Applying Gladwell's Tipping Point Concept to Technology

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Water is fairly warm at 211° Fahrenheit, but is it warm enough? When water hits its tipping point at 212°, it boils and has a considerably higher potential. Throughout The Tipping Point, the author, Malcolm Gladwell, discusses the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context as rules of epidemics. If followed, these rules can cause a “tipping point”. He defines a tipping point as the “name given to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once” (Gladwell 9). Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of The Tipping Point consists of: the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. Several aspects of technology reveal Gladwell’s ideas, including the increasing popularity of social networks and the rise of the tablet industry.

Connectors, mavens, and salesmen, personalities that are part of the “Law of the Few”, are essential for a social epidemic or revolution to begin. Gladwell describes connectors as “…people whose social circle is four or five times the size of other people’s. Sprinkled among every walk of life… are people with an extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances. They are connectors” (Gladwell 41). Paul Revere, a gregarious individual who was a member of several social clubs, unknowingly used his powers as a connector to invoke a social epidemic during his “midnight ride”.

Although connectors have the power to transmit bite of social information to many people, where do they get this power from? Mavens are relied upon to connect people with new, valuable information, they are considered “people specialists, and there are information specialists” (Gladwell 59). Gladwell continues to explain how mavens can significantly affect the marketplace as ...

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...dwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2000.

Hunter, Brad. "Tipping Points in Social Networks." Stanford.edu. Stanford, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Perez, Sarah. "Tipping Point Author Malcolm Gladwell Says Facebook, Twitter Won't Lead to Social Change." ReadWrite.com. ReadWrite, 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Reeves, Emily. "Instagram Has Hit Its Tipping Point. Why?" WaitingForTheElevator.com. Waiting For The Elevator, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Samsung. "Tablet Tipping Point." NavigatorEd.com. NavigatorEd, 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Wolfe, Alan. "The Next Big Thing." NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 5 Mar. 2000. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Zengerle, Jason. "Why Malcolm Gladwell Thinks We Have Little Control Over Our Own Success." NYMag.com. New York Magazine, 9 Nov. 2008. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

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