The Next New Thing

A new and innovative type of new media that does not currently exist could perhaps be some kind of virtual guide or avatar that can be displayed and viewed on the newer smart televisions. The newer models of televisions are not only just sleeker, thinner, and wider but they also include a variety of different applications such as the internet, YouTube, Twitter, Skype, Facebook, games, and other App Store services and facilities. If these TVs had a virtual avatar designed to walk and assist one through the TV and its large amount of services, I think this would perhaps make things easier and fun. One could speak to the avatar that would show up on the TV screen and explain what he or she wanted to do, whether to watch TV, go surfing on the internet, log in to Facebook or another social media website, or perhaps check out other apps on the App store of the TV, all of this can be described to the TV avatar which can ingeniously take us there in record breaking speed. Imagine this, as you turn on your TV, the virtual TV avatar could ask you “what you would like to do?”, in turn, you can communicate instructions to it, which the avatar can carry out. A show you want to watch can immediately show up without having to channel surf. Is there a particular video you would like to watch on YouTube? One may simply just say the instructions to the avatar – “I would like to watch _____ on YouTube” and basically wait for the screen to switch to the YouTube application and then the desired video. Perhaps we can ask the avatar what’s currently on TV that is mysterious or action filled and a list of suggestions could be relayed to us. I think if such a new media invention were ever created it would probably make remote controls obsolete because we would not need them anymore to watch TV. I think a TV avatar coupled with the new types of modern Televisions that are coming out are suitable for the virtual trend that is impacting our society, we see more and more people intertwined with the internet, social media, blogs, emails, and other new media technologies such as tablets, iPods, iPads, Kindles, etc... People are looking for an experience that can enhance and capture their senses, perhaps this type of new media technology can exactly do just that. Our vision and auditory senses would be captured and focused on this TV virtual guide who can then help and assist us in the growing complexities of the smart TV and its innumerable services. Lastly, if such a new media invention were ever created, it would require a collaboration or partnership between TV manufactures and TV service/channel providers. 

Our Class Wiki – So Far

After using the class wiki for the first time, I realized that there was quite a bit to learn in order to create an interesting wiki page or to add more content to other areas of the class wiki, but it was sort of fun trying to learn more about the wiki system and how to use it, as well as, creating a new wiki page from scratch. I chose to create a wiki page on education. I thought it would be a great idea discuss on how new media has affected education. Throughout this semester, there were many articles from the course weekly readings that came to mind such as an article written by Bridget McCrea called “Taking Students Where No School Bus Can Go” or the article from www.onlinecolleges.net called “50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom” that reinforced the co-mingling of new media and education.  I learned quite a bit from these articles, the information within these pieces were quite fascinating because each of these articles depicted where new media technology was taking education or how it was morphing the traditional education system. I intertwined these articles into the wiki page, I also added a structure to this wiki page by starting off with a sort of broad introduction of how new media and education are connected, then I further broke it down into different and smaller sections or portions which included: social media, webcam and video chatting applications, file storage websites, virtual worlds, and lastly, references. Some of the information I include for social media is how Twitter can be used within the class room setting, for video chatting, I include the article written by McCrea, and for virtual worlds, I include the article from the course weekly readings called “Avatar II: The Hospital” written by Stephanie Simon. All these different forms of new media technology provide great benefits to education, I wanted to be able to display this through these articles. The piece on Twitter explained how social networking can be used as a tool for further educational benefits, growth, and contribution whilst McCrea’s article discussed the benefits of skyping folks all over the world for the student audience and Simon’s article discussed the benefits of a virtual hospitals to soon to be nurses. These examples depict the how education is changing and bending to the will of the new era of new media technology. I want to include some more information on new media and education but this will require a bit more of additional research, I would love to expand more on social media and how it caters to the needs of both teachers and students. At the same time, I would like to include some pictures into the wiki page for a fresher and professional look, but as of yet, I have not quite figured out how to do it, I am still learning on how to properly do this. I would probably want to contribute more by creating another wiki page that may interest me such as “Recruitment”, “News”, “Politics”, or “Privacy” page. To include more information on education and new media, I am currently looking at other resources and articles that may be of interest. At the same time, I am looking for insightful images to include in the wiki page. 

