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Tipping Points and the Importance of Small Changes
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One useful way to think about social epidemics is to analyze them in terms of the kinds of people who enable them. It’s commonly accepted that certain ideas and products become popular because information about them spreads by “word-of-mouth”; in other words, people tell other people about a trend. However, the process in which a trend spreads by word-of-mouth doesn’t depend equally on all people; instead, certain kinds of people with a disproportionately large amount of “social clout” are usually responsible for making an idea or product popular (or so Gladwell argues in the book, at least—this conclusion has subsequently been heavily disputed).
Gladwell describes three specific kinds of people who allow for word-of-mouth trends, each with a distinct social function. First, there are “Mavens”: people who spend a lot of time researching information, especially information about new kinds of products and ideas. Then, there are “Connectors”: people who know a large number of other people, and have a large number of casual acquaintances. Finally, there are “Salesmen”: people who naturally excel at persuading other people to follow a particular course of action. When new information arises, and a Maven is interested in the information, she is likely to spread the information to other people. If one of these people is a natural Connector, she is likely to pass on the information to a large number of other people. If many of these other people are Salesmen, they’ll be able to persuade people to act on the information: by buying a new product, converting to a new religion, wearing a new kind of shoe, etc. In this way, individual people play a vital role in helping a trend tip into success.
Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways to analyze social epidemics, particularly because it helps explain why social epidemics have become more common and pervasive in the last hundred years. The power of Connectors and Mavens has expanded considerably in recent history, due to the invention of new technologies. Communications technologies allow Connectors to reach out to unprecedented numbers of new people, and travel around the world to meet new friends. Similarly, newspapers, magazines, and computers give Mavens the tools they need to investigate prices, products, and new devices, allowing them to stay abreast of as much new information as possible. It’s commonly understood that technologies like the Internet allow for more trends, and that trends succeed because people tell other people about them (that is, in fact, the definition of a trend). Gladwell’s goal, then, is to emphasize the role that Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen play in a trend’s success. In the end, Gladwell recognizes the power of individual human beings to change the world, for better or worse. If ideas must “tip” into popularity, then it only takes a few special people to tip them.
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Social Clout and “Word-of-Mouth” ThemeTracker
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Social Clout and “Word-of-Mouth” Quotes in The Tipping Point
Below you will find the important quotes in The Tipping Point related to the theme of Social Clout and “Word-of-Mouth”.
Chapter One Quotes
There is more than one way to tip an epidemic, in other words. Epidemics are a function of the people who transmit infectious agents, the infectious agent itself, and the environment in which the infectious agent is operating.
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Gladwell outlines three basic ways to understand a social epidemic: in terms of the people who start it; in terms of the environment in which it takes place; and in terms of the idea, behavior, product, or message being spread.In a way, this short passage is an outline for the entire book. Each of the three ways of analyzing a social epidemic corresponds to a different section of the book, and in the final two chapters, Gladwell will apply his three methods of analysis to some real-life case studies.It’s important to note that Gladwell does not favor any one of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaqu
Chapter Two Quotes
Six degrees of separation doesn't mean that everyone is linked to everyone else in just six steps. It means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps, and the rest of us are linked to the world through those special few.
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In this chapter, Gladwell analyzes a famous social experiment, the conclusion of which is that people can be connected with one another in only six “degrees of separation” at most. The experiment has often been interpreted to mean that news spreads quickly from person to person—indeed, it might suggest that any human being on earth can pass a message to any other human being in only six steps: by calling a friend, telling that friend to pass the message on to someone else, and so on.The further implication of this particular study, however, is that not all humans are equally Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possim
But William Dawes? Fischer finds it inconceivable that Dawes could have ridden all seventeen miles to Lexington and not spoken to anyone along the way. But he clearly had none of the social gifts of Revere, because there is almost no record of anyone who remembers him that night.
