New New

New media has almost everything anyone can want and need to make communication easier. But a new form of media that would be pretty interesting is a website that worked as a mix between Second Life and Facebook. On Second Life you can create your own avatar and basically roam the world and Facebook is used as a way to stay in touch with people you already know and network. A website that allowed users to create avatars that looked like virtual images of themselves would be interesting because it would elimate the fact that overusers of virtual worlds tend to forget about the real world. On this website there would be real people, in real neighborhoods, speciffically the ones where the user is from. A virtual world allows you to live in a fantasy world and thats fun to do as a game but it also brings a disappointing feeling when you realize that none of it is true. The Facebook aspect would come in with a networking aspect. People who know each other can introduce their friends to their other friends and there will be an actual real life look image to match so the catfishing aspect is eliminated. I think this is a great new idea for media especially since is improves some of the disadvantages that social networking sites have.

P2P

File sharing is the practice of sharing or allowing access of multimedia, books, programs, etc. from one computer to another over the Internet or a network. On the other hand, peer to peer file sharing refers to the sharing of files directly from one computer to another without the need of a central server. One example of P2P sharing is Lending Club. Lending Club is a website that allows users to apply for loans and recieve funding straight from the investors and without the branch network. Basically, with Lending Club investors put up funding for loans with their own return rate and are able to profit while consumers recieve lower interest rates. Peer to peer file sharing is a new type of technology that is beneficial because it is a direct process and eliminates the middle man.

Kaufman, Wendy. "Peers Find Less Pressure Borrowing From Each Other." NPR.org. NPR, 10 May 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/05/10/182651552/peers-find-less-pressure-borrowing-from-each-other>.

Wiki So Far

When I first looked over the wiki one of the pages that I found interesting was the "Definitions" page. This got me thinking that a big part of assimilating into social media is keeping up with the slang. Social networking sites make it easy for people to communicate and network with each other, and users have even gone as far as creating acronyms for words for simpler typing. As new acronyms are developed it is difficult to keep up with them all, so I started a page titled "Social Media Acronyms." The page is basically a list of acronyms (acronym and actual word) from A-Z. Since creating the page I have constantly been updating it with new acronyms as I go, trying to have at least one for each letter. Some things that I plan to work on in the future is adding an image to the page and writing more of an introduction. I was also considering incorporating slang instead of only acronyms.

Privacy

New media has caused a great breach in privacy for Internet users. Site like Google and Facebook are taking our personal information and spreading it to other data companies who wish to know the smallest details about us. Web surfing and social networking has advanced greatly over the years and it is has now become a very prevalent part of our lives. With the weight that the Internet holds today it is difficult to tell if it is the companies behind these site or the users who are to blame for privacy issues. For one websites gather information from advertisements, online purchases and profiles. However, like Target, companies can face security breaches with private customer information, like address and credit card numbers, being lost. But as far as social sites are concerned it is on the users to read the terms and agreements properly and to know not to post private information. It is crucial that people know where there information is going before they put it online. Anything shared via a social networking site is sent to everyone on that persons friends list but also to other agencies that are not. These agencies are composed of advertisers, researchers, marketing analyst, etc., who can share the obtained information with their fellow marketing and advertising firms. In order to really partake in networking though, part of the criteria is to share things like events, interest, relationship statuses, etc. but are we willing to sacrifice our privacy for a few Facebook posts? Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once said that in today's society it has become the norm to share personal information. 

Advice

Attending and graduating from college is a respected accomplishment. Nothing about going to school is easy, so it would definitely be nice if campuses made things easier on their students. I personally am an active user of Blackboard and I have been fortunate enough to have my professors update Blackboard consistently. However, I do wish that Blackboard had a app. School email is linked to the site and you do get notifications when content is added, but it is never anything useful. It would be great to get helpful notifications when homework is posted, syllabi’s are changed, future readings or assignments are added, etc. 

Baruch specifically, has a great campus and I am proud student but it does have room for improvement. There is so much going on at Baruch that it is impossible to keep up! There are so many clubs, tons of events, and loads of activities but there is really no productive way of keeping up with everything. Baruch can definitely benefit from having an app; An app where a school event calendar is available, a listings of clubs and any important notifications (like entrances being closed requiring an extra 4 minutes to get to class!). Yes we do get tons of emails and fliers from the school but it can be overwhelming and just too much sometimes. We already have Twitter and Instagram so why not an app?  

Creativity and New Media

For the creativity and new media assignment, I decided to join the virtual world and create a Second Life character. The process was simple at first. I started off by making an account via the website and then downloaded the software on my computer. Afterwards, I had to choose an avatar and a username for my avatar. Then it got pretty complicated. I own a Macbook and that is what I used to play. Many may know that the functions on the Macbook are more complicated than those on a regular PC. I had some difficulty navigating my avatar around for a while until I finally got it down packed. With Second Life I was able to create a virtual version of me, named AgentSelf, who traveled to all the places I wish I was. AgentSelf visited a few beaches in Europe, then went to the clubs in Miami and also, did some sightseeing in Europe.

After learning about virtual worlds, specifically Second Life, I thought it would be interesting to know what the hype was all about. I enjoyed creating my avatar and making her be and do everything I was not able to. The worst part of the experience definitely had to be learning the keys of navigation. The application has a lot going on and many different things to manage, such as the chat, destinations, notes, etc., which was overwhelming for me. In addition, there are certain aspects I was not able to try, like clothes and appearance, because they took time to change and I only had Second Life for a trial period. I think new media has created great ways to spark creativity among its users but I am still skeptical of the motives of its producers.

