» Why Do People Follow the Crowd?

Do you get caught up in the 'crowd' response to situations?

It was a surprise to hear Michael Jackson had died aged just 50. My partner saw it on an internet news site and we briefly read the story, skimming over the inevitable trawl through the more unattractive side of his unusual life. But that was it. Our curiosity about the cause of death was answered, and our interest was over, beyond remarking on the sadness of such an early death for anyone.

But almost immediately the ‘lemming mentality’ started to emerge.

People on Facebook (and doubtless other places) joining groups related to him that mostly didn’t exist the day before he died.

A download site showing that the most popular music and video downloads were suddenly all related to his work, when he hadn’t really featured previously.

On-line reportage encouraging people to leave comments and tributes.

Fans devastated by their grief.

And doubtless many more public outpourings if you choose to look.

Why does this happen?

If people really appreciated the ‘King of Pop’ why did they wait until he died to join these groups?

If they really liked his music and videos why didn’t they get them before he died?
Or maybe they already have copies, but somehow think one downloaded after his death will be different?

How did we ever evolve into a society where the death of a famous person has the power to generate such responses?

There are many examples of where people are motivated to take action by a sad or tragic event. The diagnosis with, or death of a loved one from, a known disease often prompts people into a frenzy of fund-raising for a cause they were never concerned about before.

I’m not an unfeeling person, but I just can’t understand why people have this need to join a cause or demonstrate public grief in this way. Killer diseases have been around for a long time, and funds for research and treatment have been needed. Celebrities have died young from all manner of expected and unexpected causes.

But it seems that there’s more kudos in jumping on the bandwagon after the event than showing support for that same cause, or in that celebrity, before it happens.

That same sort of crowd mentality creates many other unhelpful ‘lemming-like’ responses:

A rush to sell shares or withdraw money from a financial institution when someone in the media says things are getting bad, which then just makes things worse than they might have been;

Fears about the latest ‘killer’ disease so blown up by the media that normal people start over-reacting and taking extreme preventative action;

Newspapers and television full of doom and gloom stories of the economic woes, so that even those who are least affected begin to worry more than they need to;

People putting themselves into debt because they’ve been persuaded their life won’t be worth living without the latest designer product;

Parents who queue through the night for the latest book or game for their kids, convinced the child will ’suffer’ if they’re not the first to possess it;

Crazy hype about the world ending, or Y2K meltdown (remember that?) that result in otherwise sensible people stockpiling food and bottled water.

It seems the common denominator in all this is the media.

Years ago, when we just had daily newspapers and limited television and radio reportage, it was easier to keep things in perspective. You had time to think about what you were reading or hearing. You weren’t bombarded with a story from so many – usually negative – angles. There was far less sensationalizing about things. And, significantly, it took time to communicate.

In today’s ‘instant’ society, no sooner has something happened than the web is broadcasting it, all the media hacks are digging out and cross referencing every scrap of related – however dubiously – material to be re-worked. All of them want to be first; all of them want to say something different, all of them are silently screaming “read ME”, “watch ME” in a desperate need to get someone’s attention.

Nor will they leave it alone. Take Michael Jackson again. The death itself, the funeral, memorials, the start date of his planned world tour, are all occasions to repeat (with minute alterations) the stories.

Take my advice: do everything you can to jump off the bandwagon. Stop being seduced by the media, stop clinging on to the latest fashionable cause, and be your own person. Choose your own causes to support, in your own way, at your own time. Take back control of your own thoughts, reactions and emotions rather than responding to what others are saying you should be thinking, feeling and doing.

You’ll feel much better for it.