1. Early Adoption

That guy you hate at the office mentions the social media app during a story about how he and Rihanna like the same dog breed.

2. Normal Adoption

While hanging out with your friends, you don’t get a joke because it references a video they have all watched on the social media platform. Later that night you quietly join. You then watch the video in which a teenager makes a funny face and then says something unexpected.

3. Growth

You find yourself using the app more than an hour every day, sometimes right when you wake up and right before you fall asleep. You fill small empty places in your schedule and heart with it. Sometimes you think you might be using it too much and take a few days off.

4. Rapid Growth

Your aunt, the cool one, joins the platform and then your mother does. You look back at your history before accepting her invite and do some selective deletion of past content. You learn about the features in the app that allow you to post to just some people, or hide certain articles that your mom and aunt start posting. Over time you find that you are using the app less and less and install a new app that someone you work with mentioned.

5. Stability

You see a post in the new app explaining that the old app was helping foreign governments sway public opinion and permanently alter the cultural and political norms in your country. You favorite the post in the new app and briefly wonder if you should tell your aunt.