So much of the work we do on our pilot sites depends on the Influencers.

In groups of young people, the Influencers are the individuals who others look up to and follow. They may be charismatic, they may be the show offs, the toughest, the prettiest or the cleverest.

Whatever it is gives them influence over others, this can be used by social networking teams to draw others into the site.

At SHMU in Aberdeen, Scotland, we see this behaviour quite often. At the Middlefield Youth Flat, for example, we see spikes in frequency of activity. When we look behind these sorts of appearances we often see key people involved. Their presence draws in other people.

So, these are the people we need to recruit in order to persuade other young people at the youth flat to vote in some online polls which we have devised.

Of course, by their very nature the Influencer is not easy to attract. They will often be conscious of their power over others and so could be selective over how they grant their endorsement.