It goes without saying that in a society where bandwagon methods are often used for most most sales pitches, media propaganda, and common communications and interactions with the world around us, the majority has always seemed to rule, or be more prevalent if you will. When was the last time you've watched a television commercial where an individual was not elevated socially simply by whatever product was being advertised? "It worked for her! It worked for him! It worked for me and it will work for you!". This seems to sell just about anything...and lets not forget upcoming fads and fashions! Even phrases and popular jargon increase in its usage due to the masses saying whatever the masses seem to be saying at the moment. Good or bad it is certainly sure that for every person who stands out there are 500 who blend in. For the person who manages to stand out, for every trendsetter and odd ball, there are definitely reactions that follow and as history has proven time and time again, this person will eventually morph a bandwagon, his/her own crowd of individuals that follow after the shining light of his/her originality! So if this is the case then why don't more people try to stand out, be different, be the odd ball, the trendsetter, or that one fish that swims upstream while all the rest are swimming down stream?
The first reason is fear! Most people are afraid of being rejected, misunderstood, or shunned so they steer clear of things that other people don't do so that they will have a better chance of being accepted. Any kind of discomfort is hard to experience for the average person, which is why so many crowd followers exist. The comfort zone is where its at for the person who fears taking risks or failing. However bad or good it may seem, crowd followers make the world go round, while misfits change it. Just think of this in terms of consumerism. Who would buy new clothes if trends didn't come in and out and why do they? The answer is because crowd followers follow each other and thus the constant need to purchase whatever is in style exists. This is not a bad thing at all. Consumerism is a factor that determines the quality of our lives. However, everyone has the choice of blending in or standing out.
The second reason is clueless-ness! It is easier to follow the opinions and information from others than to develop your own. You can actually remain clueless and just look like you have the answers when really you got them from Harry, Harry getting them from Bob, Bob getting them from Susan, and Susan getting them from Dennis, he being the only one out of this group who took the time to research and come to his own calculations. However, many people have benefited from Dennis' calculations and research , just as if they had done it themselves. This is the same way crowd followers are. They're cluelessness is overshadowed by the opinions and information they acquire from others and so they 're lives become a lot easier, being that they feel they are not responsible for their own beliefs and certainly didn't have to dig them up from scratch like Dennis had to. For the crowd follower its okay to be clueless because they all look to each other for answers.
The last and most inevitable reason people follow crowds is because misfits, oddballs, trendsetters, and people who generally stand out in their beliefs, ethics, values, personality, social and everyday life are rare! Well duh! If everyone is following then who is leading? Who is paving the way for the masses who desperately depend on the next big thing? This is why your mother is right for saying "Don't follow the crowd!" She knew that if you didn't then one day the crowd would be following you!
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