Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" is a portrayal of social epidemics that influence the way people communicate. Gladwell describes the "Tipping Point" as the moment when a idea, trend, or social behavior enters critical mass, threshold, or its "boiling point."
There are three rules of the "Tipping Point:" The Law of Few, The Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context.
Gladwell explains the concept of The Law of Few with the introduction of the aids epidemic. Darnell "Bossman" McGee, Nushawn "Face" Williams and Gaetan Dugas were all key players in this epidemic. These men were each guilty of infecting their sexual partners with the AIDS virus between 1995 to 1997. These men encompassed the Law of Few because they picked up on a trend and "tipped" the epidemic.
This rule embodies three types of social groups who control epidemics: connectors, mavens and salesman. Connectors are people who have special gifts for bringing the world together. Mavens are people who accumulate knowledge over time and have the most information. Salesmen possess skills that allow them to persuade a group of people.
The stickiness factor is when a message sparks contagiousness and makes a major impact on a person or situation. The stickiness factor allows a message to remain in your memory. According to Gladwell, the stickiness factor can be manipulated by simple changes in presentation and structure. This idea can make a difference in the impact of the message. For instance, Gladwell uses an example about the educational show, "Sesame Street." The producers of "Sesame Street" adopted techniques from television commercials, used live animation from Saturday morning cartoons, and invited celebrities to sing and dance in comedy sketches to enhance the knowledge of their preschool viewers. By using these techniques, the show proved that TV could be educational.
The Power of Context describes human beings sensitivities to environmental changes. Gladwell introduces James Q. Wilson and George Kelling's Broken Window Theory to elaborate on the Power of Context. This theory states that if a window is broken and left damaged, it leaves the impression that people do not care and encourages further destruction. This idea is apparent in the example of David Gunn, a subway director who used this technique. He created a new management structure that "cleaned up" subway trains and developed a rule that limited future destruction.
All of these ideas are important for public relations professionals to know. In order to become an effective communicator, public relations practitioners must know what type of communicator they are, must know how to make a message stick and must understand the changes in their environment.
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2 years ago
I concur with the content of this blog as it pertains to the Law of the Few. Ms. Brooks does an excellent job of explaining how an idea or epidemic can be “tipped” with the effort of only a few people. The Aids epidemic is specifically cited in this blog to illustrate how a few men infected innocent women with the Aids virus between 1995 and 1997. Although these men may have not expected the consequences that resulted from their actions, it ignited a trend that could not be ignored.
ReplyDeleteThe Law of the Few is extremely powerful in any effective public relations campaign. This law has the potential can be both positive and negative in nature. Unfortunately, the Aids epidemic proved to be extremely negative and affected the lives of many people in an unpleasant way. Although, there is many ways that individuals negatively abuse the Law of the Few, there are others who use this law to positively to benefit the greater community. For example, students at FAMU may be inspired to donate to Haiti simply because it’s the current culture of our student body. Clubs and organizations are organizing, fundraising and collecting items to send to Haiti . Initially, only a few organizations were taking the lead to give to Haiti. In an effort to be involved and socially engaged, over 50 campus organizations began to give. The stimulus that ignited their giving was the result of compassion, but also the product of other organizations giving.
Another aspect of the Law of the Few that needs to be critically explored is the idea of credibility. Individuals will only follow trends if they seem to be legitimate and credible. In my opinion, an increasing amount of people are concerned about their integrity, as a result they want to associate themselves with ideas that can be backed up by facts and people that are consistently reliable. In order for the Law of the Few to be successful, it takes dependable people who have garnered respect and have proven to be trustworthy.
Another terrific point made by Ms. Brooks has everything to do with the Stickiness Factor. The Stickiness Factor is the idea that an idea remains in your memory. Malcolm Gladwell uses Sesame Street to illustrate stickiness in its greatest form. This show consisted of very brief segments and simple messages. In addition, the same episode was aired repeatedly so that kids actually comprehended the general concepts that the show was intended to focus on. The context of this show was a smart move on behalf of the producer. The producer realized that it is more important for kids to grasp basic concepts over a period of time, then to overload their mental capacity with a tremendous amount of information. In short, it is better to master a subject, then to barely understand and hardly be able to regurgitate the information.