Diffusion of Innovation Theory: Snapchat

This week we have looked into the diffusion of innovations which was an idea that was. developed by Everett Rogers. Rogers was an American communication theorist and sociologist. The diffusion of innovations is defined as a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. We are going to examine snapchat through Rogers' theory.

Snapchat is a popular social media platform people use to send pictures to one another. The app is mainly used by a younger audience, however, my influencers and businesses promote their brand since snapchat has a lot of users.

The four individual elements that influence the spread: innovation, time, communication channels, and social system. Then there are different categories: the innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

The innovation of snapchat is to allow people to communicate with others quickly using pictures. Time is relatively the same compared to other social media platforms that are used. The only influence that could increase time is if people respond faster on snapchat if it is their most used form of communication. The communication channels are letting people communicate more than by just sending a text. Since you can send pictures of each other, you can communicate showing your face, which is more similar to in-person conversations. The social system is that the platform can be used by anyone, however, the app does attract a younger audience.

Now we will talk about the different categories of who uses this innovation. Starting with the innovators, this group was the first to use the platform as a way to communicate. Next, the early adopters are the ones who just to change. So many people became early adopters because they liked what the platform had to offer and accepted any changes that the app had. The early majority are the people who adopt new ideas. They hold positions of opinion leadership. The late majority are the people who are not always in favor of a change. They do however accept change when they see other people are enjoying it. Lastly, the laggards are the last ones to accept the innovations. They are the people that have the most difficulty adjusting to change, however, they eventually will accept it, if many other people do before them.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations