ABSTRACT
Social influence concerns the ways in which humans persuade or change another’s behavior. Although influence relies substantially on verbal arguments, information, and evidence, nonverbal behaviors also exert influence. Influence attempts may be self serving or in the interest of others. Strategies include promoting physical attractiveness, emphasizing different dimensions of credibility, and facilitating attention and message processing. They also include setting expectations and knowing if and when to violate them. Direct messages include appeals to authority, social engineering, requests for help, appeals that evoke pleasure or pain, and appeals to affiliation. Social media facilitate social engineering and other influence attempts (sometimes, but not always, with malintent) and capitalize on nonverbal communication in order to do so, even if they replace cues with words to do so.
