Early, Mid, Late? Which One Are You?

This post is not theological in nature and no, I'm not talking about the Tribulation (Pre, Post, A)

After getting hammered once again on Facebook for my FOURSQUARE updates, I pondered and posted this tweet yesterday afternoon:

"Early adopters are usually criticized. As it was with Twitter so it shall be with everything new that comes along. Get used to it"

That wasn't so much a shot across the bow to my critics who constantly tease me about things such as Twitter, but it was a reminder to me that I am an early adopter and that as I forge ahead of the crowd those that don't understand or aren't there yet are going to ridicule and make fun of something they don't see or understand yet. When I first said something about Twitter two years ago I was mercilessly teased until it became the "in' thing to do ("John Piper is twittering now!!!!) and now those critics are the ones I get the Tweets from. Twitter is not the innovator that it was two years ago and those who are just now discovering it are "lagging". Get the point?

What is an early adopter. The answer is here and you can see by clicking on the picture that there are distinct phases of adoption through our culture. It starts with the innovators (the ones who test the boundaries and creates change) moves to the Early, Mid and Late Adopters and finally to the Laggards who come to the party way to late. So I ask, which one are you?

Can't you see it in our culture?

2 comments:

Chad Wright said...

I'm probably an early adopter. But, only if whatever is it has a clear-cut place in my life, beautiful design and is incredibly user-friendly.

I just started in the location-based game too, but I went with Gowalla over FourSquare. Mostly because Gowalla is much prettier and was created right here in Austin.

Chad Wright said...

I'm probably an early adopter. But, only if whatever is it has a clear-cut place in my life, beautiful design and is incredibly user-friendly.

I just started in the location-based game too, but I went with Gowalla over FourSquare. Mostly because Gowalla is much prettier and was created right here in Austin.