How hubs spread ideas

There are two types of hubs

When people talk about “influentials,” they are usually talking about hubs. Hubs are people with a large number of connections. Typically, we think about hubs as a one-way information channel. They consume information from an official source, and pass it on to all their connections. But in fact, hubs are two-way channels. They have many incoming links as well as outgoing links.^{6, 9, 10}

How we typically think about hubs (left) and how we need to think about hubs (right).

There are two types of hubs, and research has shown that both are necessary for mass adoption of a new idea (including new products and brands). Innovative hubs are people who are highly connected and have a low threshold for new ideas. They embrace new ideas after being exposed to them a small number of times. Follower hubs are more common, and are people who are highly connected but have a high threshold for new ideas. Follower hubs tend not to embrace a new idea until they have been exposed to it many times. Innovative hubs initiate the process of spreading a new idea, but follower hubs are more important for ensuring the idea is adopted by the masses. Innovative hubs drive the speed of adoption; follower hubs drive the overall market size. Many marketers only focus their efforts on innovative hubs.