As we catapult forward into the technological age, provocative questions prompt thoughtful believers in the Church today. While some are arguing against the interest we have in technology (SBC) and that it may be waisting time, others have taken the posture that we are poised at the juncture of an incredible opportunity to use technology as a resource in our pursuit to seek, serve and share God with those who might benefit from our efforts.
In his comprehensive book Diffusion of Innovation, Everett Rogers defines diffusion as the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. The rate of adoption or diffusion rate has become an important area of research and has been utilized by many of us in research to develop a graduated set of adopter categories. Traditionally, these categories included the innovators, the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority and the laggards.
One of the most interesting changes in the technological research landscape involves the subtle shift in the demographic profile of early adopters. Formerly, early adopters (of new media technologies) were well-educated, white, males with a high socio-economic status and often over 40. The dot com era changed that and the early adopter profile began to skew down especially to younger ages. Also, education frequently outweighed other attributes including creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and out-of-the-box thinking. Currently, the gender division is giving way. The internet creates a level playing field where traditional boundaries of every sort do not exist.
What does all this have to do with the Church? If we embrace internet technologies, especially social networking, podcasting, blogging, vlogging, then we have the opportunity to reach a larger, younger, tech-savvy audience. Many technologies offer early adopters an advantage in the “market” or within their target audience. The value of this audience cannot be underestimated. Our new audience will be the first technological generation, the first generation to live without the boundaries we grew up with in the 20th century.
To some, the Church has a reputation for being out-moded, mired in tradition and lagging in relevance. Why not encourage the Church to embrace early adoption and thus manifest relevance to those outside the Church. Make great websites, create interesting blogs, provide thoughtful, supportive communities that link individuals and encourage collaborative models. The penetration rate of the internet is reported at 73% of American adults in a recent Pew report, a saturation point it took TV 30 years of diffusion to reach. What about the Church leading the charge, inspiring change and responding to technology as a key vehicle for the distribution of the gospel and the transformation of lives?
