Great post by Seth Godin this morning. I'm sure I'm susceptible to some of these my self but generally not with marketing issues or news. If I'm going to follow by word of mouth, I've usually made an assessment as to how trustworthy the source is and what the source's motivation is. Even in the case of someone I trust, I find it always best to ask WHY that person holds his/her opinion - political motivation, monetary, or chip on the shoulder. Best to ask this question internally, of course.
The easiest people to manipulate are those that don't demand a lot of information, are open to messages from authority figures and are willing to make decisions on a hunch, particularly if there's a promise of short-term gains.
Read the whole thing at sethgodin.typepad.com
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