Peer Pressure in Networks
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/what-do-those-temporary-facebook-profile-pictures-really-mean/
Anyone who has a Facebook page is now very much aware that Facebook is piloting a new feature called the temporary profile picture. In wake of the France attacks, my newsfeed, as well as that of everyone else was inundated with blue white and red profile pictures. The most interesting thing about the fervor with which people began changing their profile pictures, was how it seemed very much like a cascade. At first it was just a few profile picture changes, then it was suddenly everyone and their mother changing pictures to support the French. The most interesting about this process is that people tended to change their profile picture when “social momentum” drove them to it. According to the Scientific American blog post from which I gathered information, they concluded that modern day change is no longer drawn from social consideration. It is from a drive to not deviate from what everyone else is doing. As we discussed in networks behaviors spread amongst individuals like a contagion and it this point, people tend to follow *social* crowds without second thoughts because of the potential ostracism that could occur as a result of holding out. In the case of the profile pictures, active facebook users who don’t change their pictures convey a message to those around them that they might condone such attacks. When such is an extreme is the alternative, it is no wonder that people decide to follow the crowd.