Blog: Next New

Televisions for years have been one dimensional. Consumers are only allowed to see and hear things and if they paid a little more money we would have to wear annoying glasses to get a 3-D effect. We often watch a television show and wish we could smell or feel what the television show is broadcasting. The new type of new media I have come up with is just that. I often watch television shows and I wished I could smell the food in the show. This feature to smell and feel would give consumers a personalized feel and make them feel like they are actually there experiencing what the actor or host is feeling. 

Blog: Wiki So Far

For my class wiki I decided to talk about one of my favorite youtuber, Mo Vlogs. He is changing the concept of blogs. Something that use to be done through typing a post like I am and sharing my life is now done through a camera. My 4-5 paragraphs about Mo Vlogs was done primarily using my knowledge about him as well as some information which I found through the internet. I edited the Youtube page and specifically edited the YouTube Stars section. This was where I contributed a bulk of my information. I talked about how successful Mo is, what type of video content he puts out, some of his connections, what he does a daily basis and why he is so successful. Currently I am trying to find other areas that I can either edit or contribute.  

Blog: P2P

File sharing is the action of distributing computer documents or various types of things on your computer such as files, software, pictures, videos, movies, etc. There are a lot of controversial issues surrounding the topic of file sharing. Creators argue that their products are being used and distributed for free and on the other hand people sharing files are saying they are just helping out. Because of these issues laws and rules are being created to govern the internet. P2P file sharing is when a peer shares files with their other peers. This is becoming a common thing and there are many websites and applications that facilitate P2P file sharing such as BitTorrent and other pirating websites. These applications have such a profound impact on creators that according to Brian Stelter and Brad Stone by saying, “illegal copies of the Batman movie had been downloaded more than seven million times around the world, according to the media measurement firm BigChampagne, turning it into a visible symbol of Hollywood’s helplessness against the growing problem of online video piracy.” P2P file sharing is effecting many more industries but the movie industry is taking a hard hit because many people can just google a movie and get a copy of it for free. Other examples of P2P file sharing are copying expensive software and giving it to a friend, copying exams, videotaping a movie and sharing it online, and etc.

Stelter, Brian and Stone, Brad. Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios. The New York Times, Feb 5, 2009, p. A1.

Blog: Advice

If I were hired by Baruch to use new media to improve the college, I would create a platform such as a blog to get feedback from the students. In addition, I would hold polls to see what are the major issues and how the students want these issues to be resolved. The students are the most important part of Baruch college and without the students Baruch cannot be successful. Therefore, I would use a blog to gather as much feedback as I could to improve the college. From these feedbacks, Baruch can then see where they need to change and how they need to change to please the students. In addition, I would also have a social media team to update the students are current news, upcoming changes, and significant events that are happening. This will keep students up to date to know what is going on with their college and it is also another way and opportunity to get feedback from the students. 

Blog: Privacy

New media and the internet in general has attracted a large number of users. Many of these new media platforms require a significant amount of data from the users and then on top of that collect a large quantity of data. Because these platforms have so much of our data privacy and confidentiality is a huge part of new media. Facebook for example is a new media platform that collects data on every move we make while using their platform. They read our conversations and see what users are talking about to come up with their “Trending” section. As many of you may have noticed, the advertisements on Facebook are also tailored to your taste because the platform has access to our searches and what we are doing on the internet. New media platforms are watching users day to day on the internet every day and collecting data on us to make profits. This is how privacy and confidentiality is connected with new media. 

Creativity and New Media

New media fosters creativity. It allows us the ability to do things that we can’t do in real life. With this assignment, I decided to use Second Life to create an avatar of me. A direct representation of how I would look like in real life. But then as I was creating this avatar, I realized that I could be or an animal or even a vampire or a zombie. So I decided to create two addition avatars to get a full picture of what this new media platform can offer. I even made one of the avatars female. In the first snapshot, it is a direct representation of how I would look in real life. (Minus the vest and obviously not floating in the air.) I had a little fun and took a snapshot of my avatar flying which is something you can’t do in real life. With the second snapshot, I decided to create a werewolf. I was a little frustrated because the application would not allow me to wear clothing or else it would like messed up. Finally, I created a female zombie.

