The diffusion of innovations is a theory that explains how why and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. The idea was popularized by Everett Rogers who was a professor of communication studies and wrote a book titled diffusion of innovation which was published in 1962. It talks about how there are five main elements that influence the spread of a new idea and they include the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels, time, and a social system. Of course for an innovation to be popular and for societies to use it it must be self-sustainable. An early adopter is one who sees potential in a new invention or idea and capitalizes on it early. Late adopters are not so sure and wait until the innovation has gone through many trials and some time before testing it themselves. I think my generation is one of the early adopters who are there to try a new product as soon as it comes out. Let’s take Instagram for example and put it into the diffusion theory. There are always new forms of social media and different platforms making their way into the modern world. Certain things make them catch on and spread or make them fail and never be talked about again. In the world of social media, Instagram seems like the perfect platform for people to take pictures post them and keep up with their friends and community. I think when Instagram came out the early adopters were those who had previously had other platforms on social media like Facebook for instance. If Instagram was the first type of social media I do not think that there would be so many early adopters. I would say that the late adopters are likely older demographics who did not grow up with social media and are skeptical about the whole thing. I think the diffusion theory has a lot to do with generations and can explain why some people are early adopters and some later or maybe not at all. For instance, the oldest generation was already quite old by the time the first social media platform came out. If they did not take to the first platform there’s no reason for them to take to Instagram either. I do not blame these types of people for not being on social media as there are many negative effects. Sometimes I wish I grew up in a world where social media did not exist. While it is a great way to catch up with friends and a fun platform to take and post pictures it can be hard to be a young adult and a female in the world of social media. I think Instagram can be a very toxic place which is common knowledge to anybody that has a social media platform. There are also other reasons someone would not have Instagram like privacy concerns, which are also valid. Someone who does not have Instagram may miss out on what is going around in the lives of those that they do not see on a daily basis but there are of course other ways to catch up and communicate. Someone not on Instagram can easily reach out to friends and family to see what they are up to without getting all the negative effects of Instagram. These would be people who do not adopt at all. I feel that each person would have to weigh the cost-benefit analysis with Instagram and any new communication technology on their own. For instance, for some, it may be more taxing on their mental health than beneficial to have the Instagram app downloaded on their phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment