Diffusion of Innovations

Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations explains how, why and at what rate new ideas and technologies spread. While it is just a theory, it is widely adopted and popular. According to Roger, “diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated over time among the participants in a social system” (Wikipedia contributors, 2020). His theory comes with graphs to show his thoughts in an visual format, like the one below.

Snapchat is an example of a newer innovation that can be viewed through the lens of the theory. It was founded in 2011 and it has quickly become one of the leading social media platforms in the world in 2020 and it is still so new. The theory claims that is an innovation is too complicated reduces the chances it will be adopted. Snapchat is the complete opposite of complicated. It is a simple platform that lets users send pictures and videos for a maximum of 10 seconds to their friends.

A downside to the innovation of Snapchat is that it does not make tasks easier. The theory claims that innovations are more likely to be adopted when they help with everyday tasks. It also claims that innovations that are disruptive to routine are less likely to be adopted. Snapchat can be a distraction to routine.

The theory dives into to characteristic of innovations. That is how the innovation are adopted (or not adopted). The diffusion of innovations has strong and valid points that show the value of innovations from the past to the innovations of now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/history-of-snapchat

Works Cited

Wikipedia contributors. (2020, March 24). Diffusion of innovations. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations