The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 128-134

129 For buzz to spread, you need two things: a contagious product—one that has some inherent value that makes people talk—and someone behind the scenes who accelerates natural contagion. Word of mouth must be accelerated.

130 Hiring practices can also be used to accelerate contagion in certain social networks.

…behind almost every good buzz there is someone who understands that success comes not only from having a contagious product but also from speeding the good word about that product to the far reaches of various networks, getting the attention of potential customers before competitors do.

134 …the best way to change people’s behavior in this case was to work with local opinion leaders. The first step was to identify the network hubs.

You can broadcast or you can connect.. Broadcasting involves massive mailings or buying media time and packaging your message so that it can be transmitted simultaneously to all nodes in the network. Connecting involves starting a dialogue with certain individuals in the network that you are trying to influence.