Companies are not the only one's who can use social influence to their advantage. In fact, consumers can turn it around and use it against them. Take Dave Carroll, for example. He created a video singing about his disdain for United Airlines on YouTube. The viral video captured the attention of 11 million viewers. Eleven million is a pretty large number of people who may now think twice about flying United Airlines.
The video showed how the airline company mishandled Carroll's guitar and refused to help him with his claim. United Airlines was painted in a negative light with the publishing of this video. The world of social media and Internet information is vast. People can influence one another's opinions about brands without the brands taking part, so as much as some companies love influencing consumer behavior through Internet campaigns, they better make sure they're keeping ALL of their customers happy. It only takes one dissatisfied customer to tell ten people about their bad experience. Those ten people can use word of mouth advertising to create more negative PR. The crazy part about all of this is that a company may not even take notice until they see a drop in their ratings and revenue.
Dave Carroll is only one example of the sour effects of social media and the important role of a social influencer. Anyone with an opinion and a computer can create the same message about a different brand. Brands have to be aware of what people are talking about on the Internet and stay engaged so they do not become the laughing stalk of their own Facebook page.