College Students, ISIS Recruitment and Information Cascades
http://”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/nyregion/isis-recruit-fbi.html
As discussed in class, Information Cascades formulate the basis for many decisions we as students make. We often neglect our own thoughts and feelings, forgoing our independent direction thanks to mob-mentality or an underlying desire to be a part of something larger. College is a unique time in which we are constantly and perpetually hounded by groups, activities, and organizations with differing opinions, all yearning for our undivided attention. It’s easy to lose your path, and for groups like ISIS, this is an opportune time to impart yet another opportunity/chance to imitate the behavior of those senior to yourself, upon students who are particularly vulnerable.
Information Cascades proved particular fundamental in ISIS’s ability to recruit students from schools like Columbia. In particular, this article documents the experiences of one of these students as he was recruited and sent abroad to join the forces. He was so heavily influenced by their recruitment efforts online, and this dominant force of a larger sense of purpose, he began to question his own judgement, falling victim to their tactics. He watched the decisions of students like himself, prominently advertised in ISIS’s efforts, join and learn to “enjoy it”, and was quickly persuaded that this path was something he too could follow. By imitating the behavior of those before him, this Information Cascade quickly took hold of him.