The Tipping Point - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Tipping Point - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"'The Law of the Few', or, as Gladwell states, 'The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.'[3] According to Gladwell, economists call this the '80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants.'[4] (see Pareto Principle) These people are described in the following ways:"
Connectors are the people who "link us up with the world ... people with a special gift for bringing the world together."^[5] They are "a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack [... for] making friends and acquaintances".^[6] He characterizes these individuals as having social networks of over one hundred people.   Gladwell attributes the social success of Connectors to "their ability to span many different worlds [... as] a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy."[7]




Mavens are "information specialists", or "people we rely upon to connect us with new information."^[4] They accumulate knowledge, especially about the marketplace, and know how to share it with others. Gladwell cites Mark Alpert as a prototypical Maven who is "almost pathologically helpful", further adding, "he can't help himself".^[8] In this vein, Alpert himself concedes, "A Maven is someone who wants to solve other people's problems, generally by solving his own".^[8] According to Gladwell, Mavens start "word-of-mouth epidemics"^[9] due to their knowledge, social skills, and ability to communicate. As Gladwell states, "Mavens are really information brokers, sharing and trading what they know".^[


Salesmen are "persuaders", charismatic people with powerful negotiation skills. They tend to have an indefinable trait that goes beyond what they say, which makes others want to agree with them.

The Stickiness Factor, the specific content of a message that renders its impact memorable. Popular children's television programs such as Sesame Street and Blue's Clues pioneered the properties of the stickiness factor, thus enhancing the effective retention of the educational content in tandem with its entertainment value.


The Power of Context: Human behavior is sensitive to and strongly influenced by its environment. As Gladwell says, "Epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur."^[11]   Gladwell also discusses what he dubs the rule of 150, which states that the optimal number of individuals in a society that someone can have real social relationships with is 150.[12]