Social Contagion Theory Essay

While reading and watching the TedX video discussing social contagion theory I realized that this theory does relate to my usage of certain technologies such as the iphone and facebook. First level effects which are mostly based on functionality and efficiency mostly influenced my decision to become an iphone user. Functionality is one of the main features I look for when choosing any type of device but especially when choosing a phone. Initially I was an android user and was fond of the device because it offered some unique features but after time I became tired of its functional issues. This is when I first considered getting an iphone mostly because it was very simple to use and had all the functions that I needed being a student. Second

Although initially both first and second level effects led me to become a facebook user these two effects are also what deterred me from using it currently. As the technology evolved its functionalities no longer suited my needs. I initially liked some of the functionalities and social aspects facebook offered which centered around communication and user provided content. Currently some of the functionalities still focus around those two features but there are also many new features like gaming which facebook has put an emphasis on. These features are not features that I look for in communication technologies and therefore deterred my usage. Socially many of my friends and family also became inactive users and many deactivated their accounts. This greatly affected how I felt about facebook in a social context. It also limited the ways in which I could socially interact with individuals which was one of the reasons attracted me to use the technology in the first place. One of the sections of the video which most related my usage to social contagion theory is when James Fowler spoke about clusters and their influence our social behavior. If I analyze my usage of facebook and compare it to how many individuals I was connected to at the time who were also facebook users there would be a very strong and direct

Mobile commerce specifically refers to a form of e commerce that is done through a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. The fact that mobile commerce can be accessed by mobile devices that tend to be more inexpensive and accessible to a majority of the population than computers is one of the factors that has enabled its recent growth. According to Butcher “Mobile commerce use grew 86% from 2010 to 2011. (Butcher, p.182) A growth of 86% in one year is remarkable and the convenience factor that mobile commerce has is certainly one of its benefits and has greatly influenced its recent growth. An additional form of convenience that mobile commerce offers is the ability to pay with your with applications such as mobile wallet. You can also manage your money with many of the applications that are offered on our mobile devices and many smaller businesses are now able to partake in e commerce with the development of services like square. Consumers also have accessibility to more merchandise than they would have in store, they can better compare prices,access the stores at any time of day, and don 't have to stand in long lines. Many of the benefits surrounding electronic and mobile commerce focus on convenience but there are certainly drawbacks. One of the biggest drawbacks to electronic and mobile commerce is