information cascade

Look deeper into the concept of a “information cascade.” Can you cite an example of where following the actions of others was a sound idea? Where doing so ended up being a poor choice?

Information cascade describes when a person or a group of people observe an individual doing something and from there they take up those same actions.  Shirky shared awareness/information cascade in chapter 7 describing the three basic principles of shared awareness.  One of the most famous examples of information cascade is the fall of the Berlin Wall, the wall that separated East and West Germany after World War 2 the wall still remained intact only to stir up protest from individuals.  These protest grew larger and larger each day until finally in 1989 the wall came down by the hands of these very individuals.  The idea of poor information cascade is the when a protest is seized and dismantled by the government or by authorities when a small number of people begin to protest and eventually become arrested or worse injured or dead because of their actions.