Creativity and New Media

So for this assignment I was asked to use New Media and foster my inner creativity.

I decided to check out Second Life 2. Second Life 2 is a program that allows users to create characters and basically live another life vicariously through them on the internet.  I made a character on Second Life 2 and basically just explored the environment. I thought it would be something drastically different, but it was just like some of the video games I have played before, such as the Sims or Call of Duty.

Below is a screenshot of my avatar in Second Life 2. I guess this was it, so for now Blog to you later.

Creativity

So for this assignment I was asked to comment on how new media fosters creativity.

New media fosters creativity because it gives people access to a broader array of media. A person can find almost any sort of song, movie, animation, etc on the Internet. If I wanted to find a piece of music or even a music video I can easily go to YouTube and most likely would find it easily. If I wanted to download a song I could go to iTunes, or most likely find it illegally on many file sharing websites. Aside from finding media online, their are many software programs available online that give anyone the ability to tweak songs or videos and make them their "OWN" per se.

An Example of this was given in an article by Sasha Frere-Jones titled "1+1+1=1". In this article she comments on a DJ, named DJ Reset, who took two different songs, broke them down using software, and effectively combined the beat from one song with the vocals from another song to effectively create a "mashed-up" song. This wasn't the first time this sort of thing has been done either. Many other people have taken many songs and created mash ups as well.

Aside from mash ups new media encourages people to show off their talents. Many new artists have been found through the Internet. This sort of thing was unheard of two decades ago. New media is so vast and so innovative that everyday we hear about a new star or the next big thing. It is truly an inspiring feeling to think that the next big star could be the same person singing into his iPhone.

I guess that is all I have to say, so for now Blog to you later.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

So for this assignment I was asked to comment on Virtual Worlds.

Virtual worlds are basically online communities in which one is able to interact and live another life through the internet. Virtual worlds can include a variety of different things. They can be either the video games that we play online, or they can be an environment in which we are able to live in a world similar to ours, but one that we live from behind a screen. An example of this type of world is Second Life. Saki Knafo discusses in his article, "In Room 100, It's Sid and Nancy All Over Again", the concept of Second Life. He states that, "Second Life is a multiuser virtual environment, a computer program that lets online users construct settings and hang out in them, using video-game-like characters called avatars.  Another popular example of a virtual world is the popular and acclaimed video game, The Sims, which is basically the same thing as Second Life, but available on my more platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, etc.

The advantages that virtual worlds have is that they allow people to do things that they normally would not be able to do in their daily everyday lives. People with illness' are also able to benefit from virtual worlds and do thing that they normally would have a hard time doing, or feel uncomfortable doing. Nicole Saidi talks about a virtual world called Naughty Aunties in her article, "iReport: 'Naughty Aunties' battle autism with virtual interaction." Autism can cause behavioral and social problems. In Naughty Aunties people with autism are able to interact with other people through this online portal and do so comfortably. Psychologists and researchers are also able to use Naughty Aunties to help acclimatize autistic people to situations that may arise in their day to day lives. Other users of virtual worlds are also able to push the boundaries of their existence. Virtual worlds foster creativity. A person is able to be as creative as they want, and do things that they usually would not do in their real lives because of the fear of being judged. Virtual worlds are fun and allow a person to do things that they only dreamed of doing.

I know I made virtual worlds sound perfect, but they do have cons. Virtual worlds can be addictive. A person's vision of what is real and what is fake may get blurred. They may start to believe that what they do in their virtual worlds is alright and that they can do the same in their real lives. This may not be accepted at times because of our law and societal norms. The lines between real and fake may become twisted causing problems for people psychologically and physically. Their have been a number of cases where people have become addicted to their virtual lives and started to neglect themselves in their real lives causing problems to their health.

Even though virtual worlds do have cons, I believe that they are here to stay. With the amount of revenue companies are generating through virtual worlds and the increasing amounts of time people are spending on the internet, virtual worlds can only grow. Virtual worlds can only become more innovative and unique in the future. As technology advances so will the virtual world experience.

