Creating Influence 

By Rinda Liem

Surely we are familiar with the word or the influencer profession. Yes, nowadays, with the development of social media, it is indeed easier for anyone to spread or advocate for a certain value. For example, someone who lives an environmentally friendly lifestyle, what he usually displays on social media is his behavior or preference in using items that support the green life movement in everyday life. Another with someone who is devout in religion. We may find him frequently quoting a verse or presenting his religious teachings in a number of posts. Everyone must have their own views and that is absolutely not wrong. The problem is, if we become rigid individuals, compartmentalize, and try to force other people to have the same values as we believe.

I have faith that all of us can make an impact. Humans are social creatures who tend to influence each other. We were created in this world to share with fellow beings, and I believe that we can influence without being forced. Especially in Indonesia, where the habits of the people tend to follow what is trending. Therefore, in quotes, if we want to make an impact, one strategy is that we build the trend first.

I have faith that all of us can make an impact.

Creating a trend can be as simple as when one person dances, then someone else follows, and from here more and more people join the dance, making their overall number grow. In simple terms, like a flash mob .

A leader is not always the first person to dance. However, it can also mean the person who follows the first person or the umpteenth person who dances, but he can actually make more people dance because of him. To build a trend, we do need someone who initiates an idea first, a maverick who has thought, energy and passion. However, we also need other people who support this first person, so that the initiative develops into an even bigger movement.

Talking about trends, we are talking about the essence of humans as part of a community. Coming back again, humans basically just wanted to feel ‘ belong ‘. They follow trends in order to feel considered part of society. Especially in Indonesia, where data says that behavior change or society’s mindset change is determined by two things: pride and shame . Proud to be part of something, and ashamed if you feel left behind from something. So trend-setting is about creating an initial movement, growing that movement into a community, so that eventually people see it, know it, and start to follow it.

Humans basically just want to feel ‘ belong ‘. They follow trends in order to feel considered part of the community.

Therefore, to start a movement, we can start from the closest environment, such as a circle of friends. For example, of our nine friends, each of them certainly has their own environment, which when we collect, we indirectly have built a collective networks . From here, with time and our movement has grown more and more, we can start engaging the media, buzzers and influencers who are associated with our movement. However, before all of this takes place, of course, the objective of the core message of our movement must be completely clear, and easily conveyed to everyone involved. What problem do we want to solve from this movement? And talking about trends, it is certain that it cannot be separated from the social, political, economic and environmental situations that are happening at one time, so that all of these will have an influence on the movements that are made. After all, trends and movements are very systemic thinking, which means that we cannot simply solve the problems that the movement aims at. However, if we can focus on it, be consistent, give time, and open up access space for collaboration, in the end it is possible that this movement will become big.

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