Fascinating. I wonder if the reason we're more influenced is that the impression of friends' of friends opinions is more black and white? And we don't get to think "Yes, well, Kis is a bit of a flake about x so she's bound to think y'? The FoF opinion seems more objective, even though it isn't? Of course, that still doesn't explain how it's transmitted but I'd imagine it's through throw-away comments that sound like 'facts' because they're tangential to the core of conversations.