Creativity

New media fosters creativity because the roles of the producer and consumer has changed. Before the internet world the producer was responsible for coming up with new ideas and innovations. The consumer just sat back and waited for the goods and services. But ever since the establishment of the internet and new media the consumers have the capabilities to voice themselves and create as well. This ultimately makes the consumers become producers in an amateur sense. Because of the influx of amateur producers, it forces the professionals to think even harder so they can create better products. For example, YouTube is saturated with amateur video makers as well as professional video makers. This saturation causes all video/content creators to become more creative so they can get more views. All in all, new media has enabled the consumers in old media to become producers using new media. This leads to more competition and brains which fosters creativity. But this isn’t the only reason why new media fosters creativity. Claire Cain Miller, a writer for the New York Times, states “The company watches how people use the service and which ideas catch on.” By looking at how users use the products companies can now see what the consumer likes and what changes they want as well. This makes it easier for new media companies to foster creativity because they act upon consumer’s requests.

Miller, Claire Cain. Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers. The New York Times, October 26, 2009.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are models of the real world. They can be used in many ways and in any industry thinkable because virtual worlds mimic the real world. For example, in Avatar II: The Hospital, Simon writes about a virtual simulation of a chaotic situation that can happen in a hospital. Nurses can play on this simulation for practice so when a situation like this one does pop up they can be prepared. In another example, the virtual world is used for meetings because it is less costly and still has the same security as a real life one. The virtual world is not just a game. It is beneficial in many ways. It provides training programs for the military, medical procedures for doctors, psychology therapy, training astronauts and many more. The virtual world can do all this because it mimics the real world. However, there are some negatives to the virtual world such as lag time and it overlooks basic laws of physics. In Going to the virtual office in Second Life, Tutton states, “one problem is that virtual teams may not share national and organizational cultures, and that virtual workers should make a conscious effort to see things from their colleagues' point of view.” Virtual worlds foster creativity because there is no risk to whatever you try. You can try something out in the virtual world and if it works you can bring it back to the real world. I think more and more companies will be using virtual worlds to do the tasks that take travelling, time, and money because via the virtual worlds it is free.

Simon, Stephanie. Avatar II: The Hospital. The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2010

Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life. CNN.com. Nov 5, 2009 

Blog about Twitter

A twitter discussion is very different from a Blackboard discussion or even an in-class discussion. Twitter discussions are much more informal and in a way restricting because you are only limited to 140 characters. You need to find a way to express all your thoughts within those limits so often you might use short hand or slang to cut down on your post. You can retweet something you agree with instead of writing your own post about a similar subject matter or you can comment on someone’s post. Lastly Twitter discussions can be seen by the public or your friends depending on how you set up your account. A Blackboard discussion is more formal. Like Twitter it is done online through the internet. However, Blackboard discussions do not limit you on how much you can write. You also can comment on your peer’s post. Unlike Twitter posts, Blackboard posts are only seen by those who are in your class. In-class discussions are very different. Unlike Twitter and Blackboard discussions, in-class discussions are done in class. You must be physically present and participate to be a part of an in-class discussion. In-class discussions are not done through the internet and you can’t post comments. Instead you just speak out your thoughts. 

Blog: Social networking sites

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are all social networking platforms but are all very different from each other. On YouTube, there are a multitude of videos you can choose from once you go on the website. The videos are put into different categories. When you choose a video, it brings you onto a different page. On that page the video plays and while the video plays there is a long list of videos next to the video playing. Usually these videos are recommendations or videos that are like the one you are watching now. Instagram is very different from YouTube. There are videos on Instagram but Instagram is predominantly pictures. When you go onto Instagram you will only see pictures posted by the people you follow. But there is also a link to see what your followers liked and you can explore trendy pictures as well. Twitter is very different from YouTube and Instagram. There are no pictures or videos. Instead when you get on Twitter you will see posts that your followers have posted or retweeted. Facebook is like a combination of YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. You can post videos, pictures, and share posts. Facebook is very complex because you can join groups and play games. On the right-hand side, there is also a section for trendy news articles. Although these social networking platforms are very different from each other they all share the ability to comment on each other’s posts whether it’s a video, picture or a post. They all also can share something you see to anyone you want to and they have very similar privacy features. 

