Interesting Title.

Another post about The Tipping Point...

Gladwell describes Connectors, the people who link us with the world, (citing Paul Revere, a Dallas businessman, and others.); Mavens, the information specialists; and Salesmen, the people who sell us on the ideas behind epidemics.

Since the internet makes it so much easier to share and procure information now, shouldn't there be more epidemics? Arguably, there are. Look in any store, or even at the feet of a group of teenagers...Odds are that at least two out of ten girls in a group will be wearing some similar, popular kind of shoes, or maybe jeans, or even coats. Probably, they bought them on the recommendation of a friend (Salesman?), who found out about the shoes through someone at the store (Maven?). Alternately, the friend might be the Connector, and so on.

Another example is American Idol. This one is definitely more internet-oriented, since you see ads for it on every other site you visit. The reason it's so popular is, frankly, beyond me. If I want to hear crappy singing, I can drop in on the 8th period choir. If I want to hear decent singing, I can turn on my iPod.
I, and quite a few of my friends, watch only the auditions. Because they're really damn funny.
Cruel, certainly, but funny. Maybe it's another of those Americans-are-drawn-to-the-pain-of-others things, but it's also a testification as to how powerful the Connector-Maven-Salesman system can be.