The Stuff that Makes Stuff Spread

August 15, 2009 by Paul McEnany in Advertising (sorta), Social

I can see the decks being written now, many pinpointing the shirtless dancer as the epicenter of influence, the spark that ignited the brush. The advertising pros will study him endlessly, trying to understand his movements, learning how to reflect them so that they too could become that spark.

But while the video is still a good visualization of the way things spread, the spread itself is not so unidirectional. Obviously, the impromptu dance party probably wouldn’t have happened without that particular idiot. Nor could it have without the second or third. But I’ve seen lots of idiots dancing at festivals. I’ve been that idiot. I’m sure many of us have. But this case was different because of everyone else that for some reason were susceptible to joining. Maybe they were bored. Maybe the live show wasn’t all that appealing to the eye. Maybe it was a little chilly, or maybe all those mushrooms weren’t your garden variety.

Either way, the “influencer” in this case, wouldn’t necessarily have been such if it were the day before or the day after. He wouldn’t be that if he tried the same thing at his local bank or the dry cleaners. So while it’s great to have the respect or involvement of the so-called influentials, maybe it really is easier to just set the right conditions and create a few influencers of our own.

Or better said by Eric Sun via Mark.

“[Mostly] things don't start with special individuals - it is the rest of us and our willingness to adopt something that we see around us that really matters in the spread of behaviours and ideas through populations.”