Abstract
This paper is an attempt to understand how social knowledge affects human economic decision
making. The paper discusses the nature of social knowledge in today’s context with special reference
to how social knowledge influences consumers’ sentiments and their economic decisions. Social
networks are being continuously flooded with various kinds of information and disinformation.
Some of the information becomes knowledge for social network users who browse various kinds of
content that are either entertaining or related to products and marketing. Although reliability remains
a critical issue regarding online information from social networks, it, however, provides some knowledge
about diverse things, goods, and products being in use in different societies around the world. Some
products advertised on social networks like Facebook may affect consumer decisions or provide
information about new products. This paper presents a formal discussion on what social knowledge
is and how it is originated, and what use it might have for such consumers. The paper designs a
simplistic mathematical model for a theoretical understanding of the assumption that has practical
implications regarding its utility in society. It is found that social networks generate enough social
information that can influence user choice and preferences. The study has implications for both the
users and the developers of social networking sites.