Diffusion

Connections Between Places Hearth Place an innovation originates Diffusion Process by which a characteristic/ innovation spreads across space from one place to another An idea, crop, artifact, good, language, etc Types of diffusion Relocation diffusion Spread of a characteristic/ innovation through physical movement of people from one place to another Ex. Language brought to a new locale by a migrant

Connections Between Places Expansion Diffusion Spread of a characteristic/ innovation from one place to another in an additive process (More people know about/use it) Hierarchical diffusion Spread from persons of authority or power to other persons or places (Leapfrogs people/areas) Political leaders, socially elite people, other important people, or even from large urban areas Contagious diffusion Rapid, wavelike/widespread diffusion throughout the population Diseases, items gone “viral” on the web are common Stimulus Diffusion Spread of an underlying principle even though a characteristic/innovation itself apparently fails to diffuse Ex. Innovative features of Apple’s iPhone and iPad have been adopted by competitors TEXTING