Blog Social networking

Social networking has made it easy for us to connect with friends, family and even strangers. Through social media we can share things about our life and things we see that we find fascinating. We even have the control of who we want to share this information with. Because social networking makes it easier for us to connect with others there are many ways to use this technology. According to Frank Langfitt, recruiters are using social networks to find ideal job candidates and it is easier than the traditional way. Shally Steckerl said, “I have a thousand contacts that could potentially lead me to 100,000, now I have 8,500 contacts that could potentially lead me to 4.5 million." Social networking enabled him to find more people for the job with less contacts. However, with all the benefits that social networking can bring there are always downsides to the technology. Google and Facebook were not always considered to be competitors but after Facebook signed a partnership with Microsoft it became clear that they were competing to get online ads. Google uses algorithms to define our searches while Facebook collects our personal data and uses it to give us a more personalized search result. Because these two companies are in such a fierce battle to get ad deals and collect data on us Google and Facebook may not always putting us the consumers in their best interests. A practice Web 2.0 evangelists said in Fred Vogelsteins’ article, “that the company values its proprietary data more than its users' experience.” This is a huge problem because we might not be safe with all our information on Googles and Facebooks servers. There must be a reason they are competing for our data. I believe there will be many more forms of social networking that will allow us to share even more facets of our lives.   

Citations:

Frank Langfitt. Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting. NPR, March 16, 2008.

Fred Vogelstein. Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network's Plan to Dominate the Internet — and Keep Google Out", Wired, July 2009

BLOG: Blog v Wiki

Blogs and Wikis are two new forms of communication that are being widely used today. Blogs are personal news sites about whatever the blogger wishes to put out. It can be about the daily life of a mom, how your business is doing, and even what is going on around in your neighborhood. After you make a post people can read it and comment on what they think about what you said. Commenting on someone’s blog is a way of collaborating. In the New York times article by Michael Wilson people came together and participated in a blog and that led to the unveiling of a crime. One reason a blog is so effective according to Katherine Khatari is because “People don’t like to fight alone. There’s strength in numbers, you know? Another way of collaborating is by creating a blogroll. A blogroll is when you link other bloggers who talk about similar subject matters to your blog.

            Wikis are websites that help companies or a group of people organize information. They are the best way for many people to pitch in ideas about one subject matter because it will all be organized right there for you. According to Gradiner Morse “Wikis are great tools for helping people to come to consensus quickly, whether about what to put on a meeting agenda or how best to meet customers’ needs. Also, anyone can edit the information with permission. The only problem that with a wiki is only one person can edit at a time. A new use for using a wiki can be to peer edit your paper assignments. Because people can easily edit a wiki it is a good way to get help when you need your paper edited and revised.

Citations:

Morse, Gardiner. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on making the most of company wikis. Harvard Business Review, April 2008.  

Wilson, Michael. Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid. The New York Times, June 26, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/nyregion/26bayridge.html  

Project Description

My project topic is “Blogs vs Wikis: How Similar are They?”. I chose this topic because we will be creating a blog and a wiki in this course. This is a great opportunity to get first hand insight on how blogs and wikis are similar and different from each other. I will be researching what a blog is and what a wiki is. In addition, I will explore how both are used, their educational purposes, and if they are moral or not. I will also identify the pros and cons of blogs and wikis. Another area I will examine is the impact blogs and wikis had on our society specifically in regards to education. I will use our class notes and the library databases to gather information for this project. I also hope to add my own experiences and insight into this paper because I will be learning about blogs and wikis in this class and getting firsthand knowledge on them.