Unlike Simple Viruses

Change: How to Make Big Things Happen by Damon Centola
Little, Brown, January 1, 2021

In Change: How to Make Big Things Happen, Damon Centola debunks what he calls the “myth of the influencer,” that special and connected person who is thought to amplify social trends. The book elevates instead the many unknown and unnamed people on the periphery of so-called social networks. Centola’s argument hinges on social media data demonstrating that today’s best-known influencers actually just adopt what has already reached a critical mass of acceptance along social media feeds. This argument underpins Centola’s assertion that social change is not the result of a few influential people spreading certain ideas to the masses like simple viruses but instead, the masses spreading certain ideas along a continuum of what he calls “complex contagion” that ultimately and inevitably trickles up. Using historical examples of widespread and significant social change including the American Civil Rights Movement and the Arab Spring, Centola illustrates the influence of social networks propelling individual actors to align along specific and public behaviors and beliefs, signaling to leaders which change initiatives to promote. Centola’s theories push educators to reconsider the role of the leader in bringing about reform and point to the power that collaborative groups, such as students and teachers, possess when they signal to each other across their social networks. His research suggests that due to the centrality of social media today, leader-driven change initiatives that are not already known and somewhat or wholly accepted by those historically on the periphery of power are unlikely to catch on.

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