We have come full circle this week, back to an idea first covered last year during spring institute 2011. Thank you to Charles Kadushin for discussing a theory of communication that I actually understood last year without wanting to tear my hair out. That ladies and gents is the theory of diffusion. More to the point, in chapter 9 of Understanding Social Networks, Kadushin links diffusion to the ability of people to influence one another.
As Kadushin explains, those who are considered leaders usually are the ones that others look to and listen to when there is diffusion of a new idea. However, that does not mean that leaders are the innovators or the early adopters. In fact, leaders tend follow the norm. Quite often it is those out in the periphery that take on new ideas first and through brokers or bridgers their unconventional ideas are spread out from the leaders and to late adopters.
This made me consider my place in the cohort in terms of adoption of these social media tools. I was personally always on the fence about Twitter and LinkedIn, not because I didn’t see that they could have a purpose, but I felt like I was putting myself out in the public too much. I didn’t mind Facebook though. I set my privacy so that I couldn’t be publically searched and I was able to connect with friends far and wide.
Then during last year’s cohort, I found myself sitting there, looking around and realizing how behind the times I was. Not just because of social media (I kept telling myself that I needed to get in the loop and sign up for Twitter), but because of the physical tools I had at my disposal. Everyone had a laptop or a smartphone and there was me with my trusty, almost three year old talk-only phone. I vowed that when my cellphone contract was up in June that I was trading in for a shiny new data-capable phone.
Fast forward to today and I’m about to celebrate my one year anniversary with my smartphone and everything that it encompasses. Mostly that means the inability to stop checking my e-mail. But, now in addition to that, I went from almost 0 to hero with respect to social media usage, all due to COMM506.
While I am still learning the ins and outs of blogging, Twitter and curating my LinkedIn profile, I am honestly amazed at how quickly I an
d others in my cohort have picked everything up. Does it take a long time to talk us into something? For some of us, it sure does. But, when we embrace something, we seem to do it wholeheartedly.
So, late adopter, yes. Black sheep, nope.
crystalcarwin 
HI Crystal- you’ve struck a chord here- I would agree that taking those leaps of faith and applying trust is key in these matters and a recurring theme in becoming a good netizen. Look how our tweets have intertwined thus far! Like your black sheep image!
Interesting article, Crystal! I thoroughly enjoyed the idea that it is those in the periphery who initially adopt new ideas that are later spread by leaders. This concept, however, has me questioning whether or not a periphery group can actually exist in a society that is so deeply reliant upon social media. Because of our ability to readily share every detail of our lives at any time, are we not all leaders in a sense? Or are we all just followers trying to keep up with one another, terrified by the notion of being left out of the latest trend?
Well, Katherine, those in the periphery are typically those with fewer connections and the leaders are bridgers to the later adopters. If you think about it, there are many people who lie outside of the realm of the in-crowd that are far more savvy when it comes to new technologies or innovations, but it usually takes someone in more of a leadership role to get things rolling. Think about high school and cliques. A nerd might be ahead of the game when it comes to something, but because of who he/she is, no one pays attention. But, if someone cool comes along and adopts whatever it is that the nerd was using, other cool kids are more likely to adopt it, too. And, when we talk about diffusion, we have to remember that not everything spreads like wildfire when it first comes out. Often times, technologies and innovations take much more time to spread. It’s only when it really starts to take hold that it seems like it becomes popular overnight. Thanks for your post!!
Sometimes it feels like I adopt just an inch before my network hits the tipping point!
Hey Crystal,
I totally agree that the smart phone is key to using twitter (and many other forms of social media). Otherwise, you could never check it often enough. Twitter is all about what is going on in the here and now. Whereas I can check Facebook once a day and not miss anything, I’d need to be constantly wired into Twitter to get anything out of it. I can handle Facebook with a home computer because, compared to twitter, Facebook is snail mail. I’m a very slow adapter, (and possibly I will never adapt to some things), but one day I will add data to my phone. Until then, la resistance!!!