In Mark Graniveter's example, imagine being part of a riot where people are throwing rocks. The person to your right joins if they see 5 people throwing rocks, while the person to your left needs to see 6. You won't join until you see 7 people. But when the person to your right joins, they become person 6 for the person who needs 6, and so on. Even though you're not easily influenced, if the person to your right conforms, you will too, thanks to the person to your left. This creates a cascade effect, where each person with a lower threshold joining increases the likelihood of higher threshold individuals joining.