Blog 8: Diffusion Theory

Diffusion of Innovations - Snapchat

Innovators

In September of 2011, Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown launched an app that has heavily impacted the very nature of communication. This app, called Snapchat, is widely recognized for its mascot, who has adopted the name "Ghostface Chillah." This app gained traction pretty quickly due to the fact that you can communicate by sending pictures and then the pictures delete subsequent to the recipient opening them. This heavily appealed to younger generations and the app has continued to grow in popularity. 

Early Adopters and Common Users

The earliest adopters were the younger generations at the time of the apps release. This primarily included middle-school and high-school students who had smart phones. As younger generations grew older, they became the primary audience. As it stands today, almost 50 percent of users are aged 15-25. With this being the primary demographic, snapchat has added new features to appeal to this audience, such as filters, a chat feature, and SnapMaps. I remember when I was 8 years old Snapchat was released, and I couldn't wait to get my own phone so that I could use it. When I turned 14, I was finally able to start using Snapchat and I was so excited to be able to use it to talk to my friends and send pictures and videos to them. 

Late Adopters, Laggards, and Long-tails

There is a large population of people that were skeptical of Snapchat and what it had to offer. This primarily includes older generations aged 40 years and older. This age group, which includes Gen. X and Baby Boomers, has begun to break into the world of Snapchat. For example, my grandmother has gotten a smartphone after moving to Florida because it helps her to keep in touch with the rest of our family even though we are further away. Since she has bought that phone, she has gotten Snapchat and she frequently uses it to update my siblings and I on her life. Now that Snapchat has become very mainstream the age demographic has become a bit younger and a bit older than it previously was.

Positives and Negatives

This technology has changed the nature of communication as it is now mainstream to share pictures and videos of your day to day life with anyone who you add on your platform. It has made communication very easy, especially among teens who often use it as a primary form of communication. I have kept in touch with friends that I have from all over the country by using Snapchat. However, there are a plethora of negative effects that have stemmed from allowing Snapchat to become so mainstream. These include, but are not limited to, predation, addiction to electronics, and bullying. In addition, one very rampant downside is that revenge porn and leaked nude photos have become very common. These consequences have done a lot to induce anxiety and depression in young adults and it has contributed to rampant self esteem issues across the broad spectrum of users. I do not believe these consequences outweigh the benefits that the app offers.