Jonah Berger's Contagious: Why Things Catch On

According to Gladwell’s “Law of the Few,” the successes of social epidemics are attributed to the efforts of three types of individuals: the connectors, mavens, and salesmen. First, he uses the example of Paul Revere’s ride to spread news warning the local revolutionary leaders about the incoming British. These leaders would, in turn, spread the word to others. Paul Revere is the successful social man in this example. Gladwell states that, “The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the

Communication provides sustainable information to everyone throughout the world, whether it is through signs, pictures, objects or just simply words. Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT), simply known as Convergence Theory, accentuates the importance of mutual agreement, mutual understanding and information sharing through various groups and community’s actions that will ultimately bring social change for the better of Earth and its’ community (Figueroa, Kincaid, Rani, and Lewis, 2002, p. 4). The purpose of this theory in the field of public health is to explain the general tendencies of humans in a “crowd” situation so that studiers may obtain a clear understanding of why and how individuals allow themselves to act and behave

Throughout The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell explains to his reader his ideas about drastic changes in society, and how they seem to occur so rapidly. In this particular selection, Gladwell emphasizes the purpose of “connectors”, saying that they have a “special gift for bringing the world together (page 38)”. Gladwell states that part of the reason information or trends spread like wildfire is the presence of a specific group of people. They are called “connecters”, and they are people who know, or are connected to, people of “different worlds (page 51)”, and bring them together. In his book, The Tipping Point, Gladwell uses different forms of persuasion, rhetorical questions, and organization to

Meanwhile, ethos allow the reader to view the author as a trustworthy source and builds the author's credibility. An author can do this in a number of different ways, such as using other credible sources to their advantage or by building common ground with the reader. It is especially important for Gladwell’s audience to trust him, as he is trying to convince them that what they believe about success is wrong.

Activism, especially political activism grows and shrinks because of the role of awareness. Morren also talks about the role of awareness as a factor leading to outrage in his book “CHIPS”. For example, some ways that Awareness may grow, according to Morren, include things such as the continued expansion of the problem, increased knowledge of how to deal with a particular kind of problem, and the ability of victims of new incidents to place credible claims due to government responsibility. In addition to the ways that awareness may grow, there are more ways for awareness to not grow. For instance, Morren states that awareness may need a jump start of a catalyzing event, or the accumulation of small incidents and experiences affecting the people

Malcolm Gladwell's publish book tipping point in 2000 main them of the book is that How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. The tipping point, is the moment at which an idea clips on and spreads. He uses the symbol of epidemics that how an idea, messages and products spread he also arise a question that Why is it that some ideas or products start epidemics and others don't?

Paul Revere and William Dawes both set out to warn the Americans saying, “The British are coming!”, but Revere was far more successful in getting the information to the correct people. Why? In the book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell answers this question and others like it. Written for “anyone who is trying to create a change with limited resources,” or “anyone who wants to understand the world around them in a different way,” this book explains the tipping point: the moment when a product, behavior, or idea seemingly suddenly spreads throughout the world. Gladwell claims three rules contribute to the start of the tipping point: “the Law of the Few”, “the Stickiness Factor”, and “the Power of Context”. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell successfully shows that these three concepts lead to the start of the tipping point.

In the nonfiction novel The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell takes his readers on a journey through an array of social epidemics to observe what causes them to spread globally, or what he calls their tipping points. His style, along with an unambiguous tone and diction, captivates the interest of his intended young adults audience. He argues that tipping points have three different causes: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. Gladwell successfully connects with his reader and presents much evidence to defend his viewpoint before turning it over to the reader for he or she to try to cause an epidemic on his or her own. With situations so massive as social epidemics, the complexity of the topics he proposes could be very arduous to understand, but, through his style, tone, and diction, Gladwell makes his points clear.

