We all scream for Ice Cream.

Let’s face it, the first person in line at the ice cream truck may or may not have influenced the kids behind him (or her). What caused the crowd to gather? Was it the magic of the bell on the ice cream truck that created the Pavlovian response? Are you a leader or just the first one down the path of least resistance? Like the kids chasing the ice cream truck, many of us are influenced by behavior around us. We like to be among the first see a blockbuster movie. We pay my taxes late. We shop the day after Thanksgiving.

The writer Malcolm Gladwell, author of best-selling books like The Tipping Point has done much to popularize the idea that marketing success might be more effectively triggered if we can understand how epidemics happen. In effect, if we can find the most efficient way to influence a kind of viral chain-reaction we might be able to unlock the key to marketing a hit product or creating a unique idea. (Malcolm Gladwell was recently named one of the 10 next thought leaders in the country by Newsweek.)

The transparency of social media tools like facebook and twitter seem to offer easy access to inexpensively influence thousands of “followers.” Can social media tactics lead consumers down a path that leads them to an informed choice?

Should we really believe everything we read? Consumers of media now have a greater challenge and responsibility than ever before. The volume of information has increased exponentially but the guarantee of accuracy, quality and authority can always be called into question. Unfortunately the market for such hearsay news is significant. Ultimately, good judgment and wisdom need to prevail. Consider the words of Rudyard Kiplng in his poem IF written in1895:

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

Be your authentic self and don’t believe everything you read. Stop and think before you follow the crowd. Be true to yourself and the crowd will follow.

Optimist Contibutor Wes Morgan:originally posted February 9, 2011