The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. - Malcolm Gladwell
I recently came across a video by Matt D’Avella titled ‘Is this the end of minimalism’. In the video, he discusses the boom in the trend that was minimalism, a point when endless Instagram pages and blogs posted about this new trick to meaningful living and happiness, and how the boom was short-lived, somewhat like a fad.
It's making headlines less often but does that mean people are going to stop finding value in the practice? Is it destined for the same fate as Tamagotchis and yo-yos?
The video intrigued me, not just in terms of minimalism dying as a trend but the general idea of what can make or break a trend.
So,
What makes a trend and what kills it?
Malcolm Gladwell in his book “the tipping point”, proposes the three laws of tipping points: The law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the law of context.
THE LAW OF THE FEW
Gladwell In his book “the tipping point”, shares the ‘law of the few’ which specifies the three types of people that turn ideas into epidemics:
1. The Connectors – have a massive social network, with many acquaintances and help spread ideas from one social group to the next.
2. The Salesmen – boast about ideas they love and their incredibly positive energy is contagious.
3. The Mavens – hoard information, in order to become sources of great tips to their networks whom they greatly influence.
THE STICKINESS FACTOR
If your idea isn’t sticky, it’ll never tip.
Gladwell calls this the stickiness factor.
“Is your idea memorable enough to make people take action?”
Gladwell explains in his book that no matter how much influence you generate around an idea that isn’t sticky or provides no meaningful purpose, reaching the masses would remain impossible.
I like to put it this way, ‘If your idea doesn’t give people a new lease of life or at least somewhat of a sense of it, the masses will ignore it’
The concept of stickiness was first put to a scientific test by the creators of Sesame Street in the 1960s.
They observed the children watching their show and noticed that the children were selective about what they paid attention to.
Children enjoyed the blend of fantasy and reality.
The children gave very few looks to the educational show on how to spell the word “Cat” and yet could recall what they had watched. Unlike adults, the children seemed to be watching the show in order to learn, and not for the sole purpose of entertainment.
The quality of the content seemed to be the only thing influencing their memory.
POWER OF CONTEXT
‘Power of Context’ is the idea that the environment (moment, place, setting, etc.) in which the idea is first delivered plays a great role in whether enough people invest in the idea.
If the context is not right, it is not likely that the tipping point will take place.
To discuss the idea, Gladwell gives the example of the large drop in crime rates in New York City and justifies it as a result of a change in context. He claims that the drop was a result of the city removing graffiti from subway trains and clamping down on fare-dodging.
The Hushpuppies case study
Hush Puppies (American suede shoe brand) had its tipping point between 1994 and 1995. Before its tipping point, the brand had been dying, sales were at an all-time low, and outlets were limited (in 1994 sales of Hush Puppies were down to 30,000 pairs a year). The tipping point came when hipsters in Manhattan started wearing the shoes again, triggering a trend that spread throughout the whole of the US, resulting in huge sales increases and a massive increase in the number of outlets.
Trends always die out
The 50s and 60s gave us rock,
The 70s gave us disco,
The 80s gave us punk.
There’s a natural cycle to things, everything will decay and deteriorate with time, and another will take its place.
People change, people, outgrow the things they were once passionate about.
We create better,
We learn better,
and eventually, we move on.
"Trends are born, they grow, mature, reach old age and die... an organic life cycle, and each trend is different," says Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute.
UPDATE:
Hi,
I’ve come up short on my promise to deliver this newsletter every week.
I apologise for the sudden hiatus.
I hope you can excuse my lack of professionalism.
Take care
See you next week!
with love,
:)
My work isn’t distributed by ads or algorithms. Thus, the growth of this newsletter is totally organic.
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Also, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I’d love to hear them.
SOURCES (+ LEARN MORE)
(https://www.npr.org/2011/02/09/133616425/the-end-of-trends-if-its-hot-its-over, https://web.stanford.edu/class/symbsys205/tipping_point.html, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/the-triumph-of-the-slob/612232/, https://www.npr.org/2011/02/09/133616425/the-end-of-trends-if-its-hot-its-over, https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjatobN1qDzAhXEdCsKHfMZCNgQFnoECCUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHush_Puppies&usg=AOvVaw1BCR-Ng3J5UI3bvswfVwZv, Image source: Unsplash)
Are all trends destined for the same fate as Tamagotchis and yo-yos?
As a fellow writer, (who has been on hiatus longer than I promised!) I'm encouraged by the "sorry for the sudden hiatus" bit.
(Thinking, "oh, good; it's not just me." Also, maybe I can be direct like that in my newsletter!)
Enjoying this content!! Keep going!