Real Life Social Network v2 http://bit.ly/9povRP
A very interesting presentation how we function in social networks, both offline and online and where the problems are right now. It’s a long presentation – I felt it would be a good foundation for a book long before I realized the author had written one.
It’s a Scribd document (Flash, sorry) so I can’t copy anything relevant, but I was amused when “Tupperware Parties” were referred to as an example of how we make decisions in groups: the Tupperware Party was a brilliant model. That’s something I learnt very early in life. When I first went to University post High School, I moved out of home and made my living as a Tupperware dealer. (Not really as strange as it sounds, my parents had been Distributors for about 10 years at that time so I’d grown up with the products and knew them well).
He’s absolutely right, it was much easier to sell Tupperware in a group than I imagine it would be person-at-a-time. It was certainly easier to put some social pressure on guests to book another party. Rewards for hostesses always involved a dollar sales figure plus two or more new party bookings. I’m pretty sure I did some social manipulation to get the second one. “Won’t anyone hold a party? Betty’s got the sales figures and she’s just one party booking away from this wonderful gift.” Â Tupperware “got” social networking!