Who are the most influential people online right now? That's what The Influence Project was designed to answer. More than 32,000 people joined us to find out, and get their photo in the magazine this November. Our exploration of influence was at turns controversial, hilarious, inspirational, and fascinating. And although the project is now closed for submissions, we are continuing to chronicle the spread of influence in digital media and beyond--follow this page to read our daily updates.

Influence Project

The 100 Most Influential Congressional Tweeters: Nancy Pelosi, Republicans Dominate

BY Austin Carr | 11-18-2010 | 1:58 PM | INNOVATION

Republicans won the House this recent mid-term election--and, according to new research by HP Labs, they also won on social media. But there's a silver lining for the Democrats.READ MORE›

Sorry, Facebook Fans, Likes Not Correlated to Mid-Term Election Success: Study

BY Austin Carr | 11-15-2010 | 12:27 PM | INNOVATION

Is there a connection between aggressive social media and the ultimate political metric: winning your election?READ MORE›

Twitter, Foursquare Founders Make Ads: Are Tech Entrepreneurs Sexy?

BY Austin Carr | 11-11-2010 | 6:16 PM | INNOVATION

Some ad campaigns have been passing over models and celebrities in favor of a new hot commodity: tech entrepreneurs. When did entrepreneurship--especially at nerdy start-ups--become sexy?READ MORE›

Did Gap's Free Jeans Facebook Deal Disappoint Customers?

BY Austin Carr | 11-09-2010 | 10:12 AM | INNOVATION

When Gap partnered with Facebook Places last week to reward customers with free jeans for check-ins, the promotion quickly caught the public's attention. But was the partnership a success?READ MORE›

Neuromarketing the 2010 Elections: Scoring Campaign Ads

BY Noah Robischon | 11-05-2010 | 9:28 AM | ETHONOMICS

How, exactly, does neuromarketing work? Darryl Howard, the founder of Attraction Pattern Research and a consultant for two Republican winners in this week's elections, agreed to share specific examples of his work. READ MORE›

Jonah Peretti on Going Viral: The Trick Is Finding the Right Networks

BY Noah Robischon | 11-04-2010 | 11:00 AM | INNOVATION

What you may not realize about the founder of Buzzfeed, is that his viral media expertise is somewhat accidental. Before he co-founded Huffington Post, Jonah Peretti had an email dialog with Nike customer service about a customizable ...READ MORE›

Facebook, Twitter Election Results Prove Remarkably Accurate

BY Austin Carr | 11-03-2010 | 10:18 AM | INNOVATION

Do Facebook fans and Twitter conversations provide a more accurate portrait of elections than scientific polls?READ MORE›

Obama, DNC Launch Last Minute $2.5 Million Ad Campaign on Hulu, Pandora, Facebook

BY Austin Carr | 11-02-2010 | 8:28 AM | INNOVATION

How should politicians use the Internet to advance their message? Unlike on TV, where candidates steadily run ads throughout the campaign season, perhaps the Web is best utilized in one last-minute effort.READ MORE›

The Influence Virus: Our Unlikely Experiment in Social Media

BY Robert Safian | 11-01-2010 | 2:00 PM | EXPERIMENT

The first time I participated in a viral marketing effort, it was on a whim. And it failed miserably -- in part because we didn't actually have a purpose. I was a freshman in college, and late one night, a few of us came up with a ...READ MORE›

CNN's Social Media Analytics Tool Shows Reid Up on Angle, Boxer Tied With Fiorina

BY Austin Carr | 11-01-2010 | 11:24 AM | INNOVATION

Social media analysis by Crimson Hexagon shows Harry Reid is topping Sharron Angle, and Barbara Boxer is tied with Carly Fiorina. READ MORE›

Obama's Post-Election Social Media Lapse

BY Austin Carr | 10-29-2010 | 1:44 PM | INNOVATION

After next week's election, pay close attention to how many elected officials end their web use. It's a trend some are noticing among politicians, who may take to the Internet during campaigns -- yet tone down the tweets and Facebook posts once in office.READ MORE›

How Social Media Powerhouse Digital Royalty Helps Shaq Win Endorsement Deals

BY Austin Carr | 10-28-2010 | 11:19 AM | INNOVATION

Shaquille O'Neal posed as a statue in Harvard Square for almost an hour last week, mobbed by adoring fans. How did it all begin? With a simple tweet.READ MORE›

The Facebook Election: Can the Social Network Predict Winners in the 2010 Midterms?

BY E.B. Boyd | 10-28-2010 | 8:31 AM | MANAGEMENT

In some races, there are large gaps in the number of friends various competitors have. Is that an indicator of how they'll do at the polls?READ MORE›

How Lady Gaga's One Billion YouTube Views Changes the Music Industry

BY Austin Carr | 10-27-2010 | 5:54 PM | INNOVATION

Which metric best captures Lady Gaga's global superstardom: the 15 million albums she's sold to date, or the billion views she reached this week on YouTube? READ MORE›

Foursquare, Google Launch "I Voted" Badge

BY Austin Carr | 10-27-2010 | 10:33 AM | INNOVATION

Today, Foursquare announced an initiative called "I Voted," a real-time tracker of users checking in at polling stations around the country. READ MORE›

Politicians, Campaigns Have No Idea How to Go Viral

BY Austin Carr | 10-26-2010 | 11:56 AM | INNOVATION

Candidates are still skeptical about the role of social media. Even though Facebook boasts more than 130 million active users in the U.S., many campaigns are spending less than 5% of their budgets online. Here's why that isn't good enough.READ MORE›

Harvard-Developed Tool Measures Real-Time Public Opinion on Social Media

BY Austin Carr | 10-22-2010 | 4:01 PM | DESIGN

How can opinion on Facebook and Twitter ever be accurately measured? Enter Crimson Hexagon, a social media monitoring and analysis firm that has helped Microsoft, HP, and CNN gauge public perception. READ MORE›

Gary Vaynerchuck's Social Media Advice for Scaredy Cat Corporations

BY Mark Borden | 10-22-2010 | 10:11 AM | VIDEO

On Wednesday night Wine Library TV's Gary Vaynerchuk stopped by Fast Company headquarters for a panel discussion about online influence. In this clip he explains how he moved more bottles than uber-wine critic Robert Parker, how he ...READ MORE›

Princeton Researchers Develop a New Way to Map Influence

BY David Zax | 10-21-2010 | 7:58 AM | INNOVATION

Using computer algorithms to directly measure how language changes over time -- rather than taking the indirect approach of looking at link or citation rate -- the new method gives another perspective on how influence works.READ MORE›

Where Are You in The Influence Project?

BY Fast Company Staff | 10-20-2010 | 4:04 PM | INFLUENCE PROJECT

From No. 1 finisher Jeremy Schoemaker to Shaquille O'Neal (no. 1,709) and beyond, here are the 29,795 photographs we received from participants in our social-media experiment. Find where you rank with our handy tool. READ MORE›