A tipping point is described as “that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” Gladwell discusses three types of people who help ideas tip. These are: connectors, those who help bring the right people together; mavens, those who like to share knowledge; and salesmen, those who are skilled at persuading the unenlightened. Another main point Gladwell discusses is the three laws that affect how things tip. First, the Law of the Few states that the actions of the few outweigh those of the majority. Second, the Stickiness Factor states that the more impactful and memorable an idea, the greater its tipping power. Third, the Power of Context is the effect that the situational environment has on how an idea tips.

The Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context were the three rules of epidemics in chapter one. The first rule, being the Law of the Few demonstrates that at least one person is responsible for your many connections whether it be coming from personality or their attitude. The second rule, the stickiness factor shows that the information that is being presented needs to be memorable and original it can't be bland or otherwise the information won't stick. The third and final rule is , The Power of Context. The rule demonstrates that the first to rules aren't enough to catch attention and the slightest thing might affect the growth of the idea. For example even timing can affect the growth.

The movie Contagion gives a perspective of a worldwide pandemic as it begins and spreads throughout the world while displaying signs of evolution. The movie begins with a woman, Beth, traveling home from a business trip in Hong Kong. Beth becomes sick with what she thinks is the flu. However, she suffers from a seizure and dies suddenly from an unknown cause. Her son along with several other cases around the world suddenly die after having similar symptoms Her husband Mitch discovers that he is completely immune to the disease. Over the next few days the virus gains the attention of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and the governments of the world. With little known about the virus, the CDC and the WHO struggle to find the origin of the virus or how it works. The disease MEV-1 soon becomes a pandemic as the disease transfers rapidly from human to human through fomites. Society collapsed, which led to complete chaos and instability for not only people but also governments around the world . After several months, a vaccine was created and mass produced and distributed to the general public. The CDC was eventually able to trace the pathogen to the origin and patient zero, Beth.

People in poor areas would likely live in a stressful environment with low employment and opportunities. London has the most impoverished neighborhoods and the most massive growing young adult population rebelling political leaders, according to the article, cited in Copper’s article (2011). The author developed the idea that larger group allows people to express frustration through anger and violence and in extreme cases, robbery. Research by Chris Frith supports that emotional contagion had helped develop the 2011 English riots, involving unconscious mechanisms of transmissions between people, described in psychology as herding. Frith argues that social contagion occurs when contagion becomes higher than an emotional state, and many people

Diffusion of Innovations seeks to explain how innovations and social changes are taken up in a segmented group of people. An innovation is considered as either an idea, behavior, or object that is perceived as new by the receiving audience. According to author Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations offers three valuable insights into the process of social change which include: what qualities make certain innovations spread rapidly than others, the value of peer-peer conversations and peer networks during social changes, and assessing and understanding the needs of different individuals in a specific population. In the book, Diffusion of Innovations, the focus is not on the people who change, but the innovations themselves. The clip I chose to analyze for this assignment is a short, less than three minute video, regarding the truth about privilege and

In all cultures it is easy to see the effects of change. Change can be a revolution, a new form of thought, or a new idea surfacing. No matter what these changes are, they often emerge from the minority. In several cases this results an uprising, turning the social system on end. Simple examples of this type of change can be seen in the French or American revolutions, and even in the hippie movement of the 1960's. These changes depict how an idea shared only by a select few can snowball into the mindset of thousands. Within A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People, Henrick Ibsen shows his standpoint on the benefits of social change, and

For some inexplicit reason, people are obsessed with the idea of an apocalypse. Steven Soderbergh 's, Contagion, depicts what could really happen if a viral outbreak lead to a worldwide pandemic. What makes this piece so unique to the apocalypse genre is the director’s ability to focus on the societal impact rather than the virus itself. This pandemic leads to a momentary collapse of social order, commenting on how self-absorption plays a role in times of disaster on both a small and large scale. Soderbergh uses numerous cinematic and narrative elements to attempt to display how an ultra-realistic viral outbreak would spread and ultimately impact society.