Blog #8 - Diffusion of Innovation Theory

      Social media has been taking the world by storm for over 20 years now. The Diffusion of Innovation theory aims to outline how and why new ideas, technologies, and other advancements spread among societies and different cultures as well as examine the speed at which they spread.  Everett Rogers, a communications professor, was the first to publicize this theory in his book entitled Diffusion of Innovations in 1962. When brainstorming why it is that social media caught on and proceeded to spread across the globe to various societies and different cultures like wildfire, I came to the understanding that social media or the digital world provides people with an escape from the real world.

The way of human life has changed in the past 2 decades. In the online world, individuals can make themselves and their lives appear to others through whatever lens they choose. This is also why younger generations have been at the forefront of technological advancements, new app creations, as well as why they are constantly up to date on what is trending everywhere. The digital world has allowed people to grow mentally by exposing them to new ideas, practices, and methods. On the other hand, there has been a group of people resistant to this new high-tech society. For example, many individuals that come from older generations not only do not have social media but they also have very minimal exposure to high-tech gadgets as they do not believe they need the type of tech we have now.

Despite all of the positive aspects of high-tech advancements, there are some very clear-cut negative effects of this new technological world. The young people that are so privy to social media deal with a new level of self-criticism. The never-ending, photoshopped images they have constantly exposed to sets an unrealistic standard of what is considered to be beautiful which results in things such as body dysmorphia affecting individuals in today's society like never before. Although this is a harsh negative effect, I believe that the interconnectedness that social media and technological advancements have made available to our world heavily outweighs the ugly side of things.