Imitation is the best proof of Influence. If people jump off a bridge because you jumped off a bridge that shows you have influence. The more absurd the action being imitated the more influence you have.

If people do not imitate you, and instead of just doing the exact opposite/antithesis they seem to not care what you do, and randomly do the something else then they are independent from you, and you have no influence.

If people just do the exact opposite/antithesis of what you did, that shows you have influence too. You are the person they want to advertise they are not similar to.

At the scale of politics, and empire, influence is just called power. Imitation, consensus, synchrony is often the best proof there is of the extent and structure of the State.

So when you find people maddeningly imitate each other over increasingly absurd means e.g. removing their genitalia to change gender, circumcision, what you need to look for who it is are they imitating. Often you will find there is an original who preaches or practices the trend, and they are the influencers with power. The rest of us have to advertise allegiance to this power so as to not suffer under it.

If your government goes to war an Evil Dictator, because another government went to war with that evil dictator, it shows the latter government has influence over the former.