Innovation,Crowdsourcing and social media

Diffusion of Innovations is a theory of how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. There are 4 main elements that influence the spread of a new idea:

1. The Innovation (Product)
2. Communication channels
3. Time
4. Social system

Social media provides as eco-system that incorporates the latter 3 elements that influence the spread of a new idea. It provides a low cost communication channel that rapidly spreads the idea through a social system.

Crowdsourcing is the reverse of innovation diffusion.It was first coined by Jeff Howe in a June 2006 Wired magazine article "The Rise of Crowdsourcing". An example of crowdsourcing is inviting the public to develop a new technology, carry out a design task (also known as community-based design and distributed participatory design), refine or carry out the steps of an algorithm, or help capture, systematize or analyze large amounts of data. Web 2.0 enables innovation driven companies to use crowdsourcing and spread an idea through the social system in a low time frame i.e. quickening the adoption process.

The idea comes back from the social system in a reduced time frame through the same communication channels that spread the original idea.