Creativity

Companies create sites with a general idea of what they want or believe will sell. But once these sites are made available to the public, it is the users who decide what stays and goes. For every social media forum that consumers indulge in there are always things that can be made better. As sites develop, producers can see what is actually working, what needs to go and what needs to be added. According to Claire Miller, companies are sitting on the sidelines waiting for their customers to innovate for them. Social media sparks creativity because people know what they want and for everything that they use, they also know how they wish it actually was. When you're using a site frequently you tend to wish that part of it was easier or made doing something more convenient. For example, on Twitter before the creation of the "@" symbol users didn't necessarily know when someone was tweeting about or to them. As Twitter founders saw a need the "@" symbol was created to fulfill. The ones who are submitting to the media should dictate how it functions so, I think it's great that companies are attentive to their audience. Is how they are going about the best way? Well, that's a different story.


Work Cited:
1. Miller, Claire. "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Oct. 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html?_r=0>.

Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are a form of technology that has not progressed the way other forms have, such as social networking sites. This is a result of businesses having the inability to "think beyond what's already there." Virtual worlds foster creativity because with every new development there is always something new and better that can be discovered. It is up to the inventors to study the needs and wants of the consumer and allows that to spark new ideas. According to Diane Mehta, "you can use virtual worlds in education, in delivery services, or as an advanced form of telehealthcare that offers so much more than videoconferencing." One of the benefits of using virtual worlds is the improvement it makes on psychotherapy. Virtual healing spaces are created for soldiers returning from war and even victims of autism. People suffering from unfortunate disorders like Autism and PTSD can now use these safe worlds as a form of therapy. On the other hand, virtual worlds create another world for people to be apart of and excessive use can lead to a loss or neglect of reality and the real world. Similarly to any other form of technology, virtual worlds hamper the traditional conversation and socializing and replace it with online networking. I believe that if the promoters of virtual worlds can find a way to market them to a wider range of individuals, it can have a very bright future. Virtual worlds can possibly be expanded into other segments of therapy and even used to close the gap of long distance communication.

Works Cited

1. Mehta, Diane. “After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?” Forbes.com. Forbes, 30 April 2013. Web. 20 March 2015. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/>.

2. Saidi, Nicole. “'iReport: Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction.” CNN.com. CNN, 28 March 2008. Web. 20 March 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html#cnnSTCText>.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr are among the top 20 most popular social networking sites. I have the beauty of being a member of each of these communities. These sites have made it convenient staying on top of social media and remaining connected with friends. Beginning, Facebook is generally used to stay in touch with friends, especially since privacy regulations require friends to be "added" in order to view their page. Similarly, Twitter controls what you view via the "follow" button, which adjusts what appears on your news feed. Both Facebook and Twitter share the idea of updating a status/tweet, but also having the option of messaging for direct and private uses. Instagram, on the other hand, is used less to speak to others but instead communicate via photos. Twitter and Instagram users can not only add their personally friends but follow celebrities and media outlets. This is true for Facebook as well but in my opinion, I find that social media is updated more on Twitter and Instagram than Facebook. Lastly, Tumblr is a mix between a blog, Instagram and Twitter. Through Tumblr one posts photos or memes, like Instagram, which can be "reblogged," like Twitter, and commented on by other users, like blogs. Out of all these sites I use Twitter and Instagram the most with Facebook falling into third place and Tumblr almost never. Facebook has drastically changed since it was first started and now it doesn't necessarily fulfill its original goal. There is much competition for my attention between Twitter and Instagram because with both sites if they are not checked frequently, I'm left out of the loop. Finally, because Tumblr is so much alike other sites that I already have I don’t really find the need to log on as often.  

Twitter

Twitter in my opinion is one of the better social sites available because you can connect politically and socially. Having a discussion on Twitter perhaps isn't the best place though, when you have outlets like Blackboard and plain old in-class. The discussion that CIS 3810 had under the hashtag #3810NET2 was a lot more complicated to follow than it should have been. Twitter only has room for 140 characters, which is not enough especially when you're discussing an article that is 2 pages long. Hashtags also count as characters so it's either your tweet gets lost or never found in the commotion or you sacrifice a few letters. On the other hand, Blackboard discussions allow for as many characters as you wish, not to forget they come with spell check, which is a bonus for school activities! The most convenient part of Blackboard discussions it that each topic can have its own forum and each contributor can write their own corresponding thread. But on Twitter in order to follow what is being said you must "Discover" the hashtag and read through the tweets, which isn't the easiest. 

Twitter and Blackboard aside there are also classic in-class discussions. In-class discussions have everything that these two sites don't. They have emotion, passion and conflict. Typing how one feels does not come nearly as close to actually saying it out loud. A great example of this is during the #3810NET2 discussion one of my classmates posted a tweet with sarcasm intended and another classmate reading the tweet did not catch on to the sarcasm. My point exactly! Writing how you feel is the best way to misinterpret the point actually trying to be expressed. The only disadvantage I find with in-class discussions is that with all the passion being expressed not everyone has the opportunity to share their ideas. I'm sure we've all be a part of a discussion where everyone seems to have something to say and gathering your own thoughts to participate gets complicated. Not everyone is able to come up with an idea or opinion on the spot and being able to take time away from everyone and actually write how you feel can help. Personally, I appreciate the traditional in-class discussions overall.