Blog Post #7 Innovation and The Lens of Diffusion

 Through the Lens of the Diffusion Theory

Inventions come and go. Most people will jump on the train as soon as the trend or item comes out. However, there will aways be those that wait to jump on at the last minute. To begin, the Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spreads. The five main elements that influence the spread of new ideas are the innovation itself, communication channels, adopters, time, and a social system. Lets look at how each of these elements have affected the spread of social media through the lens of the Diffusion Theory. 

Social media hit our world like a massive wave. As soon as MySpace hit the internet, social media has been a bandwagon everyone hasn't hesitated to jump on. It may have started as MySpace, but now we have social media giants such as Instagram and of course the infamous TikTok. As of this early September, there are 4.9 billion social media users globally. This comes out to about 60.49% of the world population uses one or more of the various social media platforms we now have. Social media has taken over the world and it is safe to say that pretty much everyone uses at least one app or website.   

Early adopters are those that jump on the app as soon as it is launched. Usually trends hit the ground running and pick up everyone on the internet. Many people classify as early adopters because they have a fear of missing out. The fear of missing out is probably why social media platforms blow up and become the next best thing so quickly. When we feel as if people are having rewarding experiences without us, the phenomenon of FOMO takes over and anxiety builds. People catch wind of the new apps from their friends and then their friends make them feel as if they are missing out on something life-changing. This is typically how most people are roped into downloading social media.  

People who classify as late adopters are those that either want to prove they are different by not hopping on the trend or they just don't see the appeal of it until someone convinces them. Late adopters tend to approach new inventions with skepticism and after the greater majority of the population. Typically, late adopters are socially pressured into joining social media or it becomes a necessity due to a job, internship, etc. Many people can overcome this social pressure, and don't adopt the innovation at all. This group of people don't listen to the opinions of others and listen to the past generations and what was
considered socially acceptable during pre-modern times. Laggards tend to see the negative side affects of getting too involved in new innovations such as social media. Since these platforms first became a thing, many research studies have been done regarding the negative affects of social media on our global population. Many organizations try to get laggards to join the trend through propagating positive features and benefits.

It makes sense that many people are hesitant to join social media. Sometimes the positive can outweigh the negative but when it comes to social media, it can be a trap. These apps attempt to pull each user in by offering instant satisfaction through videos on TikTok and so on. Social media provides that quick serotonin boost that we are supposed to get from connecting with other in person. Moreover, these apps have been detrimental on the younger generations social skills because they rely heavily on the apps to do the talking for them.

It truly just depends on the person and what they feel is best for themselves. Some people know that they will have copious amounts of screen time or they will judge themselves to harshly because of social media. I think that social media can not be listed under one certain category. Social media affects everyone differently, and much like everything else in this world, there will always be positives and negatives. It is only a matter of how you choose to use it.