When discussing Diffusion Theory, there are an endless amount of topics that can be discussed. However, I find social media to be a golden example of diffusion theory in relation to communication. Social media is a relatively new technology, beginning in the late 1990's and early 2000's. While social media began to gain mass popularity in the 2000's, it has now become one of the most trafficked areas on the internet.
When social media was first introduced, it was often targeted towards small groups. Six Degrees, a website that many attribute the title of the first social media platform, began as an invite-only platform. Facebook, the largest social media company by number of users, began as a rating platform for female students at Harvard University. These early adopters were often younger adults or people working in tech fields, as they were both more familiar with the internet.
In 2023, nearly everyone uses a form of social media. Social media has so grown so rapidly due to it's easy accessibility and massive popularity among other reasons. I believe most people use social media due to the fear of missing out ("FOMO"), which may also be a reason why there are constantly new users on the biggest platforms.
The few people that have access to social media but do not choose to use are becoming (if not already) a minority among people with access to internet. Of course, these people have different reasons for not using it but they are together in avoiding the consequences of using social media.
Though social media is great for connecting people and relatives, it has many downsides. Many platforms have aggressive algorithms that learns what content the user likes and promotes it to them in an effort to achieve more clicks and interactions on the platform, even if it damages the user's well-being. Meta, the owner of the massive platform Instagram and Facebook, is aware that it is harmful to the mental health of it's users, especially young female users.
In this post, I have only scratched the surface of the negative affects of social media. I am biased, however, as I have felt the effects myself and have been trying to distance myself from them. A part of me wishes I never used social media, though I would definitely be experiencing heavy FOMO if I did so. I believe we are approaching a new era of human history were all generations alive at a time are widely using social media. Though this is may be in 50 years or so, I believe that people in the future may not have a choice to adopt social media; they will instead be born into it.
No comments:
Post a Comment