Snapchat and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory

Everyone on my campus has a Snapchat account, and usually their parents and family do, too. For me, it is a fun way to share snippets of my life with those that I may have lost touch with and see what my friends from high school are doing in college. Snapchat stories, the most public form of communication on the app, are only 24 hours and so it is a fun way to let people know what's going on with you in a less formal manner than any other social media platform. You can also have private conversations with people that "disappear" when you click out of them, so it provides the personal connections that come with texting with the social aspect of other platforms.

According to this Forbes article, Snapchat started gaining popularity in Los Angeles high schools in 2011. This timing was important because Apple came out with their front facing cameras around the same time, so as the "selfie" became popular, so did the app. It's popularity grew as students encouraged their peers to download the app, similar to how Facebook became viral. The biggest key to the app's amazing success was the early team; they were incredible at listening to and understanding users' concerns and they made changes when they felt they were ready to do so.

Finally, Snapchat started making a lot of money when they provided advertisers and other companies with a way to individually target users in a way that no other app had before. It didn't feel invasive because you still had your personal side of the app, that included conversations with your friends and no ads. On the public side of the app, you could view your friends public stories with ads that you can click through, as well as stories from bigger companies like BuzzFeed and Cosmo. The bigger companies stories include ads that you can't just click through so you have to view the ad for a few seconds if you wanted to continue the story.

They have really turned the app into a viral sensation that is part of my everyday life.

The Importance of the 5th Value of Free Expression

5. Check on Governmental Power (watchdog role)           

 As Watergate, Irangate, Clintongate and all the other “gates” demonstrate, freedom of the press enables citizens to learn about abuses of power – and then do something about the abuse at the ballot box if they feel so moved. We, along with the press, are part of the check-and-balance system to restrain government power and abuse of power.  

I am a huge believer in this value of free expression because I believe that everyone should be involved with their government, in order to keep them in check. Our government has a lot of power and if no one is doing anything to keep them from taking advantage of that then things can go horribly wrong. That’s why I could argue that this rule is more important than any other on this list because with unwielded power, the government could take away our right to free expression all together. Now, that is a bit extreme, however, I believe this one is still one of the most important.
I mean come on, of course I do, I’m a political science minor and a communications major, meaning I believe in civil conversation about government actions more than most 20-something-year-olds. I love when my friends get excited about politics; I mean some may call it yelling, but I call it excitement. I think that every young person should be passionate about what they believe is right or wrong, which a lot of them are because we always think we’re right. The important part of having those strong beliefs is also listening to others’ beliefs, having the facts to back up your opinions, and being able to agree to disagree at the end of the day. 

I digress, the point I am trying to make here is we’re never going to all agree on the same thing, and who would want us to. But the one thing everyone can agree on in politics is that they want to know what is going on. That’s why everyone reads the news every morning isn’t it? Why we watch our favorite nightly news network every evening? We, as human beings, are naturally curious creatures. We want to know what’s going on in the world around us and how it may affect us personally and that is why this freedom of expression exists.

How does the Internet empower us?

There is a paradox to our relationship with the internet when it comes to empowerment and agency. Does it empower us or does it enslave us? Perhaps it depends who you ask.
Agency becomes an extension of literacy, and our ability to properly wield the powerful tools that are available to us. For some the empowerment is derived from a confidence that comes through proficiency. For others disempowerment is a consequence of the anxiety that comes through not understanding how the technology can and should be used.

The reason literacy plays such an enabling and empowering role is the requirement for rapid learning in the digital age.

It’s not as if there’s a finish line to the Internet, a point where you can say you’re finished, and you’ve learned it all! On the contrary, lifelong learning is the new norm, and those who embrace their own daily education are empowered and find navigating society a breeze.

Literacy is not just the ability to read, but at a more fundamental level the ability to recognize patterns. The ability to read text and actually comprehend. The ability to surf the web and find that needle in the haystack you sought out to find.
Perhaps it is the attention deficient culture that makes it difficult for many to make that connection, whether with other people, or with the emerging tools and environments that can be empowering.
How do we slow down? How do we take the time to focus when we live in such a fast paced world?