The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Choose a product from the past that you don’t hear about much anymore (e.g., Furby or Tickle-Me-Elmo). Construct a narrative in which a Connector, a Maven, and a Salesman play their part in bringing this former fad back into the mainstream. Use the source text to explain how each individual utilizes their unique skill sets to push the product closer to the mainstream. By the end of your narrative, you should explain how your product “tipped.”

The central message of The Tipping Point is optimistic about the possibilities of real change through strategic, intelligent action. Discuss a cynical interpretation of this book in which the beneficiaries of social epidemics are virtually always wealthy corporations, and real change is inaccessible to the average person.

What is the difference between “contagiousness” and “stickiness”? Describe the difference and then explain how something could be contagious but not very sticky; sticky but not very contagious; both contagious and sticky; neither sticky nor contagious. How do these two qualities complement each other?