What’s the difference between manipulation and influence?
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Influence is subtle and doesn’t force people to do things they don’t want, it’s gentle coercion.
Manipulation is using underhand tactics to force somebody to go outside of what they are comfortable with.
The historian or stenographer or the perspective. One’s influencer is anothers manipulator. There is no objective way to classify one vs. the other without perspective.
Generally its just the moral judgement of intent. You manipulate someone for immoral reasons. You influence for neutral/positive moral reasons. Its entirely subjective to the moral values of the person/society judging the situation.
You can have one person say an interaction is manipulative, while another says its just influential. They are both correct depending on the moral values being used.
Manipulation is a form of influence. It’s intentional and deceptive. Either you convince someone to do something for the wrong reasons, or they get a result they weren’t expecting but you were.
I always thought that the person being influenced most of the times knows they’re being influenced. But the person being manipulated, doesn’t
Manipulation often is an act one person does purposefully to another person or group, often at the expense of that person or group’s self-interest. Usually when people say they feel manipulated, it means that they did something they really didn’t want to do in the first place. Like one level below being forced to do something.
Influence is a broader concept of a person or group’s actions taking into account (not necessarily fully determined by) another person (the influencer). It often involves actually appealing to a person or group’s self interest, as opposed to manipulation.
Influence is not necessarily direct, either. For example the culture within an organization could have been a result of the influence of a charismatic leader who has long died or left the organization. His or her influence is still being felt today.
So influence is much broader and you can think of manipulation as a specific, nefarious form of influence.
I see it as active vs passive power. To manipulate is an active process of guiding another person’s decision with selective information (whether true or false information is used). Influence is more passive as you have the capacity to drive other people’s decisions whether you are trying to or not.
Influence is more akin to persuasion, in that the person being influenced is aware that it’s happening and the topic/subject at hand is up for debate, so to speak. In another vain, it can be like inspiration, in that a person finds something they really like and that influences how they talk, act, or create.
Manipulation is more nefarious and deceptive, in that whoever’s being manipulated is not aware of it, and they likely would otherwise not naturally do or say whatever it is they were manipulated into doing or saying. The manipulator often has ulterior motives or a hidden agenda. A lot of times this involves lying or presenting skewed information.
Manipulation can have another context too, which is more akin to “taking advantage of” or “exploiting”, which can happen in video games, high pressure situations, or instances that call for being innovative. This is more like using things unconventionally to achieve a desired outcome, often because of having vast knowledge of the subject at hand.
Quality of information, intent behind the person in question, do they have any reason to think what they are saying may be inaccurate or untrue, and some big ones:
Do they discourage their audience from seeking out other sources or viewpoints?
Do they tell them they can’t trust others to tell them the truth or use phrases like “only I/we…”?
Do they accurately represent viewpoints they disagree with?
A key feature of manipulators is that no matter what they say they don’t actually want their audience to question or challenge anything they say.
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