P2P File Sharing

1.      What is file sharing?

File sharing may take place through the internet, in which an assortment of different websites is used as a sort of “middle man” to share files containing diverse items such as music, movies, TV episodes, documentaries, images, and e-books.  File sharing can also be considered a two-way road in which one is able to access shared file content from other users. In one way, you are dispersing files into the internet for other likeminded individuals to view and use whilst at the same time gathering files from other users that may be of interest to you, whether it’s a book or image or an audio file.

2.       What is P2P file sharing?

Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing is a type of file sharing. P2P file sharing can be defined as a new media technology or medium, P2P file sharing can come in the form of a website (4shared) or software (LimeWire) that allows its users to share books, music, movies, TV show episodes, documentaries, images, and games to others within the same P2P file sharing network or platform while simultaneously having access to others’ files which can be downloaded for one’s own perusal.

3.       What are some examples of P2P file sharing?

Some examples of P2P file sharing are:

a.       From the scholarly article called “Online Piracy and the Emergence of New Business Models” written by David Choi, discussed how Shawn Fanning had created a P2P file sharing medium called Napster which allowed users to store and contribute music to the site which could then be dispersed to other users who were interested in the songs (par. 22-23).

b.       From the same article written by David Choi, I learned about BitTorrent which is another P2P file sharing technology that was created by Bram Cohen, which allows users to download and share content through a unique method that resolves the issue of slow downloading time through a bit by bit method (par. 29-30).

c.       An article called “Peers Find Less Pressure Borrowing From Each Other” by Wendy Kaufman discussed another P2P example called the Lending Club which provides a new trending and novel way to borrow money or loans that is somewhat different from the traditional bank method. 

Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy and confidentiality play an integral role within the confines of new media. As new media continues to grow, develop, and become a larger piece of our lives, it becomes crucial for privacy and confidentiality to have a strong and formidable presence within all aspects and activities that make up new media. For example, the way we shop for items has changed considerably over the years; we go to online venues and websites to shop for clothing as well as other items such as jewelry, makeup, and electronics. Privacy and confidentiality are crucial to this new habit, I think when credit/debit card information is given to these different websites we need to be absolutely sure that the website has a good level of security so that our information is not hacked and used against us. New media makes things more transparent, such as the article called “University of Maryland Computer Security Breach Exposes 300,000 Records” written by Patrick Svitek and Nick Anderson suggested. This article discussed how 300,000 records of people within the University of Maryland were jeopardized through a hack job that had access to the social security numbers of these people. New media adds a dangerous factor of transparency so that these types of information become available to the wrong group of people who have the right skill set to pry through databases and steal the information. I think this article depicted the need for constant growth in terms of security and perversion of private information leakage. Another interesting article, called “The Wild West of Privacy” written by Joe Nocera discussed how Google or Facebook compile and amass information on its users which are then sold to marketing firms. I think this is important for the public to understand and know of, I believe that we should be aware of what kind of information is being sent off to such firms. As we rely more and more on new media for our day to day activities, it is important to stay ahead of the game by continually upping the growth of security that can safeguard the public’s right to privacy and confidentiality, in the long run, I think this can create a more trusting connection between all parties involved.

Advice to Baruch College

Some of the suggestions that I would make are: social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can be utilized by the college to relay important information to students such as deadlines to register for fall, spring, and summer courses, to disperse information regarding emergency situations such as severe weather (snow), to include or post videos of positive experiences from other fellow students, faculty, and  staff,  to advertise free workshops related to writing improvement, study habits, and resume and cover letter assistance, I would advertise the career and internship opportunities on these  different social networking platforms as well. Also, perhaps online classes can use virtual worlds such as Second World, to meet and discuss course related items such as group projects. This suggestion can add some definition to online classes. Social media can also be a great platform to voice the counseling options that the college provides to its students, this can be a great way to pass out word of an important tool that the college delivers to its scholars. Professors can use new media tools such as voice memos to share important notes regarding the coursework topics with students, taking down notes can be hard for many students as it can be quite difficult to keep up with professors, so adding voice memos as a supplement material can help aid students with excelling in their classes as well as providing another helpful tool for studying with. 

