In a world where trends can be so influential and things are always trending, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell provided insight on how trends come about the the influence they can have. Stressing that a lot of things come to reach a “tipping point” in which leads to change of sorts. Gladwell describes how certain trends catch on and become extremely popular. He uses the example of crime rates in New York City and how at some “mysterious and critical point, the crime rate began to turn. It tipped”(6). This is an example of a trend reaching a tipping point in which a change is made. In this case it was the decrease of the crime rate in New York City. Gladwell explains how life changing these tipping points can be. This crime rate phenomenon is an example of something that made a huge difference (for the better) but has little explanation as to what caused the change. Gladwell goes onto talk about how the best way to think of these mysterious changes, ranging from issues such as flow of crime, fashion trends, the rise of teenage smoking, etc. as epidemics. “Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do”. Isn’t that the truth? We see it all the time. Especially in todays society where social media allows news, ideas, trends, to spread like wildfire. Take Twitter for example. You can look on the “Trending” section of Twitter just to see what people are talking about. You have the same abilities on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and many other forms of social media. The book continues to give examples of epidemics in action. After continuing to describe trends as epidemics and how they spread and effect individuals and groups of people, Gladwell breaks the “tipping point” into three different concepts. The Law of Few, The Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. He uses these ideas to further explain the influences of trends and the point in which they lead to change. The Law of Few is explained in a way which makes great sense when you think about it. The Law of Few says that before trends can really catch on, a few really influential people must advocate an idea or product before it reaches its tipping point. He breaks this concept down further, describing the three types of influential people as Connectors, Mavens, and Salesman and describes the role of each of them and how they influence people to reach the tipping point of a product or concept. Gladwell explains the Stickiness Factor as what compels people to pay close attention to a concept or product. This concept was more difficult for me to grasp, but Gladwell explains how a lot of this idea depends on the context of the idea or product reaching a tipping point. Lastly, The Power of Context, which to me seems like the biggest and most influential concept that Gladwell describes. The Power of Context determines whether something will become popular and reach the tipping point or not. It determines the overall popularity of a product or concept. He describes how influential small factors can be on tipping point as well as larger groups and communities that can lead to a tipping point. Gladwell spends the rest of the book implementing these concepts and showing their effectiveness and how they each individually influence tipping points. Overall, a really insightful and interesting read! I would recommend it to anyone! Check it out!
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