Many of us interested in marketing and social networks have read Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point. It posits that a handful of “key influencers” are responsible for  establishing and disseminating trends through society.

In the most recent Fast Company, a social scientist at Yahoo claims he has run simulations around social influence that demonstrate that the process is a lot more democratic than that described by Gladwell. The quote below summarizes his argument:

If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one--and if it isn't, then almost no one can," Watts concludes. To succeed with a new product, it's less a matter of finding the perfect hipster to infect and more a matter of gauging the public's mood. Sure, there'll always be a first mover in a trend. But since she generally stumbles into that role by chance, she is, in Watts's terminology, an "accidental Influential."

A good read for anyone interested in social influence:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-tipping-point-toast.html

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority. - Ralph W. Sockman

We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld