forget the debate, forget the hype, finally a journalist gets influence absolutely right:

Christakis’ studies are right: the people who influence us most aren’t our leaders, titans or heroes. The people who most affect us are the ones we spend the most time with. When a friend of a friend of a friend gets happy, it increases your happiness more than a $5,000 raise would

from “And No. 1 is…” by Joel Stein