In essence, the phrase “long tail” refers to those numerous objects that have very limited popularity but that together form a significant share of the total volume. The aim of this article is to make it possible for anyone to utilize the long tail concept not only as a general idea but also as a tool to make realistic and useful analysis of real phenomena.
A feasible analysis requires a mathematical model, enough raw data, and good understanding of the subject and the properties of the model. Thus not only is a formula necessary in this essay, in fact the selected formula forms the concrete basis for the whole analysis of long tails. Nevertheless, we have to be aware of the fact that there cannot be any simple formula that is able to explain all the diverse phenomena that result in a long tail distribution.