Blog #7: Diffusion Theory

The Diffusion of Innovation Theory 

proposes the main five elements influencing the spread of new ideas: the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels, time, and a social system. Instagram has been around since 2010 and reached one million followers in two months, and today has two billion active users. Instagram promoted a new way of sharing and communicating with people encapsulating three elements of the theory. Many people who began using Instagram and aided in its increasing popularity were artists and celebrities.  A lot of social media platforms come and go over the years which could explain the late adopters or those who choose to never get involved. Late adopters can join later with an app's increase in popularity and longevity. Most applications, websites, and social media platforms cause concern among people because of the information they gather and/or share. This is a downside but a significant negative consequence of social media like Instagram is the way they can create ingenuine interactions and affect one's confidence in how it leads to comparison. Not only can social media negatively impact one's mental health but these platforms can be collecting and selling your information without your knowledge or assumed consent because it is part of their policies which you must agree to in order to use the media. For example peoples, posts or content have been used for advertisements when they were unaware. If one were to decide to sustain from adopting into new innovations like social media it would make complete sense due to the downsides. The main reason for adaptation is keeping up with the life of those you wish to keep up with but some of the content you see had been modified and chosen carefully despite an effortless appearance. Staying away can benefit your mental health and privacy though it also can keep you on the outskirts when of culture when a lot of it spread through social media. When it comes to the cost-benefit analysis of new communication technology it relies heavily on one's values but regardless without setting limitations to one's social media usage there will be negative effects on one's mental health.