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In this section, Gladwell turns his attention to Paul Revere’s famous “midnight ride” of 1775. On this night, Revere received word that the British were coming to invade Massachusetts; in response, he rode his horse across the state, warning hundreds of people about the impending danger. Revere, Gladwell argues, was a textbook Connector: he had a huge number of friends, and he was a naturally gregarious person who enjoyed meeting new people.Paul Revere’s ride is a particularly clear example of the “Law of the Few” in social epidemics, because there were also other people, such as William Dawes, spreading the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum vol
The subtle pro-Reagan bias in Jennings's face seems to have influenced the voting behavior of ABC viewers. As you can imagine, ABC News disputes this study vigorously.
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In this section, Gladwell discusses a famous study of newscasters’ facial expressions. The study concluded that the facial expressions of Peter Jennings, the anchorman for ABC News, may have influenced ABC viewers to vote for Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election. Despite the fact that Jennings reported for a somewhat anti-Reagan TV station, the subtle (but predominantly positive) facial expressions that Jennings used while reading news stories about Ronald Reagan could have subconsciously influenced thousands of ABC voters to gravitate toward Reagan and away from his opponent, Jimmy Carter.The passage is important for a couple reasons. First, it suggests Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium ius
The ABC viewers who voted for Reagan would never, in a thousand years, tell you that they voted that way because Peter Jennings smiled every time he mentioned the President.
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This section reinforces one of the key themes of the book: many people’s persistent refusal to believe that small changes can have major effects. People are hard-wired to believe that major historical events (such as the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980) must have big, fundamental causes—not causes as superficial as Peter Jennings’s smile.There are many reasons for the bias against the “tipping point” way of thinking. One of the most important is that people don’t want to believe that they’re irrational creatures. As the passage suggests, voters would never “in a thousand years” admit that they voted for Reagan Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus
Chapter Six Quotes
At Lambesis, Gordon developed a network of young, savvy correspondents in New York and Los Angeles and Chicago and Dallas and Seattle and around the world in places like Tokyo and London. These were the kind of people who would have been wearing Hush Puppies in the East Village in the early 1990s. They all fit a particular personality type: they were Innovators.
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In this chapter, we see how an advertising agency called Lambesis was able to boost sales for the shoe company Airwalk by using an elaborate network of “Innovators”—young, hip people who were paid to tell Lambesis about hot new trends. Lambesis used its young correspondents’ advice to make a series of commercials that repackaged various trends into an entertaining form. For example, when the music group The Beastie Boys brought their fans’ attention to the “Free Tibet” movement, Lambesis made a series of commercials featuring a monk who looked like the Dalai Lama. Hip, young people saw the commercial, and—since Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labo
Chapter Seven Quotes
Between 1955 and 1965, there wasn't a single case of suicide on the entire island. In May 1966, an eighteen-year-old boy hanged himself in his jail cell after being arrested for stealing a bicycle, but his case seemed to have little impact. Then, in November of 1966, came the death of R., the charismatic scion of one of the island's wealthiest families. R. had been seeing two women and had fathered a one-month-old child with each of them. Unable to make up his mind between them, he hanged himself in romantic despair.
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The passage describes how the suicide epidemic in Micronesia began in the mid-1960s. After decades in which almost no suicides were reported, a few teenagers suddenly killed themselves. In Gladwell’s opinion, this small number of teen suicides in Micronesia then started a wave of suicides in the country. In Gladwell’s terms, people like R. (the teenager who hanged himself in 1966) acted as “Salesmen,” persuading other Micronesian teenagers to kill themselves, too. Like any social epidemic, suicide was contagious, and it spread across the country.It seems particularly odd to represent suicide as a social phenomenon, subject to the same laws Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas.
The children of smokers are more than twice as likely to smoke as the children of nonsmokers. That's a well-known fact. But … that does not mean that parents who smoke around their children set an example that their kids follow. It simply means that smokers' children have inherited genes from their parents that predispose them toward nicotine addiction.