Creativity and New Media

For this assignment, I used the internet to visit the Second Life website page, from there I was able to view many different avatars from which I could choose from, for example, “classic avatars”, “vampire avatars”, and “people avatars” were choices that were available. Once I choose an avatar that was to my liking, I was able to create an account with Second Life. The software was downloaded on to my computer. Through the Second Life’s software, I was able to log-in and start enjoying the virtual environment. Second Life assisted me in learning how to use the keyboard to maneuver to the left or to the right, I was taught how to walk, jump and fly in the virtual world. I thought this was definitely a great way to show the creativeness of new media, being a part of the virtual world was very interesting, the visuals were realistic, and the noises of the birds and crickets were both creative and lifelike. I found Second Life to be creative; it’s a great way to meet new people, especially for people who may be slightly shy or introverted. It can be a great place for people with phobias and disabilities where communities and societies can be created for support; geography does not have to play a barrier in virtual reality as it could restrict people in real life to look for such communities. Multinational organizations and even professional associations can meet in a virtual reality. On the surface, virtual realities may look like a game of sorts, but when further considered it can be a great life line for many people. 

Creativity

New Media has great potential to provide or spark an avenue towards creativity, this can be depicted through some of this week’s assigned readings on creativity, such as an article called “1+1+1=1 The New Math of Mashups”, written by Sasha Frere-Jones. Through this article, I was able to learn that original songs are being recreated or rather renewed through new media technology; two different artists from two completely different songs are joined together creating an end result of a “mashup”. In other words, mashups are created by using different features and components from two different songs (more than two may be used) which are then interwoven into a single piece of work.  This can only truly be created through the assistance of new media technology. In fact, within the article it is stated by Mark Vidler that “you don’t need a distributor, because your distribution is the Internet. You don’t need a record label, because it’s your bedroom, and you don’t need a recording studio, because that’s your computer. You do it all yourself” (par.6). Mashups are possible through the pairing of the right technology which could include software packages, laptops, and an internet service. Technology makes mashup easier, creative folks with interests and hobbies in the area of music can have a simple and fun time with creating mashups, in fact, new media technology provides the opportunity for creativity to work at its best because it breaks down barriers such as costs. Through this article, I was able to learn that some mashup songs were even more popular than the original songs. New media technology helps one visualize the true potentials of songs by evolving them into mashup or remixed songs, something that probably was really impossible before. Furthermore, for those folks that created some of the most popular mashup songs, they were able to land professional jobs and opportunities. In this way, new media technology has fostered creativity in people who are able to utilize the technology in a way to provide audiences with mashup songs that some of time tend to be much more popular than its original.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

