Diffusion of Innovations

     When TikTok emerged, it really took the internet by storm and grabbed the attention from all the other social media platforms. This may feel like something that would have never happened, an app where absolutely everyone uses it, from family to family across the globe. According to Everett Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations theory it was bound to happen sometime soon. It followed a pattern, and the pattern helps to explain why new technology spreads so quickly and why they catch on. There’s also a reasoning behind people liking these adaptations quicker than others that may even resist. 

    Roger’s talks about the five elements that changed the way innovation spread. Those five being, the thing being innovated itself, the ones adopting it, communication channels, context of time, and the systems of society. To be completely honest, TikTok uses all five of these and it uses them well. It’s very fitting with habits that already exist, people enjoy watching short clips of videos. Apps like vine, YouTube, or even Instagram made it easy to install the app and instantly start scrolling, making them very easy to view. People using this type of media can constantly see what others are doing, which really helped push these platforms into everyone’s everyday lives. 

    The innovators creating these apps were teens that were looking for ways to express their thoughts online. The early adopters were “influencers” and “trendsetters” that saw the potential the app had. The early majority joined once they realized TikTok was more than just a silly dancing app, and the late majority (companies) followed when it became recognized in a mainstream setting. The laggards are the people who still aren’t on TikTok, they often talk about how it makes screen time increase, or they just don’t understand it. These 5 stages show what Roger’s called “barriers to adoption”.

    Next time you see an app, or any technology gaining traction, think about who would be interested early on, and what makes it appealing in the first place. Then when it blows up, think about whats holding you or people you know from installing it.