Diffusion Through TikTok

When talking about Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations theory, it is important to understand that this theory is used to explain how, why, and the rate of the spread of new idea, technology, and inventions. Rogers states that the Diffusion process is the process in which an innovation is communicated through channels over a period of time, as well as with the participants in a society. 

Everett Rogers

More information about this theory is that there are five main elements that can change the spread of an idea: the idea itself, adopters, communication channel, time, and the social system. 

In this theory, there are six different stages. The first being Pioneers, then Early Adopters, then Early Majority, then Late Majority, then Laggards, and finally the Long Tail. While the long tail might not be considered an official stage, it is still extremely important for the Diffusion theory.

To address the stages I will be discussing a new innovation. The innovation that I will be discussing is TikTok. I will be doing this because not only do my friend and family use this app, I do as well. When talking about TikTok, it is important to understand how quickly it became popular.

TikTok was officially released in 2016. During this time only a select group of people were consistently using the app. This is what is known as the first stage of the Diffusion theory- the Pioneers. These are the first people who partake in an idea- in this case a social media platform. Only people who were already using the app Musical.ly were the most prominent in TikTok.

In the years following this, most likely 2017- early 2019, people were starting to join the app. Most of the people who joined during this time were intrigued by the apps idea. The fact that people could make short videos and potentially go viral intrigued a lot of Generation Z (Gen Z). This group of people would be a part of the second stage- the Early Adopters.

As for the third stage- Early Majority- most people became active on the app late 2019 or early 2020 when Covid-19 was shutting down schools and businesses. This is when college aged people, younger Gen Z, and even middle and elementary aged kids were choosing to use the app. This is the early majority because this is the time that the app gained most of it's popularity as well as when the most people joined.

As for the Late Majority, this would have occurred 2021 to 2022. This would be more people from the Millennial generation, Gen Z, as well as Generation Alpha. The late majority are people who joined on right after what is called the "tipping point." These are people who join right after the cusp of popularity.

The people who joined from 2023 to now, would be considered the Laggards. Laggards are people who join way after something if popular. Specifically, many of the people who joined during this time are often Generation X. This generation mostly consists of Millennials, Gen Z's, and Gen Alpha's parents. While the app was gaining popularity with their children, they were skeptical of the app, but, after some time they became intrigued and decided to join themselves.

While not every idea or invention will likely follow this exact formula, it is often extremely accurate for the most popular apps and inventions- especially witht he younger generations- tend to follow this theory.