to-face social networks, but it is difficult to identify social influence effects in observational studies, and it is unknown whether online social networks operate in the same way. Here we report results from a randomized controlled trial of political mobilization messages delivered to 61 million Facebook users during the 2010 US congressional elections. The results show that the messages directly influenced political self-expression, information seeking and real-world voting behaviour of millions of people. Furthermore, the messages not only influenced the users who received them but also the users' friends, and friends of friends. The effect of social transmission on real-world voting was greater than the direct effect of the messages themselves, and nearly all the transmission occurred between 'close friends' who were more likely to have a face-to-face relationship. These results suggest that strong ties are instrumental for spreading both online and real-world behaviour in human social networks.