After reading some of the assigned readings, I learned that virtual worlds can be used for many different purposes such as educational, entertainment, professional meetings for employees of corporations and business firms, creating communities for folks who may be in similar situations or circumstances, a social platform for meeting other people, and even visiting and traveling to other areas of the world virtually. I read the Forbes interview article, called “After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get A Reboot”, written by Diane Mehta. In the interview article, Mehta was interviewing Jacki Morie; I learned that virtual worlds can be used to provide healing for soldiers as well as training and preparing them. Morie had stated that “What If I built Iraqi village and we used it for healing instead of for training? Or I put in artificial intelligence (AI) characters as villagers?  What if we use this for healing to repair some done by people with these conflicts?” (par.14). I found this to be extremely interesting; to use virtual reality for healing purposes is extremely creative.  Another article that I found interesting was called “Avatar II: The Hospital”, written by Stephanie Simon; it discussed how virtual reality worlds can be utilized to help prepare nurses for what may occur in the real world. I thought that this could be incredibly helpful as well as cost saving, all in one. Some of the pros associated with virtual reality is that it provides a chance for training and developing certain occupations such as military, nurses, etc., people can recover from phobias, people with disabilities may meet in the virtual world, perhaps even creating a support community, developing hobbies such as design and fashion, virtual reality helps aid in creating friendships and bonds. Some of the cons are the notion of escaping the real world and spending more time in the virtual one, creating a virtual world may be costly, and a lot of virtual reality is still new so we don’t know the full capabilities of it. I think virtual worlds help create or spark creativity because it is not the real world, people have more room to make mistakes and they will not be so costly! Just the idea that this is virtual can make minds bring out great thoughts as there are no barriers in the virtual world that could be present in the real world. Creativity can be created through the self as one develops their avatar, such as new ways to dress, haircuts, etc.  The creativity that is created through virtual worlds can be reflected into the real world as well. The future of virtual worlds will perhaps be much more expansive; I feel like it will be more heard of rather than hidden.  It can be perhaps used by more (rather than few) multi-national companies, where employees may need to meet from many different locations. Perhaps meeting virtually will l be less of a unique and novel idea and more of a usual norm or policy. Maybe even construction companies could use virtual worlds for their business purposes or fashion designers, so that they could get a better idea of what to design and who would like it. The future can bring about use of virtual worlds through different arenas such as schools, hospitals, fire departments, and police departments. 

Social Networking Sites

Facebook: I believe that Facebook is much more personalized; it is about connections with family, friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. You share your whole social life on Facebook; activities, books that have been read, pictures, or even events you may be attending. It is a virtual online social diary for yourself and for others to take a look at or view at any time. Facebook can be quite unlimited to how much you can share, your status can be as long as you would like.

Twitter: Twitter is about sharing ideas, statuses, news, and world events. There is also a sense of professionalism about it because you’re able to find jobs through Twitter. Many colleges and high schools use Twitter as a tool for educational enhancement. Also, the 140 character limit for tweets helps keep things clean and concise as well as to the point.

Instagram: I believe that Instagram may be a fusion of Facebook and Twitter. There is a sense of a virtual social life through the pictures that are available by Instagram users, they can be about one’s social life, what they have eaten, fashion, hobbies, interests, and entertainment. But it has a feel of twitter through the way friends are made, you can follow any one at any point in time and then even perhaps unfollow them, this flexibility is very similar to that of Twitter’s.

Snapchat: I find Snapchat to be really unique because it works off the contacts on your cellphone, in which you are able to share stories and pictures. You can now customize the photos to look a certain way such as a rabbit or any other fun filters they may have. Snapchat is a fun way of sharing what you may be up to in real time; the stories may only last for certain amounts of time such as 30 seconds which is quite different from other social media.

Blog About Twitter

After using twitter for the first time yesterday, I enjoyed it somewhat more than a blackboard discussion in terms of communication. Twitter felt instantaneous, as the twitter app was downloaded onto my smartphone, I would get real time notifications on tweets that were posted from the people that I followed or were following me (my classmates), I also got these same notifications if someone was responding to one of my tweets. I really found that to be convenient, on our black board website, we don’t really know what’s going on within the black board thread until we log in and see for ourselves. We do not receive a notification of who has responded to the thread or our own comments until we take the time out to have a look. I really enjoyed this feature in Twitter because I felt like I was a part of the conversation in real time, rather than just posting up my response. I was actually seeing a live online class assignment taking place in front of my eyes. I also like that there are other Twitter features available that make assignments more fun, exciting, and challenging such as the 140 character limit, it pushes one to really think, so that the one sentence that is created is meaningful and packed with quality.

