© GettyThe rapid change in the Middle East may be a good example of how opinion can be swayed.
To change the beliefs of an entire community, only 10 percent of the population needs to become convinced of a new or different opinion, suggests a new study. At that tipping point, the idea can spread through social networks and alter behaviors on a large scale.
The research is still in its early stages, and it's uncertain if the results will apply to all kinds of beliefs, particularly in tense political situations.
But the findings do provide insight into how opinions spread through communities. The model may also help experts more effectively quell misconceptions and influence the choices people make about public health behaviors and related issues.
"This is really a starting point to understand how you can cause fast change in a population," said Sameet Sreenivasan, a statistical physicist who specializes in network theory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
"The real world has a lot more complexity, obviously," he added. "But one of the things you can take away is that if you want to cause a fast change, there is an upper bound to how many people really need to commit."