Chatting in a Snap

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According to professor and author Everett Rogers, "Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread" (See Diffusion of Innovations). This may sound theoretical and complex, but in reality, it is just big speak for trying to explain why something goes viral. The theory focuses on four main elements that will determine the extent to which a new idea or piece of technology will spread ("the innovation itself, communication channels, time and a social system" - See Diffusion of Innovations). For Snapchat, all four of these elements fell into place with a perfectly tuned synchronicity that sent the app skyrocketing onto the phones of 210 million users. That's right---I fact-checked the number and found that in the past five years, the number of daily users of Snapchat has grown to 210 million people. I'm sorry, but that is a helluva lot of people.

So how, and why did this innovation diffuse across the world at a high powered speed? Teenagers wanted a platform to communicate that did not include their parents. Facebook gained popularity with the adult crowd, so teens lost interest. The app met a number of needs for teens with perfect timing. It gave them the ability to interact with their friends at high-speed intervals and magically erase the postings as well. In addition, the app has continued to develop and create new options for its users like Streaks and Snap Map which keeps the innovation self-sustaining. 

Unfortunately, there is evidence which points to Snapchat "as the second-worst social media platform for teen mental health" (See Negative Effects of Snapchat for Teens). Anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying are only a few of the consequences that seem to be instigated by interactions on Snapchat. And this may be true...but it is not a reason to doom Snapchat. It's interesting to me that each generation feels that the younger generation is being harmed by new ideas of the day. After all, didn't adults once argue that young people were being irrevocably harmed the swivel in Elvis Presley's pelvis?

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