If I were to compare Twitter to an in-class discussion, I would perhaps favor Twitter more. Twitter provides students and their teacher or professor, the opportunity to talk and discuss about topics and information that go beyond the four walls of a classroom. All of a sudden, conversations can be carried out at home, at work, and during free times to discuss assignments, difficult topics, and project delegation. Twitter provides a novel flexibility that a time constrained classroom cannot. Also, sometimes, people may feel less shy behind a social media account rather than in person, face to face communications. Folks can be more open and feel more comfortable about asking and answering questions on social media such as Twitter than they would be in person.

Social Networking

Social media technologies can be used in a myriad number of ways by corporations and folks in general. Corporations can use social media to create and project a stronger brand image which can reach countless individuals effortlessly and with minimum cost. Brand images can be pushed through many different social media sites. Furthermore, when firms are launching new products and services, they may be able to introduce them through the different social media websites. This may spark discussions between friends which in turn, will spread the news much faster. Small businesses and local restaurants are able to create an online display of themselves through Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter; garnering comments, ratings (Yelp), and check-ins’ (Facebook) which ignite the curiosity and interest of social media friends to perhaps check out these establishments for themselves. Lastly, corporations and business firms can use social media for recruitment purposes. For example, an article called “Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting”, written by Frank Langfitt, from NPR.org, states that “Using LinkedIn, Steckerl says he can scout a group of job candidates in just half an hour” (par.20). This shows the smoothness of such professional social media networks, it not only saves the cost of heavy recruitment efforts but also provides a large candidate pool of extremely talented professionals in one fell swoop. This allows recruiters to focus more on finding the right potential employee rather than on how well recruitment efforts may be functioning. People may use social media to further build relationships and bonds with family and friends. Social media becomes a tool to stay in contact with family who may be international and with friends from elementary, middle, or high school. Also, people can utilize social media to find better jobs and careers through LinkedIn, Monster.com, and Indeed.com. They may use social media to discuss and display the latest news and personal events. New media can be used for educational purposes for individuals as well, as is with our class. Some of the benefits of these technologies include vast communication availabilities at our fingertips, due to these technologies we are able to communicate with any one worldwide. People have increasing amounts of information on many different events and going ons’ of the world. They are better able to connect with others who may have similar interests as them. For example, an article from freakonomics.com, called “Is Myspace Good For Society?”, Danah Boyd, had stated that “as an ethnographer traipsing across the U.S., I have heard innumerable stories of how social media has been used to bring people together, support learning, and provide an outlet for creative expression” (par.37). The dark side to social media is identity theft, the concern of how much displayed information on social media websites is too much, cyber bullying, spam, phishing, and less productivity due to too much usage time of these technologies. For example, an interesting article written by Jeffery R. Young, called “They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites” discusses the dangers of online bullying, mudslinging, and plain old name calling. Within this article, it is quoted stating that “"internet shaming creates an indelible blemish on a person's identity," wrote Daniel J. Solove, a professor of law at George Washington University, in his 2007 book, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet (Yale University Press). "It's similar to being forced to wear a digital scarlet letter or being branded or tattooed. People acquire permanent digital baggage. They are unable to escape their past, which is forever etched into Google's memory"” (par.15). This displays the true dangers and permanence of such negative acts. The consequences can be tough to overcome as they can lead to a tough time finding a job in the right career. I think that these technologies will change and evolve in many unimaginable ways in the future; I think they will become more personal, so where ever we go on the internet it’s like we are leaving a visible bread crumb trail all over the internet. I believe that in the future, our personal lives will be more assimilated and integrated with social media, making it hard to separate the two entities. As we become more and more intertwined with social media technologies, I hope there will be more privacy options as well as laws to protect its many users.

