Nowadays, modern society is dependent on technology. The high usage of e-mail, blogging, and quick messaging characterize personal interaction. Such computer-mediated communication became the core feature of the society. The thing is that these types of socializing are the methods of social influence. An article “Social Influence Online: The Impact of Social Validation and Likability on Compliance” written by Guadagno, Muscanell, Rice, and Roberts and published in the Journal of Popular Media Culture discusses the impact of social validation and likability on personal compliance. Basing on some other researches, it also highlights the study of these phenomena and their results.
The first goal of the investigation was to discover whether likability and social validation would be effective in the online environment. The second purpose was to discover the evidence of the additional effects on the people’s compliance in a computer-mediated context.
During the research, the scientists proposed two hypotheses based on social validation and likability. The first hypothesis stated that social validation increased the compliance with a request. By acting according to social norms and following the behavior models of others in diverse and sometimes awkward situations, people tend to stay inconspicuous, which leads to the loss of their individuality. In such a way, people do not trust their senses but rely on the behavioral patterns of the majority. It means that people are waiting for the approval of their actions by others.
Due to the fact that the researchers intended to analyze the influence of communicator’s likability, they made a hypothesis that it increased compliance with a request. In this study, the investigators tried to analyze the effects of social validation and likability on the readers of the blog, who were asked to volunteer. They expected to prove that social validation would be dominant in an online context whereas likability would not be a powerful tool for increasing compliance because the communicator was not important in this case, while the content of message was of high value.
During the research, scientists used the method of experimental design, which included the analysis of the degrees of likability and social validation. There were three levels of communicator’s likability that are as follows: likable, unlikable, and no likability manipulation control. To achieve the establishment of this control, the researchers represented the communicator as a person who supports the point of view of the majority, but at the same time has own opinion. Three levels of social validation (eager to help, not eager to help, and no social validation information) were evaluated by the presence or absence of the comments. There were 249 (64 men, 185 women) participants, who read a blog, in which imaginary students asked volunteers to help with fundraising. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the nine conditions, read a needed blog, filled in the necessary forms, and then were asked a few questions.
The results of the experiment showed that participants followed the imaginary students’ appeal. After assessing the impact of the analyzed manipulations, the researchers said that if the fictitious students agreed to take part in the volunteer work, the participants would support their ideas and help them to do that. Otherwise, if these students did not want to volunteer, the answer of the participants would also be a refusal. Taking likability into consideration, it proved to have no impact on the people. Although the communicator was pleasant and agreeable, his likability did not influence participants’ compliance. Therefore, social validation tends to manipulate the decisions people make.
In conclusion, it is significant to gain understanding that factors related to online contexts can influence social communication because of the increasing popularity of the Internet. Social influence principles are becoming more extensive and cause various changes in the compliance rate. Social validation is present almost everywhere, which leads to some problems. For example, Facebook is a social network, where a person can look through the advertisements as well as notice his friends’ preferences, because they pressed the button ‘Like.’ I agree with the opinion stated above, because social validation has an impact on my compliance as well. I would like to do something that my friends did, which means that I follow their decisions. Therefore, this study is important and needs further investigation.
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