Going Viral .. Who Contributes to It?

Our social network and the way messages and ideas are spread is governed by 3 concepts; the law of the few, the power of context, the stickiness factor. Those concepts were introduced by Gladwell on his book The Tipping Point.

In order to understand how messages spread rapidly through the any network, we’ll talk about the first the law of the few seeks to categorize three different types of people.

The Law of the Few: Few People Are Capable of Spreading the Word.

Maybe you’ve heard of the Pareto Rule, and if not let’s explain. 

Also called the 80/20 rule, and it states that 80 percent of a group's actions are influenced by 20 percent of its members.

Example:

• 20% of a plant contains 80% of the fruit

• 20% of players result in 80% of scored points

• 20% of criminals commit 80 % of crimes

Best live example that’s been happening for the past 10+ years, is the iPhone.

Apple’s technology wasn’t taken seriously before 2007, or in other words, before the release of the first iPhone. The idea of having a “cool” phone that’s all screen with only 4 buttons intrigued people, but they would have never thought about getting one haven’t they seen a few celebrities holding it.

Apple makes sure celebrities (the 20%) use their newest version of the iPhone so that rest of the people (the 80%) make the buying decision, imitating their idols/ favorite celebrities.

Aside from their great campaigns, most purchases of the iPhone are made because people saw a bunch of celebrities carrying them.

CONNECT UBOVE AND BELOW

a. Connectors; Those Who Know MANY People.

Connectors, also know to us now as influencers, are people with a massive social network. With such large social networks, Connectors can spread ideas quickly to a huge audience in little time.

An example that we find very common nowadays are social media influencers. Influencers are the greatest tool to spread any information, promote any product, and make anything go viral. Quite literally.

The main advantage of Connectors is that they are often well-connected in many different fields. Communication is an art for connectors, and they’re artists in communicating with different types of people. They like to have people listening to them, that’s there job.

They create their acquaintances by having different experiences, which allowed connectors to have weak ties with different kinds of people, which is something that helps in spreading the word pretty quickly.

Either know a Connector, or become one.

b. Natural Salesmen; Some People are Born to Sell.

Some people are taught the rules of sales to gain the skill, others are salesman by nature.

It's easy for natural salesmen to build an instant rapport with other people and gain their trust. Natural salesmen are optimists who carry a wealth of energy and enthusiasm with them wherever they go.

Despite being optimists, their greatest strength is their exceptional non-verbal communication. Emotions and feelings can be expressed very well by salesmen, meaning they can be more 'socially contagious' than others.

The term socially contagious was used by Malcom Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, and it means the spread of behavior, emotions, or conditions spontaneously amongst a group or network.

c. Mavens; Walking Search Engines.

Mavens are always on the lookout for new information, that’s why they’re knowledgeable about many different topics. The knowledge or information mavens usually acquire is on trends.

Aside from having killer research skills, mavens also have advanced social skills. With impressive social skills and a great load of information, mavens are able to pass any piece of information they want to other successfully. It’s a fact that mavens are not so well acquainted with people as connectors, however they significantly influence those in their network for sure.

Mavens tell Connectors about what’s hot.

In short, mavens are educators, not sellers.

Mavens can take the role of personal managers or consultants. Due to fact that collecting information is something that comes to them naturally. And if we’re talking group of people, mavens come in the form of marketing and advertising agencies. People in those agencies dig up information about anything for a living.

Knowing all this, how do the other 2 concepts contribute to reaching the tipping point or going viral? Next up, we’ll talk about the power of context.