Blog v. Wiki

Blogs and wikis are mediums with similar features on the surface, however digging into the depth of these new media communication forms illuminates upon interesting differences. Blogs are about declaring opinions; blogging can be understood as a virtual microphone for folks looking to discuss their interests, hobbies, and pastimes to a wider audience in whatever topic such as politics, arts, skin care products, make up, hair, clothes, news, books, different consumer products,  food, and so much more. The content regarding blogging is based in an opinionated and personal nature. In fact, within a paper, written by Kathy E. Gill, called “How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere?” it is stated that “bloggers write about topics that matter to them; their audience may be larger or small. Some blogs are single-person operations (one to many); others have a community of authors (many to many)” (par.11). I found some aspects of blogs to be quiet ingenious and novel such as how one is able to see past posts and each post is dated as well as time stamped (if need be). One can imagine a blog as an online diary or chronicle of sorts, but one that is available for all to read and comment on. Comments from other visitors and the audience spark about a dialogue or conversation which adds more fun and excitement to blogging because it transforms those interactions into online socializing. In contrast, wiki is more about collaboration, research, and sharing information; others can in turn, enhance that information by sharing more knowledge, data, and facts towards it. In fact, The Harvard Business Review article, written by Gardiner Morse, called “Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales On Making the Most of Company Wikis”, states that wikis can be used for “pretty much any sort of knowledge sharing that is enhanced by open, flexible, rapid collaboration, particularly in contexts where people are separated geographically and relationship-building is important. 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” (par.5). I think for multi-national corporations wiki could be a great way for different regions to collaborate or just share information.

Convergence is extremely important in this technologically advanced time period, as we are connected to almost every event and all types of data it is important for convergence to exist. Through it, many aspects of life can become much more efficient. Consider the article written by James Dao, called “Pentagon Keeps Wary Watch As Troops Blog”, which shows the convergence of soldiers and blogging, this brings out a unique point of view of war which only could occur through convergence.

Personally, I don’t see blogs being used for collaboration in a large functional extent, unless you have a case where there is more than one blogger within a blogging site, both blogging publishers can contribute together towards mutually interesting topics and concerns. Also, comments written by the audience may be seen in a slight perspective as collaboration. Perhaps they can “comment” further knowledge which contributes to the blog post in a certain way or that the blogger can use to adjust the blog. When I read the article called “Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead To Drug Raid”, written by Michael Wilson, I thought that that was a perfect collaboration between the neighborhood bloggers, the community at large, and the police. If a certain blogger posted a blog about suspicious activity, others contributed and further collaborated with the publisher by providing even more information in real time! I found this amazing and extremely   unprecedented; I truly enjoyed reading about the collaboration present in this article.  

New ways to utilize wiki:

A growing trend of business is to outsource some of its functions such as human resources, talent searches, information technology, and accounting to other firms that excel in providing the services. Perhaps wikis can be used as a collaborative tool between the client organization and service provider firm to stay on top of important projects and to keep all key parties involved by allowing them to meet in one virtual setting. So for example, hiring new employees can be discussed in detail within wiki between both companies. Job descriptions can be edited through the wiki as well by both parties. Or head hunting firms can collaborate with their clients through wiki to help expedite and iron out the job search. 

Title & Description of Research Topic

Title: The Social Media Age and Its Waves of Influence on Society

My term paper’s topic will be discussing a specific area of new media technology and its impact on society. I would like to research the impact social media has on today’s society and the positive and negative consequences of using it on a daily basis. I hope to discuss 5-6 positive impacts that it has brought forth and 5-6 negative ones, if I may perhaps find any more that seem extremely interesting, I will definitely include it within the essay. Some of the benefits of social media to society that I plan on researching are providing a platform for safety information (weather warnings), generating voices for its many users, professional networks (job/career search through social media outlets), linking with anyone potentially worldwide, providing an even playing field for small businesses, and an outlet to introduce and heighten brand image. Some of the disadvantages that I may discuss within this paper will be higher chances of identity theft, cyber-bullying, reductions of face to face connections, privacy issues, and social media addiction. Social media is truly incredible with the amount of changes it has brought forth to the habits of human beings all around the globe in such a short amount of time, which makes writing about the positives and negatives of it an extremely important part of this essay. I want to make sure that I use interesting and out of the box ideas that help illuminate into social media’s influence.