Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Blog Post #7: Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion of Innovations 


In accordance to investopedia.com, "The diffusion of innovations theory describes the pattern and speed at which new ideas, practices, or products, spread through a population. The main players in the theory are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards." This theory was developed back in 1962 by E.M. Rogers, and is also considered to be "one of the oldest social science theories" (Singer). Clay Halton from investopedia.com stated that Innovators are, "people who are open to risks and the first to try new ideas, Early Adopters are, "people who are interested in trying new technologies and establishing their utility in society. Early Majority includes people who, "pave the way for use of an innovation within mainstream society and are part of the general population, and Late Majority includes people who, "follow the early majority into adopting the innovation as part of their daily life." Finally, Laggards are people who, "lag the general population in adopting innovative products and new ideas." 


There's no doubt the fact that this generation heavily relies on technology and largely communication through cellphones primarily on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc. Due to the vast space that is the internet, there are a consistent amount of people every minute maybe even seconds, I'm sure that there is someone out there posting something for a vast amount of individuals to see. Social Media, especially Twitter, really took the technological world by storm when it debuted back in 2006, and now thanks to demandsage.com, we know that, "Twitter has 237.8 million monetizable daily active users as of Q2 2022." This app was originally designed to operate as a social networking application which would allow users to send, receive, and consume news, keep in touch with friends and family, as well as being able to explore an interactive online space. Twitter has expanded exponentially since then as different celebrities, socialites, political figures, etc. have a large influence and following which adds to a constant state of interest, drama, and news spreading faster and faster. The news cycle on any social media app can be interesting to watch, but Twitter allows any of its users post almost anything they want as long as it follows their guidelines and standards which means anyone could start rumors or spread false information with the click of a button.  This can also be good for journalists and scoopers to have such a platform that allows them to spread news to a wide range of people a lot faster and more efficient.

Twitter allows its users to tailor and utilize the platform as they desire whether that be for business or mere fun and enjoyment. americanpressinstitute.org equipped me with the data that showcases how often people use twitter as well as what they use it for. The data presented demonstrated that 77% of users are on Twitter daily, 16% several times a week, 5% weekly, and 3% hardly use it. The overwhelming majority utilize the app daily and 40% of users are on the app to be alerted or find out about more breaking news, 39% use it to keep up with general news, 36% to pass the time, 31% to tell others what they're doing and currently thinking about, 28% to see what others are talking about, 24% to keep in touch with people they know, 19% to follow famous people, 19% to share news, 19% to network,  18% to follow trending topics, and finally 7% are dedicated to anything else that goes on within the app. 


Many people gravitate towards this app thanks to how much free will each user essentially has as well as how accessible everything is. I use it just for that very reason, because I love seeing a ranging view of opinions and ideas from so many different types of people, but I do often raise concerns after I view certain forms of media on the platform. This is why I could also see people being turned off by the idea of social media, there is a lot going on at once and it can be difficult to adapt and keep up while also trying to only navigate the path of truth. 

Nonetheless, Twitter is a platform that has been growing continuously for quite some time. There may be a lot of changes that were made recently and I'm sure to come, but it's important to really not leave out both the positives and negatives to the platform and situation.


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