Social Media — Diffusion to a Mass Society

on

 Social Media's Diffusion to Society

In human communication, it is essential to understand how and why new technologies and innovations spread. Doing this, one man named Everette Rogers, a Professor of Communications, published a book in 1962 entitled Diffusion of Innovation. As one of the oldest social science theories, it originated in communication to explain how, over time, an idea or product gains momentum and diffuses (or spreads) through a specific population or social system. 

    When thinking in terms of what's "popular" today, social media comes nothing short of that. I mean, honestly, everyone and their mother's has some sort of social media account. Undoubtedly, social media controls what we do, see, hear, think, or even how we dress. However, overtime, this has not always been the case until recent days. Media platforms are constantly growing and receiving thousands of new users a day. To stay in-the-loop, people use social media to get the latest updates, whether that'd be news or Will Smith's Oscars disaster, to prevent "FOMO," or fear of missing out. You see, ultimately, this is how social media has over taken our lives and to make us seem "cool." Through the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, we can easily see how the media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and much more, has evolved into the "popular" aspects of today's culture where everyone feels the need to have one. 

    The adoption of a new idea or behavior does not happen instantly in a social system, rather, it evolves as some people are more likely to adopt the innovation than others. When looking at this theory, there are 5 major elements of these adaptor categories in the diffusion of social media: 

  • The Innovators:
    • Or the "first timers." These are the people that want to try the innovation for the first time, explore its qualities, and are willing to take risks. In terms of social media, these are the users that are interested in what these platforms have to offer to society. They are curious and not afraid to speak their minds.
  • Early Adopters:
    • These are the people who are leaders and are opinionated. They do not need new information to change their minds... and in the social media world, this takes vulnerability. They want to see and are aware of new change and are willing to adapt to these changes.
  • Early Majority: 
    • These are the citizens who are more willing to adopt ideas before the "average person." Personally, I feel like I can relate to this category a little more than the others. I am one who needs to see evidence to know and understand it works before adopting the innovation, which is what describes members of this category. They want to know its effectiveness on society and how others will react to the innovation as well. 
  • Late Majority: 
    • Have you ever been skeptical of a certain type of change or innovation? Well, this is what describes the late majority. These people are only willing to adapt to new behaviors if tried by the early majority first and is successful.
  • Laggards: 
    • One word: tradition. These people are bound by traditions and usually are very conservative. They don't like change and are usually the hardest group to adapt to change in innovations. Usually, these people will consider new change if pressured by others, fear appeals, and statistics. 

So, How Does This Theory Apply to Social Media?

    If you think about just how much social media has influenced the way we thrive in the world, it's honestly quite scary. As mentioned above, most everything we do is through the screens of our phones, with the swipes of our fingers. People make these media accounts to stay in-tune with the world and what's going on, while keeping up with family, friends, celebrities, sports, and just about everything. Many people, overtime, have also joined social media for its benefits; however, there are also many cons to how it has developed and influenced our world as we know it. 
    
    The spread of social media's dominance in the world first began in the early 2000s with the companies such as MySpace, but more so with Facebook in 2004. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of the Facebook, first sought his idea to only remain on his college campus of Harvard University and was only accessible to students. However, a few years later, Zuckerberg would become a multi-millionaire and begin the "rise of social media," in my opinion. Facebook influenced other media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat or even Youtube, though their purposes to users are different. 

    The innovators of the rise in social media are the main reason, in my opinion, why social media does indeed carry this "dominance" in society. They were the firsts to use YouTube, or TikTok, or Instagram as they first discovered these platforms. For example, the company TikTok first launched in 2016, and by mid-2018, it had already gained half a billion users... mind-blowing. Why does this happen? How does this spread so quickly? Well, because it becomes popular. And once everyone does it, you have to, too. Pressure to be "in-the-loop" and to be caught up with what's going on in society is valued by many, which urges them to adapt to the behavior or innovation. Looking at the chart below, almost 18 years later, Facebook still holds dominance over all social media platforms with the most media users. 

    With all of this to say, I believe the positives of social media platforms can most definitely outweigh the negatives, if used correctly. With social media, it it is easy to constantly "wish" your life was something else or like someone else's; it's easy to compare your current situations to others on the apps, cyberbully other users, or becoming too addicted and spending too much time on platforms. This is when the media becomes dangerous. But, staying in touch with the world around us, keeping up with family and friends, making new friends, or simply using it out of creativity, are all good things social media has changed within the world of communications. The Diffusion of Innovations Theory explains, that in terms of a economic rise in social media, users are going to almost always adapt to the times and do what keeps them "popular." 

References:
   
https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media

https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-modules/sb/behavioralchangetheories/behavioralchangetheories4.html





    
    

    

Comments

Post a Comment