Applying Gladwell's Tipping Point Concept to Technology

1863 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on how paul revere changed the american revolutionary war

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 ...

... middle of paper ...

...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.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Malcolm X And Baca's Essay Coming Into Language

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though these essays share a few common threads, the one that I find to resonate most with myself, is how people and events can have a positive influence on us and our desire to strive for more. Both Malcolm X and Baca where both driven to self educate by seeing people who they shared commonalties with but who also achieved greatness, or who at least could express themselves with clarity, and command a respect with their use of

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Tipping Point

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    To understand how things reach a tipping point, you must first understand the three rules of epidemics. Gladwell defines the three rules of epidemics as the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The first rule, the law of the few, explains how individuals with the gift of connections and persuasion make a difference in pushing epidemics to the limit and spreading a useful message wide and far. It most certainly takes talent to be that person or persons to make something reach its peak. The ...

    Read More

  • The Enduring Legacy of Malcolm X

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    Goldman, Peter. The Death and Life of Malcolm X. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1979.

    Read More

  • What Defines Success in Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    As stated before Malcolm Gladwell presents a calm tone that doesn’t seem to push his argument but at the same time his argument is semi-flawed. He proves that there can be trends and patterns that can be correlated to success. He successfully showed this by stating the success stories of Bill Gates, the beatles and the soon to be successful Choir. Even though here and there he makes a couple of assumptions like the children in the academy his thesis is solid. (where? make an example) Malcolm Gladwell makes a lasting effect on how you view life, if patterns can be shown in overall success what else can their be patterns to. This piece really makes you think hard about things you might never have considered before and just accepted.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Alex Haley's The Autobiography Of Malcolm X?

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout each stage of his existence there are a multitude of symbols that are made evident. Haley shows how status played a major role in developing Malcolm’s self-worth. The author explains how a “conk” hairstyle tied him to the white world and showed him his own internalized racism. The writer also demonstrates how eyeglasses, a watch, and suitcases played a major role in his final transformation to the great leader that he made himself into. All of these symbols work together through the captivating tale of his life, and illustrates the many things that helped to shape him as a man. All things considered, Haley reveals just how critical symbols are in not only Malcolm X’s lives, but in everyone’s lives. Ultimately challenging his readers to look at their own lives in an attempt to discover what their personal symbols are. Malcolm X’s life had many challenges and setbacks, nevertheless, he discovered who he wanted to be and rose to the challenge, proving himself an important and influential

    Read More

  • The Autobiography Of Malcolm X, By Alex Harley

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    The sequence of words above are those things that comes from Malcolm X that more or less have changed many people perspectives toward their future. Same as others, I have choose to read ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ by Alex Harley for my book review assignment of EDC 3362. The main reason why I choose this book is because the main theme of ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ is dealing with our contemporary moral issue which is about the challenged that faced by African-American because of the oppression from white people. Some of us may think that this is a simple issue but after I read this book, I can see that oppression and inequality can cause a huge impact in the life of one who being oppressed.

    Read More

  • Song of Solomon: A Bildungsroman of Milkman

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine, 1999. Print.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X's Life and Accomplishments

    1413 Words  | 3 Pages

    Malcolm graduated junior high at the top of his class, with aspirations of being a lawyer, until a teacher told him that being a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger,” suggesting that he be something practical, like a carpenter (J. Si...

    Read More

  • Malcolm, Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before the civil rights movement gained momentum around 1955, the African-American community was looked upon by many as a group of second-class citizens who were undeserving of rights enjoyed by white Americans. This started to change when men like Malcolm Little (Malcolm X) stood up for the cause and fought back against segregation. He was a man from humble beginnings and who dealt with racism and hatred from a young age, all of which shaped his activism. Malcolm, after his death, was recognized as one of the most important people of the 20th century by TIME Magazine. He watched from a young age as white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorized African-Americans by lynching and torturing them because of their skin color (“Malcolm X”). This among many other racists acts witnessed by Malcolm shaped his philosophical and political views. Malcolm was a controversial figure because he initially supported a violent revolution against whites, but he had many supporters in the African-American community. One of them was Manning Marable, who wrote a biography about Malcolm, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, in 2011. This book brings Malcolm’s story to life through research of his experiences and interviews with his close family and friends. Michiko Kakutani, a New York Times book critic, emphasizes in her review that though the biography is not as intense in details and philosophical views as is Malcolm X’s own autobiography, Marable “manages to situate Malcolm X within the context of 20th-century racial politics in America without losing focus on his...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Malcom Gladwell's Outliers: The Story Of Success

    1477 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Malcom Gladwell’s book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell investigates the paradigm of success by taking the reader on a journey into the lives of several extremely successful people – outliers. Paradigm is a term used to explain a pattern of something, and in Outliers, Gladwell uses the term to describe different changes in peoples’ mind-sets throughout history. In the carefully chosen case studies, Gladwell breaks down the typical understanding of success by not just looking at factors like innate talents, characteristics, and habits but by digging deeper into social classes, cultures, communities, and generational effects of the successfully elite. Outliers is a true story of success that motivates readers to ponder their world

    Read More

  • Ideology: The Authoritarian Personality

    1872 Words  | 4 Pages

    Clarke, J. H. (1990). Malcolm X:The Man and His Times. Trenton, NJ: African World Press. .

    Read More

  • The Tipping Point in the War on Drugs

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    As described in novel The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference the course of any trend, movement, social behavior, and even the spread of a virus has a general trend line that in essence resemble a parabola with 3 main critical points. Any trend line first starts from zero, grows until it crosses the first tipping point, and then spreads like wildfire. Afterwards, the trend skyrockets to its carrying capacity (Galdwell, 2000). Then the trend gradually declines before it reaches the next tipping and suddenly falls out of favor and out of memory. Gladwell defines tipping points as the “magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire” (Gladwell, 2000).

    Read More

  • Four Stages of Culture Shock Faced By Immigrants

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kiniry, Malcolm, and Mike Rose, eds. Critical Strategies, 3rd Ed. Boston, MA: St. Martin’s, 1998. Print.

    Read More

  • Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: the story of success. 1st ed. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. 1-91. Print.

    Read More

  • Albert Einstein: One of Gladwell's Outliers?

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: the story of success. 2011. Reprint. New York: Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Co., 2008. Print.

    Read More

More about Applying Gladwell's Tipping Point Concept to Technology

Open Document