Influencing the Apathetic
It’s easy to think the world is full of political “influentials,” or the people who influence and shape the political attitudes and behaviors of others, when you live in Washington, D.C. A disproportionate number of political influentials are naturally attracted to the area.
According to Carol C. Darr, director of GWU's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, who has conducted studies on the subject, about five percent of the population are political influentials. As someone who doesn’t really come from a political background, I find that hard to believe.
About 10 percent of the population are believed to be influentials, according to Jim Berry and Ed Keller (and the Roper studies they cite), authors of the 2003 book The Influentials. Influentials are the people on the leading edge of trends. They tell us “to do, what to buy, where to eat, who to vote for and have the answer to every question or know someone who does.”
In my world, influentials are not political. There is my sister, the fashionista. She gets these “visions” of what would make a perfect outfit and shops high and low for the necessary elements. Months later tons of people are wearing the style and my sister has already moved onto something else. Imitators and people begging for fashion advice plague my sister, but she doesn’t know the name of the governor of her state.
Then there is Cheryl. Cheryl knows everyone. If you have a question and don’t know the answer, she’s the lady you want. She may not know, but she knows somebody who does. What’s the best Broadway show? Where can you hold a rehearsal dinner for 30 finicky eaters in northern New Jersey? Ask Cheryl. But don’t ask her about the Senate race because she really couldn’t care less.
Americans aren’t into news and politics. Studies show that only 21 percent of the population follow the news “very closely.” Among the people reporting an interest in news, how many of those people consider Tom Cruise’s relationship with Katie Holmes news?
With only 10 percent of the population labeled as influentials and so few people taking an active interest in politics and news, the number of political influentials seems high.
After all, can you really influence someone who doesn’t care?
According to Carol C. Darr, director of GWU's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, who has conducted studies on the subject, about five percent of the population are political influentials. As someone who doesn’t really come from a political background, I find that hard to believe.
About 10 percent of the population are believed to be influentials, according to Jim Berry and Ed Keller (and the Roper studies they cite), authors of the 2003 book The Influentials. Influentials are the people on the leading edge of trends. They tell us “to do, what to buy, where to eat, who to vote for and have the answer to every question or know someone who does.”
In my world, influentials are not political. There is my sister, the fashionista. She gets these “visions” of what would make a perfect outfit and shops high and low for the necessary elements. Months later tons of people are wearing the style and my sister has already moved onto something else. Imitators and people begging for fashion advice plague my sister, but she doesn’t know the name of the governor of her state.
Then there is Cheryl. Cheryl knows everyone. If you have a question and don’t know the answer, she’s the lady you want. She may not know, but she knows somebody who does. What’s the best Broadway show? Where can you hold a rehearsal dinner for 30 finicky eaters in northern New Jersey? Ask Cheryl. But don’t ask her about the Senate race because she really couldn’t care less.
Americans aren’t into news and politics. Studies show that only 21 percent of the population follow the news “very closely.” Among the people reporting an interest in news, how many of those people consider Tom Cruise’s relationship with Katie Holmes news?
With only 10 percent of the population labeled as influentials and so few people taking an active interest in politics and news, the number of political influentials seems high.
After all, can you really influence someone who doesn’t care?
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