spread innovation

Posted on 21st January, by Cathy Wang in Social Science. No Comments

When we think about the spreading of virus, we have to think about AIDS. It is a failure of classical epidemic model. We realize the power of hub through patient zero, Gaetan Dugas, who slept with more than 200 singles per year. He becomes the hub that spreads out the virus. The people he had sexual intercourse with then spread out more.

We can look at the spreading of innovation or fads in comparison with the spreading of AIDS. The first adopters of a new innovation are taking the most risk and risk is the most relevant issue at hand. We can also see how the hub works in adoptability. The hub is more connected; therefore, the hub has a wider adoptability. Because of the characteristic of a hub that it’s very interconnected with other links, hubs are the best way to begin a spreading. “Innovation spread from innovators to hubs.” (Barabasi, 2001)

In a social network context, we can see the action of hubs in adoptability in any new product. Marketing specialists would try to target the people with the most credibility and connectivity to reach for the biggest market. Once the highly connected hubs/people accept the new product, it is more likely for the new product to be accepted by the majority. Moreover, the new product would spread more quickly too. The hub is the opinion leader, the power users. They are the influencers that influence people.

There is also a threshold for all the spreads. Some of the fads and viruses just disappear after a while or don’t even get to spread to the whole market. There are different spreading rate for each innovation. The idea of the critical threshold is the quantity determined by the network in which the innovation spreads.

If the spreading rate of the innovation is less than the critical threshold, it will die shortly. If it is over the threshold; however, then the number of people adopting it will increase exponentially until everyone who would use it does.
- Barabasi, 2001