The marvelously quick reporter is coming up against a possible problem when someone starts actually looking at the data concerning his framing example in The Tipping Point.
A prominent network-theory scientist is challenging the entire idea of "Influentials", whose wide range of contacts supposedly give them extraordinary power in propagating new trends or ideas. He claims they don't have much more to do with sparking trends then the average person, and that the most powerful determinate in trend making is the environment the possible trend encounters. He is trying to convince everyone that viral trends have far more in common with forest fires than diseases and that mass marketing that takes advantage of the human desire for social networking may be far more effective than giving money to a few highly connected big-wigs who are out searching for the next big thing.
I'm just summarizing, clearly, but the article is quite fascinating and you should read it to get the full impact.
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