Gladwell vs. Watts February 10, 2008

I thought that the article about Duncan Watts and what he thought about Malcolm Gladwells ideas were very interesting.  Watts definitely had contrasting ideas to those presented in “The Tipping Point.”  The main idea of contrast was about the idea of Influencers.  Gladwell believe that these are people who you need to start trends.  They are popular, connectors and they are the sole reason that trends hit their tipping point.  Apparently, it all has to start with these people.  Watts on the other hand said that Influencers have nothing to do with it.  He believes that these trends start randomly.  He also believes that society has to be ready for a trend in order for it to go anywhere.  He said, “If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one, and if it isn’t, almost no one can.”  He had also emphasized that any average joe can start a trend which goes totally against what Gladwells views were.  Part of me wants to fully agree with Watts because his discussion about influencers just sounds so much more logical.  The title of the article basically sums up what Watts thinks.  Marketers are spending a billion dollars a year on targeting influentials.  Watts believes they are wasting their money.

   It’s hard to find similarities in the views of these two individuals.  Watts didn’t totally shoot down Gladwells idea of Influencers.  But he did tweak the term a bit to fit his opinion.  He believes in something called “accidental influencers.”  He believes that every trend has to have a mover or a hipster to start a trend, but the people that start the trend accidentally fall into this role which makes them an “accidental influencer.”  I found this to be very interesting.  Watts is an intelligent man and I give him much credit in all the research that he had performed in order to form his own opinions.  Both of these men are very intelligent, but at this point I think I would like to agree with Watts’ ideas rather than those presented in “The Tipping Point.”