Emerging Communication
Technologies
Meeting 1: Introduction
• Emerging = Coming into existence
• Technology? = Something that is build and not part of the natural environment
• For the purpose of communicating and/or being communicated to / communicated
with
• People have always been busy thinking about emerging communication technology
Emerging technologies follow the same pattern: Gartner Hype cycle
1. Innovation Trigger
2. Peak of Inflated Expectations
3. Trough of Disillusionment
4. Slope of enlightenment
Similarities
• it comes with good and bad
• it doesn’t always last
• differences in adoption
o
• it always starts with an innovation
Meeting 2: Diffusion & Acceptance of Technology
Diffusion of online technology
• Journalism: the gathering, assessment, creation, and presentation of news and
information
1
, o Based on their news wothiness
• How to obtain that information?
o Prior to the WWW: specific client-based services, such as Lexis-Nexis and
CompuServe
o Services that were only available on specific locations and for specific people
History of technology - Internet
• 1969: ARPANET
o Connected 4 computers
o Oct 29: message from UCLA to Stanford
o System crashed after sending 2 letters
o We were able to go to the moon, but not computers talking to each other
• 1989: Internet is born
o The WorldWideWeb (W3) is a wide area hypermedia information retrieval
initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents
o Uploading documents and reading them à access to a lot of documents
o Internet was booming since the 1990’s
• Main RQ of article
o Who are the adopters of WWW for obtaining information?
When journalists were looking for
information à internet
Old technology is substituted by new
technology
2
, Even though the internet grows
around 1995, a lot of people weren’t
using it
The adaption of technology
increases over time but not for
everybody
Diffusion of innovations
• Diffusion
o The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain
channels over time among members of a social system
§ Hashtags
§ AI and chatbots
§ Diffusion of innovation models
• Innovation
o An idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other
unit of adoption
§ it doesn’t have to be new but you have to perceive it as new
• Channels
o Two distinct ways (1) Mass Media and (2) Interpersonal Communication
• Social System
o Group of interrelated agents (work, family, etc)
§ Agents are people and objects that can influence their environment
• Diffusion: five different adopter groups, defined by how early or how fast they adopt
an innovation
• Adoption can mean two things
o Substitution of previous technology with new technology (e.g. journalists and
WWW)
o New technology, without substitution of previous technology
§ New technology takes a position that hasn’t been filled by old
technology
• To promote widespread dissemination of an innovation,
o Each adopter group should be targeted using different communication
channels & messages
o In the first groups: identify change agents
The innovation-decision process
3
, Knowledge
• When an individual becomes aware that the innovation exists & starts to understand
how it works
• Example: chatGPT
Persuasion
• When an individual develops a positive opinion towards the innovation
• Persuaded by the technology by using it
o ChatGPT in college which can write your assignments
o Useful for them (start being persuaded)
Decision
• When aware & with a positive opinion, an individual will - at some point - try out the
innovation
Implementation
• Application of the innovation in one’s daily life, with increasing levels of usability and
easy-of-use
• Imply it in their lives
Confirmation
• Continued levels of innovation use & confirmation biased information seeking
• You increasingly use the innovation in your life
• Consious decision to start using it
Adopter groups
Innovators
• The first to try out technologies they perceive as new
• Risk-takers in terms of usefulness of the technology
o They tend to take a risk (trying new things)
• Very limited effort needed from marketing etc
• Important for the marketing firms
Early adopters
• Tend to be opinion leaders that feel the need to change old technologies and adopt
new technologies
• Already convinced of the usefulness of the new technology
o They consider the technology to be useful
Early majority
• Tend to follow opinion leaders, but are not an opinion leader
o Followed by a lot of people
• Need evidence that the new technology is useful
o They need to be persuaded
4
Technologies
Meeting 1: Introduction
• Emerging = Coming into existence
• Technology? = Something that is build and not part of the natural environment
• For the purpose of communicating and/or being communicated to / communicated
with
• People have always been busy thinking about emerging communication technology
Emerging technologies follow the same pattern: Gartner Hype cycle
1. Innovation Trigger
2. Peak of Inflated Expectations
3. Trough of Disillusionment
4. Slope of enlightenment
Similarities
• it comes with good and bad
• it doesn’t always last
• differences in adoption
o
• it always starts with an innovation
Meeting 2: Diffusion & Acceptance of Technology
Diffusion of online technology
• Journalism: the gathering, assessment, creation, and presentation of news and
information
1
, o Based on their news wothiness
• How to obtain that information?
o Prior to the WWW: specific client-based services, such as Lexis-Nexis and
CompuServe
o Services that were only available on specific locations and for specific people
History of technology - Internet
• 1969: ARPANET
o Connected 4 computers
o Oct 29: message from UCLA to Stanford
o System crashed after sending 2 letters
o We were able to go to the moon, but not computers talking to each other
• 1989: Internet is born
o The WorldWideWeb (W3) is a wide area hypermedia information retrieval
initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents
o Uploading documents and reading them à access to a lot of documents
o Internet was booming since the 1990’s
• Main RQ of article
o Who are the adopters of WWW for obtaining information?
When journalists were looking for
information à internet
Old technology is substituted by new
technology
2
, Even though the internet grows
around 1995, a lot of people weren’t
using it
The adaption of technology
increases over time but not for
everybody
Diffusion of innovations
• Diffusion
o The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain
channels over time among members of a social system
§ Hashtags
§ AI and chatbots
§ Diffusion of innovation models
• Innovation
o An idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other
unit of adoption
§ it doesn’t have to be new but you have to perceive it as new
• Channels
o Two distinct ways (1) Mass Media and (2) Interpersonal Communication
• Social System
o Group of interrelated agents (work, family, etc)
§ Agents are people and objects that can influence their environment
• Diffusion: five different adopter groups, defined by how early or how fast they adopt
an innovation
• Adoption can mean two things
o Substitution of previous technology with new technology (e.g. journalists and
WWW)
o New technology, without substitution of previous technology
§ New technology takes a position that hasn’t been filled by old
technology
• To promote widespread dissemination of an innovation,
o Each adopter group should be targeted using different communication
channels & messages
o In the first groups: identify change agents
The innovation-decision process
3
, Knowledge
• When an individual becomes aware that the innovation exists & starts to understand
how it works
• Example: chatGPT
Persuasion
• When an individual develops a positive opinion towards the innovation
• Persuaded by the technology by using it
o ChatGPT in college which can write your assignments
o Useful for them (start being persuaded)
Decision
• When aware & with a positive opinion, an individual will - at some point - try out the
innovation
Implementation
• Application of the innovation in one’s daily life, with increasing levels of usability and
easy-of-use
• Imply it in their lives
Confirmation
• Continued levels of innovation use & confirmation biased information seeking
• You increasingly use the innovation in your life
• Consious decision to start using it
Adopter groups
Innovators
• The first to try out technologies they perceive as new
• Risk-takers in terms of usefulness of the technology
o They tend to take a risk (trying new things)
• Very limited effort needed from marketing etc
• Important for the marketing firms
Early adopters
• Tend to be opinion leaders that feel the need to change old technologies and adopt
new technologies
• Already convinced of the usefulness of the new technology
o They consider the technology to be useful
Early majority
• Tend to follow opinion leaders, but are not an opinion leader
o Followed by a lot of people
• Need evidence that the new technology is useful
o They need to be persuaded
4
