Blog #7- Diffusion Theory

The Diffusion of Innovations theory is a hypothesis outlining how new technological and other advancements spread throughout societies and cultures, from introduction to widespread adoption. This can be used to explain almost any idea or invention and how it either became popular or was a complete flop. When I think of the diffusion theory I immediately think of Facebook. Over the years it has been super popular then not so much, and even underwent a name change. Facebook's success and adoption among the public will all make sense after looking at it through the eyes of the diffusion theory.

There are 5 main categories of people in the diffusion theory. These include innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. First, let's talk about how Facebook even came about. In 2003, Mark Zuckerberg along with some fellow Harvard students created a site called Facemash. Facemash was a website where students could go on a rate the attractiveness of other students on campus. However, the lifespan of Facemash ended after two short days due to being in violation of Havard University policy. Within the two days that Facemash existed, it quickly gained 450 users just from Harvard. These people would be considered the innovators of the now-called Facebook. Innovators are the very few initial people who flock to an idea or creation, usually, they make up 2.5% of all adopters to come. 

After Zuckerberg's Facemash was shut down, he realized it was quite a hit in such a short amount of time. He decided he needed to create a new site with a different URL and see if this one would also be as popular. So in January 2004, Zuckerburg and some friends released TheFacebook.com. Havard students who signed up for the service could post photographs of themselves and personal information about their lives, such as their class schedules and the clubs they belonged to. As the popularity of the site increased, soon it was opened to other high-ranking schools such as Yale and Stanford. By June 2004, TheFacebook.com was opened to 34 different schools across the country and over 250,000 students had accounts. These initial individuals would be part of the early adopters of the diffusion theory. 

Soon Facebook was open for anyone to join, not just college students. By the end of their first year, they had reached over one million users. This was quickly becoming a popular site. These first one million users I would consider the early majority. Around this period in Facebook's life, some brands and companies started realizing this could be a great place to advertise. These companies were the first to take the chance and buy advertising on Facebook. The period of early majority really boosted Facebook and encouraged others to start joining. 

At this point, if you weren't on Facebook you were late to the trend. Facebook continued to make improvements and updates to its website. By the end of 2005, Facebook had over 6 million monthly users. This was groundbreaking for the time. With that being said, if you were not within those 6 million monthly users already, you were a late adopter. There are many reasons for people to adopt something late, some people are skeptical and others just have no interest in whatever the "idea" is. Some people who really are hesitant to get on board with something are often called laggards. 

Eventually, as time went on, the growth of Facebook was maxed out. It got to the point where everyone who was going to adopt Facebook already has and those who haven't most likely never will. The growth of Facebook was stagnant and Zuckerberg knew if he wasn't growing he was losing. This caused Zuckerberg to rebrand Facebook. Facebook is now called Meta. Not only did he change the name but he also rebranded the entire social media site towards the new generation he is trying to reach. This is a very smart move on his part and will create the cycle of adopters to start all over again.