LOOKING AT SNAPCHAT THROUGH THE LENS OF THE DIFFUSION THEORY

What is the diffusion theory? Often referred to as the DOI (Diffusion of Innovation Theory), this idea is an old social science theory that was first developed by a man named Everett Rogers in the early sixties (click on this link-Behavioral Change Models-to read more about the Diffusion of Innovation Theory). The idea of diffusion theory is that it is a theory that explains to the typical human how a product gains momentum and spreads through a specific population or social system. The end result of this theory is that through communication, new users adopt the new idea or product. For example, when Amazon was first blowing up as a company many people were hesitant to buy from the company. People were hesitant because no one had heard of them before and no one believed two day shipping (and sometimes even one day shipping) was possible.

We normally look at companies from an outsider's viewpoint. However, I think it is a very interesting concept to look at a company through the lens of the diffusion theory. What I mean is that we need to imagine we are on the inside of a company and by looking at the company through the lens of the diffusion theory we can figure out how something got caught by people in society and how it spread.

Let’s use Snapchat as an example. Snapchat was founded in 2011 by Evan Siegel. For those of you who don’t know Snapchat is a very commonly used form of social media. However, compared to other social media many people would say that Snapchat is very different. The reason for this can be summed up in one word: temporary. The reason a lot of people don’t like social media is that if you post something on Facebook or Instagram unless you take it down it is on the internet FOREVER. Evan Siegel wanted to create a photo/video heavy platform where people could send each other photos and videos. That’s not totally different from other social media platforms. What is different is that if you don’t save the photo or video when you open it, it disappears.

If you were to walk in a college classroom today there is not a single student who does not have Snapchat and if they don’t there peers would think they are very strange. Snapchat has become so popular that many teenagers and millennials use it to text their friend and family, rather than using iMessage on their Iphone. Today, roughly 150 million people use Snapchat. Snapchat consumes more than 800 hours of video per second (read more about Snapchat here -A Brief History of Snapchat- if you wanna know more about it).

Why has Snapchat become so popular? If I am looking at the app through the lens of the diffusion theory what has made so many people download this social media? It really just comes down to the fact that Snapchat is different. There was a void to be filled for the younger generation that Mr. Siegel saw when he was making the company and he filled it. Snapchat is a wonderful place where young people can say things or send things that they wouldn’t want the whole world to see on Facebook and Instagram. In other words, they can be themselves.