According to Science Direct, the Diffusion Theory impacts "the spread of an innovation through a population," (Batres and Yasuda). The Diffusion Theory determines how people in a society are going to respond and react to a certain innovation or technology. This theory shows how people become used to living with certain technologies and how they impact our lives. While some individuals may be impacted by new technological advancements or innovations almost instantly, others tend to hold off too see how it truly makes a difference in our own society. It is all up to personal preference.
An innovation that was incredibly successful was the creation of the internet. The internet gained its popularity because it allowed more people to communicate with one another, at a faster speed as well. People were now receiving different forms of communication, as sending letters and making phone calls were used during the time of the internet's invention, emailing was not also possible thanks to the internet.
Through the Diffusion Theory, an early adopter is typically someone who is open to making changes happen and are excited when it comes to technological advancements and innovations. So many people were early adopters of the internet because individuals saw this as a new and exciting way to communicate with others, read the news, and share and receive information. The internet has a lot more efficiency compared to other forms of communication.
With any kind of innovation, there are going to be people who are late adopters. This means they will finally join the rest of society in regards to using a certain technology or advancement after a long period of time has passed. Some people were late adopters to using the internet because they did not feel like it was necessary to use in their everyday life. Some people enjoyed the way their lifestyle was and did not feel like any changes needed to be made. Others were also skeptical about the internet and wondered if it was truly one of the best ways to communicate and retain information. However, as time passed, the internet grew immensely and has one of the biggest impacts on humans in the world. Without the internet there would be no cellphones, apps of any kind, additional forms of communication, or ways to search anything up and get the answer in an instant. With all of the technological advancements formed because of the internet, it became harder for people to stay away. The internet is used in schools, the workplace, and it became so common in our everyday lives that it was almost inevitable for everyone to start using the internet, and the late adopters finally joined everyone else.
As it has been mentioned that the internet has a massive impact on societies everywhere, there are still individuals who do everything in their ability to avoid using the internet and have done so successfully. There are people who are never going to be adapters of the internet because they are afraid of how the internet is going to impact them. The internet holds so much information about everything, including your identity. People do not want to create an internet presence because then it can become incredibly easy to find your name, address, contact information, political party, etc. If you do even more research, you can find information such as someone's DNA test results, which you would never expect to be uploaded for anyone in the world to see if they looked it up. Some people are not comfortable knowing they can become so accessible to the whole world if they use the internet, so they do not use it at all. Or, especially regarding the older generations, if they do not understand how to use the platforms, some might not be interesting in learning and just stay off the internet overall. Since the older generations have gone most of their lives without the internet, they may not feel like it is necessary to use it and learn how the internet works.
As previously mentioned, using the internet can be harmful to individuals because it is so easy to find someone's personal information that they do not want to be shared with anyone. Along with this, the internet tracks your every move. The internet looks at your browsing history, your physical location, the apps that you use, and it can even listen into your conversations. It is all extremely invasive especially with the discomforting feeling of knowing that nothing posted on the internet is gone even if you think it is deleted.
However, some people love to use the internet because it allows you to communicate efficiently, and even with people who live all over the world. The internet has also improved our education systems greatly as it has become an incredible tool to use in schools. Individuals can learn so much because of what the internet has to provide for us. While the internet has its positive and negative impacts, what matters most is that people learn how to use it properly and in the safest way possible.
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