If someone influences someone else, they are changing a person or thing in an indirect but important way. Sometimes a person who influences another doesn't intend to have any effect, but sometimes they are using influence to benefit themselves. If someone or something influences a person or situation, they have an effect on that person's behaviour or that situation.
We became the best of friends and he influenced me deeply. [VERB noun] What you eat may influence your risk of getting cancer. [VERB noun] They still influence what's played on the radio. [VERB wh] The word 'influences' is correct and usable in written English.
Influences Gone Wild, You can use it to refer to the power that someone or something has to affect the way people think or behave, often in a negative way. For example, "The media has a lot of influence on our decisions.". My parents have been major influences in my life. Emily Dickinson has been a major influence on his poetry. Her parents are concerned that her new friends may be a bad influence on her.
Influences Gone Wild, The decision was affected by outside influences.