G.1 TRENDS ‘The Tipping Point’ - Malcolm Gladwell Gladwell created the term ‘Tipping Point’ to descrive when a trend or phenomena reaches its moment of critical mass, essentially it’s threshold. He explains that this is the key moment when isolated events are unified into a significant trend and reach mainstream attention. This threshold effect describes how these trends and ideas rapidly spread once they each this critical mass. He also introduces the three variables that determine how and when the tipping point will occur: the ‘three rules of epidemics’. 1. Law of the Few 2.The Stickiness Factor 3. The Power of Context. The graph below shows how trends increase gradually untill the number of connections becomes enough for the trend to reach its ‘tipping point’ and the rate of adoption increases dramatically.
Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: how little things can make a big difference. Boston: Little, Brown.
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