Diffusion of Innovations

 According to the Wiki article on the Diffusion of innovations theory provided on the class website, this theory seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spreads. As a Advertising, Public Relations major with a minor in Social Media marketing I could use this theory to analyze many of the platforms I use in my day to day life. The wiki article enlightened me on Everett Rogers, a professor of communication studies who popularized this Theory. Rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated over time among the participants in a social system. Rogers proposes that five main elements influence the spread of the new idea: the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels, time and a social system. 

So let's put this in perspective. In my EOTO presentation, my topic was the creation of the printing press. After reading about the Printing Press on HISTORY, I became competent in its creation. The innovation itself, invented around 1436 by Johannes Gutenberg, this adaption employed a screw-type wine press to squeeze down evenly on the inked metal type. It's adopters-  people started to adopt this innovation quickly and was the key to unlocking the modern age. Communication channels - with the newfound ability to inexpensively mass-produce books on every imaginable topic, revolutionary ideas were placed in the hands of every literate European. It's time - Bookmakers would employ dozens of artisans during this time to painstakingly hand-copy illuminate manuscripts. And then the social system, everyone around this time the printing press spawned an entirely new industry of printers, brick-and-mortar booksellers, and enterprising street peddlers. I'd say this invention was pretty successful.