Blog 7: Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Diffusion of Innovation Theory

    

    The diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why and at what rate new technology and ideas spread. Everett Rogers, a communication studies professor, came up with this diffusion of innovation or ideas theory. While coming up with this theory, Rogers proposed four main elements that influence the spread of a new idea or innovation. The four main elements are the innovation itself, communication channels, time, and a social system. Rogers comes to find that the innovation itself must become widely adopted to self-sustain. One innovation that I will be talking is Facebook.

    One new innovation or idea that came about is Facebook. Facebook was up and running in 2005 and is still one of the most popular social media sites to this day. How did Facebook become so big so quickly? Well, to start out, Facebook was the first social media where you could post updates about your life and see your friends and family post updates. It was the first time you could stay up to date with friends and family that you may not have seen in a very long time. Facebook connected people from across the country or even across the world. Because people can stay connected so easily, they adopted this new technology very early. Some people did join right away because it took them some time to simply see the point of Facebook. Many people think that they should just text or call their family and friends to stay in touch with them. That is one great way to stay in touch, but Facebook provides you the opportunity to see their life in pictures as well. The late adopters, after hearing a lot about Facebook, finally join because they may feel as if they are missing out. Some people, even after hearing about Facebook, still decide to opt-out of it. This may be because they think the downsides of this technology far outweigh the good. For example, the downsides to Facebook is that there have been some trouble with keeping a lot of your information private. Another major downside is that it is time consuming. Many people do not want to waste hours a day on Facebook, so they do not put in the effort to create an account at all. 

    I believe that the positives of technology, especially ones like Facebook, are much more beneficial than they are hurtful. You can stay in touch with your friends, while staying up to date on the newest and best technology of your time. If you are concerned about spending too much time on the app, then you can set time limits to limit yourself. But, staying up to date with new innovations and ideas will help you stay connected with the younger generations and maybe will even make you feel as if you are young again.