BLOG POST #7

 DIFFUSION THEORY

After reading Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations on Wikipedia, I learned that the adoption of a new idea is influenced by five key factors: the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels, time, and a social system.

Immediately, I thought of an app that is used a very substantial amount in our society today, especially amongst the age group of 18-24. The app being, TikTok.

    TikTok is an app where you can start scrolling around 10:00 pm and look at the clock when it feels like only a few minutes had passed meanwhile it's been hours. Personally, I have done this numerous times and then proceed to ruin my whole sleep schedule... 

TikTok ultimately caught on the spread of becoming a new technology for people to constantly scroll on because there are so many engaging creators making content all around the world every day. During the 2019 quarantine era is when most of my friends and I latched on to the idea of following the new dance and lip-syncing trends. It was a way to feel connected to my friends in different towns and cities and learn more about influencers. TikTok is a platform where people can easily become recognizable as the app has become more personal and shows videos based on an algorithm of likes and comments, favorable to your account. 

From what I noticed while using this app, I can consider my mother, aunts, and uncles as late adopters after seeing my cousins and I rant and rave about the app, they wanted to see what was so special about it. They joined and became just as entertained as my cousins and I were. Now today, at least once daily, a TikTok video is sent to our family group text. 

Because it is so easy to lie down and scroll endlessly on the app, it is clear that there is a downside to this new technology because it is so addictive and entertaining it can be sometimes challenging to exit the app. 

There was a study done by Dr. Nia Williams at Bangor University where students had to delete their TikTok account during final exam period because they were spending way too much time on it. The constant scrolling with a personalized algorithm on TikTok leads young people to get addicted because of the release of dopamine that gets sent into the brain. 

Although this app can often lead me to chuckle, I honestly think it would be best for me to limit the time I spend on it or delete it from my phone because it's ultimately a distraction in my everyday lifestyle and makes it hard for me to get certain tasks done because I want to keep scrolling. The age of TikTok entertaining but really not beneficial.