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This passage suggests that the influence of nurture on behavior is greatly misunderstood. When analyzing the teenage smoking epidemic in the United States, many critics and researchers have proposed that parents need to do a better job of educating their children about the dangers of smoking, modeling good habits for their offspring. The problem with such a view, Gladwell finds, is that it presupposes that parents’ behavior has a major impact on their children’s behavior. In reality (Gladwell argues), it’s likely that teenagers are more profoundly influenced by the behavior of their peers—other teenagers, many of whom smoke—than by their Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inven
It's not about mimicking adult behavior, which is why teenage smoking is rising at a time when adult smoking is falling. Teenage smoking is about being a teenager, about sharing in the emotional experience and expressive language and rituals of adolescence, which are as impenetrable and irrational to outsiders as the rituals of adolescent suicide in Micronesia.
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The most serious error of the anti-smoking movement, Gladwell argues, is that it drastically overestimates the influence that adult role models have on children and teenagers. Government officials have allocated tremendous sums of money to educate children about smoking, all based on the premise that teenagers will be receptive to strong adult role models. The sobering reality, however, is that teenagers are likely to imitate other teenagers—entering into a “ritual of adolescence,” as the passage phrases it. In Gladwell’s terminology, attempts to interfere with the contagiousness of teen smoking (i.e., to change the “few” who inspire teenagers to try smoking) Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Ape
What these figures tell us is that experimentation and actual hard-core use are two entirely separate things—that for a drug to be contagious does not automatically mean that it is also sticky. In fact, the sheer number of people who appear to have tried cocaine at least once should tell us that the urge among teens to try something dangerous is pretty nearly universal. This is what teens do. This is how they learn about the world, and most of the time—in 99.1 percent of the cases with cocaine—that experimentation doesn't result in anything bad happening. We have to stop fighting this kind of experimentation.
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In this chapter, Gladwell criticizes the anti-smoking movement in America for several reasons. This movement has wasted huge resources trying to convince teenagers to pay attention to adult role models—an endeavor that, according to The Tipping Point, is doomed to fail. Moreover, the anti-smoking movement has taken a hysterical approach to the very idea of trying cigarettes. Teenagers have been told that they’re not allowed to experiment with smoking in any way whatsoever—to try even one cigarette is to “go down the road” toward addiction.The problem with such a strategy is that it punishes teenagers for, in a word, being Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaqu
Conclusion Quotes
A critic looking at these tightly focused, targeted interventions might dismiss them as Band-Aid solutions. But that phrase should not be considered a term of disparagement. The Band-Aid is an inexpensive, convenient, and remarkably versatile solution to an astonishing array of problems. In their history Band-Aids have probably allowed millions of people to keep working or playing tennis or cooking or walking when they would otherwise have had to stop. The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.
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Gladwell takes a moment to respond to a major criticism of his book: namely, that he’s advocating small-scale simplistic solutions to deep, fundamental problems with society. Solutions of this kind are sometimes termed “Band-Aid” solutions—the implication being that, in lieu of getting to the root of the problem, the solution is too superficial to do any lasting good.In response to this potential criticism, Gladwell turns the criticism on its head, arguing—half-seriously, half-flippantly—that Band-Aids are extremely effective tools for improving people’s health. More seriously, though, Gladwell proposes that so-called Band-Aid solutions are sometimes the best kinds of solutions: the best solution Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis
Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.
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In the end, Gladwell offers a message that’s both inspirational and cautionary. Throughout his book, he’s described how it’s possible to change the world profoundly by making small, almost imperceptible changes. For the most part, Gladwell doesn’t say that these changes are either good or bad: his role as the author of the book is to describe how trends work and leave his readers to decide how virtuous these trends are.At times, Gladwell’s findings could be interpreted negatively; for example, his analysis of TV advertisements and voting habits suggest that humans are gullible creatures who make major decisions for the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupt
