DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION

     Everett Rodgers published The Diffusion of Innovation in 1962. Rodgers theorized about how, why, and at what rate new technologies spread. My goal in this blogpost is to connect Facebook to Rodgers' diffusion of innovation theory. 

     Under Rodgers' theory, the "pioneer" or "innovator" phase would be the time when Facebook was meant only for Mark Zuckerberg's fellow students at Harvard. In this phase, the business wasn't even called Facebook; it was called Facemash. In these years, Zuckerberg developed the idea and created a prototype online. 

     Eventually, Zuckerberg hacked into Harvard's system, and he was forced to shut down Facemash. Zuckerberg next moved int go into what Rodgers called the "early adopters" phase. In 2004, "thefacebook," as Facebook was known then, spread to an audience of primarily college students at Stanford, Yale, and Columbia. These "early adopters" saw the value in Zuckerberg's invention, and they told their friends how cool thefacebook was. Zuckerberg's "business" grew mostly by word of mouth. Gradually, people at other colleges started using this new technology. 

     By September 2005, Facebook was in its "early majority" phase. The site quickly expanded to over 800 college campuses and started making an impact in the high school network. Also, Zuckerberg dropped the "the" so the site became simply "Facebook." This was the time when parents of students and people in older generations began using the website. Rodgers called people who began using the product during this phase the "late adopters." 

     At first, only the younger population was on Facebook (during the pioneer and early adopter phases). When the late adopters joined in, all the Facebook users would be called the "early majority" under Rodgers' theory, as Facebook grew rapidly around the world. 
     The final phase in the Diffusion of Innovation Theory occurs when the late joiners begin using the new product or services. Rodgers called these late joiners the "late adopters." This is where I would put myself in regard to Facebook. I never really wanted to use Facebook. I just needed a Facebook page for college. Since it seemed everyone else had one and had joined Facebook groups, I thought I would, too.

     The final group, under Rodgers' theory" is called the "laggards." These are people who resist using new products, services, or technologies. Often, they never join in with others who were early or late adopters. Although my Dad uses a lot of technologies, he is a laggard when it comes to Facebook since he has never created a personal Facebook page.