What social media can’t do, but your spouse, children, or parent can

An article by the GALLUP Management Journal, Social Media: The Three Big Myths, reveals data about who we trust and who we listen to when we’re making decisions.  While this particular poll is focused on ‘customer decisions’ (aka. buying something), I think that it communicates the relative influence that the people in our lives versus the people on the internet can have in our decision-making.

What this poll tells us is: Getting 100 tweets from strangers (about a movie, a book, a restaurant, a brand) simply won’t add up to a personal testimonial from a close friend or colleague.  We rely on these individuals to give use cues about what we should buy and how we should act.