Early Majority of Instagram (Diffusion of Innovations)

 

When I first started using Instagram in the fifth grade in 2012 it had already been out for two years. Even though it had been out for two years, when I started using it nobody I knew had heard of it and nobody I knew was using it. Facebook was still the hottest social network in the market and people weren't letting up from it. Instagram offered something fresh and new, especially for millennials and Gen Z people. At that point Facebook was beginning to be taken over by the "adults" or people that were in the generation above Gen Z. Instagram offered a place where young people could quickly resort to their own space and share photos with their friends. Since its main purpose was to share photos people could put visuals to what they were thinking, and young people tend to like pictures more than they like reading words. For me and for a lot of other early adopters it was a space where I could connect with friends outside of face to face interaction and also regular chat. I was also never allowed to join any social networking sites as a child so to join Instagram on my own fruition was a marvelous feeling.

For most people who use social media sites, they are generally the early majority as seen with Instagram and Facebook, relative to when the companies were established. When you look at other technologies like cell phones and tablets, the same things applies. People don't jump at the opportunity for new devices and systems when they are first released because usually whatever they are using currently is fine. For the late majority and laggards, they usually use it as a last resort, because it is required for something. For a lot of people in my generation we were early adapters to Instagram, but laggards to Facebook because of the timing, and also one appealed more to us than the other in terms of what people our age like.