Adoption and Diffusion of Social Innovation on Social Network Services

Abstract

Society’s overwhelming adoption and frequent use of online social networks have transformed these services into the parallel universe of conventional socialization. They have allowed for the spread of massive amounts of information of all stripes, including professional information, and have thus brought to bear what we now know as Big Social Data.

The aim of this paper is to analyze whether professionals involved in active social policies in the Province of Malaga (Spain) use social network services to share information and knowledge related to the field of social intervention.

Starting from the premise that the applied use of social network services constitutes an innovation to share professional information and knowledge, we sought to analyze whether professional social workers are indeed adopting this innovation. Employing an experimental model developed in Malaga, their presence and activity on Facebook® have been observed and analyzed through the lens of virtual ethnography. Moreover, by way of social network analysis, we examined the connectedness within the structure of the observed online social network so as to determine, by virtue of one’s position, who the opinion leaders are. We also analyze how this innovation is spread and whether there is a possible correlation between leadership ability and moment of adoption.

The obtained results demonstrate how social network services applied to social intervention are massively and frequently used by professionals, and the diffusion of this innovation is extremely swift. Moreover, a correlation between leadership and the time of adoption is evident. Nonetheless, the precursors still stand as those professionals who have less opportunities and less power within the structure (Becker, 1970). How power and influence affect the adoption of the innovation is discussed in detail. Finally, we ponder the great potential online social networks offer to the field of Social Work apropos to education on improving cooperation and the diffusion of information and knowledge amongst professionals as well as users.