Systems and methods are provided for identifying an influencer from a pool of people based on past interactions with one or more items. A popularity metric is determined for a particular item, and an earliness of interaction metric is determined for a person in the pool based on an interaction with the particular item by the person. A prescience metric is calculated for the person based on the popularity metric and the earliness of interaction metric for the person, and the influencer is identified based on the prescience metric for the person and prescience metrics calculated for other people in the pool.