As the pace of technological change accelerates, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell predicts ever more frequent disruption.
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.No one can say exactly when the term “tipping point” was coined, but if there’s one person we can blame squarely for its abundant, throwaway use today – to signify everything from melting Antarctic ice sheets to decider states in the US presidential election, to the Middle East being on a knife edge and the push for transgender equality – it’s Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell.
The barrier-breaking moment when a small change, which may have been nibbling on the edges of society for a while, barely noticed, can push an entire system into significant or even seismic change, was the key concept ofbestseller list and went on to sell millions.
Gladwell continues: “At the beginning of COVID-19, we assumed that everyone could be infected, with everyone having an equal chance of infecting someone else. But we found that the work of spreading the virus was actually carried out by a small section of the population, the super-spreaders.” Similarly, on social media, a small group of super-influencers can play a profound role in ushering in significant change.
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