What is a Tipping Point?
A good definition by Claire Dederrer of the Seattle Times appears on the back cover of the book. According to Dederrer, “The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” Sudden changes in social behavior and what causes these changes is the theme of this book. The spread of viruses, crime waves, fashion trends, teen suicide and teen smoking are examples of contagious behavior that have reached tipping points. Three Rules of Tipping Points 1. The Law of the Few. Connectors, mavens and salesman are responsible for starting word-of-mouth epidemics (p. 255). The law of the few is explained by a concept referred to as six degrees of separation (p. 36). This means that a very small group of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps and everyone else is connected to the world through that small group of people. Connectors are people with the ability to bring the world together. They know lots of peopl
