The Diffusion Theory is so interesting to me because I had never heard of it before and after reading I wanted to look into popular apps and apply the theory. I looked into TikTok and its raging popularity and how it got to be this global phenomenon and the app to be on.
In July of 2014 an app called Musically was created by Alex Zhu. His original conception for the app was meant to be an education platform called Cicada. It was meant to be used for learning new things like math, or coffee or other types of skills, much like a square space is today in my mind. Zhu and co founder Louis Yang raised $250,000 just for the app to flop. They were not attracting teens and kids that wanted to learn and grow, they weren't really attracting anybody. That is when they cut down their videos from 3 minutes to 15 seconds and made it an app where people can post funny videos, lip-syncs, or story times. It pretty much became the new vine when vine started to fizzle out. In 30 days over 500 people were joining a day, but with any company they were facing financial struggle, so they made some design changes and made the platform user friendly and easier to view, and around July 6 they became the #1 app and stayed pretty popular.
So how did Musically become into the app we all know and love today? Well in 2018 Musically actually merged with TikTok under the company ByteDance because the apps were so similar. All Musically users were now faced with a new app called TikTok and now had to navigate around a new look and even more people joining the platform. From the app just being middle and high schoolers to now people of all ages joining, it soon became an app full of collaboration, TikTok dances, and the helpful tips and tricks that we know the app to be today. I think a lot of early adopters of the apps were younger kids just looking to have fun making silly videos with their friends. I also think that many people want to feel in the know about whats happening on the app since it is so popular amongst all ages. Many people however are against the popular app because they don't see the appeal, don't want the distraction, or just aren't on social media at all.
I do believe there are some downsides to this app like all social media platforms. It is incredibly addicting. I find myself scrolling for hours because I love all the videos that come up on my for you page because they are personalized to me and my likes. I also think that it can be an unsafe platform for little kids because there are so many people of all different ages on the app and that can open them up to inappropriate content and child predators. We need to monitor our children to make sure they are safe on the app and make sure no one is trying to contact them. I chose to download TikTok because I was an early user of Musically and like it when I was a kid. I like what my TikTok is now. I see a lot of content related to the tv shows and movies I like, as well as acting and career tips from industry professional that I probably would not see on other apps. I feel that the positives of the apps outweigh the negatives if you are above legal age. I do not think that children should be on the app without close parental supervision or even on the app at all because of the dangers it can bring. I am not sure how I would weigh the cost-benefit analysis with new communication technology. I would probably look at how many viewers there are over 18 because I feel that people 18 and up are the target audience and see how they are responding to the content they are receiving. I would also maybe send out a survey through the app where people can rate their experience on the app.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations#Characteristics_of_innovations
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5#:~:text=The%20team%20turned%20Zhu's%20new,importantly%2C%20they%20kept%20coming%20back.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe
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