Influence and Social Networks

Social networks exist no matter where we go and sometimes it is virtually impossible to find an end to the numerous connections between different groups of people meaning that ultimately, characteristics possessed by one group of people may also be possessed by those in a group of people in which they have never met.  This means that we may be having an influence on people's lives everyday who we have never even spoken to.  The people that we are surrounded by have the largest impact on our personalities and habits.  From the time we are born, who we are molded into is influenced by our parents, guardians, family, etc.  As talked about in class, "liking" is one of the main influences that an individual can have on another.  The two main points that stood out to me were physical attractiveness and similarity because I believe they do have a huge impact on our relationships with others.  Whenever someone walks into a room full of people that they have never met before, the two factors that decide who they interact with most are similarity and physical attractiveness.  It is much more comforting for a person to meet people who look/dress as they do therefore we naturally are drawn to those that are similar to us in both looks and personalities.  The same goes for choosing role models.  Most times, people are going to attempt to look up to those whom they can see themselves resembling most.