Social proof (sometimes referred to as informational social influence) is a psychological concept. It refers to the tendency of human beings to follow the actions of others when making decisions and placing weight on those actions to assume the correct decision. Its a concept that can be used in product design for the Internet and mobile web to help drive user decisions in the direction that a business wants them to go.
Human beings are social creatures. We live in communities, towns and cities. We raise families and have friends. Its what defines us. It also makes us vulnerable to the influence of other people. Social influence, which is what we refer to when we talk about the impact of other peoples actions on our own, can be very positive (its what, for example, makes us less likely to get drunk and start fights in public) but it can also be negative (when it leads to herd behaviour or following the crowd).
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