I personally play online video games, but aside from that my virtual world experiences are limited. I guess that is all I can say, so for now Blog to you later.

Blog About Twitter

So for this assignment I was asked to blog about how twitter compares to having blackboard discussions and classroom discussions.

I will Make this easy.

Twitter	Blackboard	In class discussion
140 words per tweet	As long as you want	As long as you want
Information can be up to date	Information can be up to date	Information can be anything one wants.
Page can be customized	Can not be customized	Can be customized
Uses internet as a medium	Uses internet as a medium	In person conversation
Interact with a variety of people	Interact only within your classmates	Interact only with your classmates

Social Networking Sites

So for this assignment I was asked to compare my impressions on four social networking sites.

The four social networking sites that I will be forming an impression on will be Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Tumblr. I will start on the one that I use the most, Facebook. Facebook, I believe, is the perfect social networking site. Although it may have its flaws and people tend to hate the upgrades at the site, I believe that it serves its purpose best. As a platform it has evolved and came along way since its inception.MySpace on the other hand has become a pit. It was one of the best social networking websites, but then virus' crippled the website. At its current form it is seriously outdated. The website has fizzled in popularity recently. Twitter is totally different to Facebook and MySpace. Twitter is more like Facebook, but only the status update portion. On Twitter their is a much smaller amount of personal data transferred. Coming to the latest social networking site, Tumblr, we get a platform that has no personal information transfer. Tumblr is website where one is able to share their favorite things that can be easily found on the world wide web. People often post funny pictures, music, videos, or anything else that pertains to their interests. Other users then can randomly browse through the others posts.

Just to derive a conclusion to this. I like Facebook and nothing else. HAHA...So for now Blog to you later.

Social Networking

So for this assignment I was asked to write about Social Networking.

In today's day and age social networking has been brought to the forefront of societal interaction. Today's generation does the majority of its communication and "mingling" through social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Orkut, etc. As our society grows and becomes more diverse social networking can help develop our interactions with one another. Social networks provide platforms for us to communicate with people from across the globe. My sentiments about social networking are reiterated by Nicole Ellison, assistant professor of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University, in Stephen J. Dubner's article, for Freakonomics.com, titled "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum", in which she says "I believe the benefits provided by social network sites such as Facebook have made us better off as a society and as individuals, and that, as they continue to be adopted by more diverse populations, we will see an increase in their utility. Anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes from these technologies — such as political activities organized via Facebook or jobs found through LinkedIn — is well-known, but now a growing corpus of academic research on social networks sites supports this view as well." As we can see from Nicole Ellison's commentary on social networking their uses can be quite varied. 

Aside from providing a peer to peer interface for communication, social networks also provide company's great platforms to either recruit, market, or enhance their business productivity's and growth. Company's use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to market their products actively. Many companies have dedicated company pages on Facebook that create a buzz when a new product is about to come out, or when they want specific information to reach the consumers. Social networking websites such as LinkedIn are used extensively for recruitment. LinkedIn is usually billed as the professional's Facebook, where most top level executives and recruiters are able to fish through the website in search of their companies next great recruit. If we look at the example given in Frank Langfitt's article, for NPR.org, titled "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting", where a recruitment manager for Osram Sylvania was able to find a new product marketing manager using LinkedIn. Aside from that example, the article has input from other company recruiters who attest that LinkedIn gives them the opportunity to search for employees from a much vaster talent pool. 

Although I am an avid social networker myself I do realize that these technologies do have a negative aspect to them. When I look at my younger cousin's who are growing up just as social networking is being adopted as the new way to communicate I can see how they lack in communications skills. Being reliant on just communicating behind a screen can be harmful for ones personal growth. I enjoy social networking but I still believe one does not have the same conversation online as they do face to face. Aside from that I also believe that we are at a risk if we do not use social networks responsibly. Not just our youth, but adults as well can be stalked using social networks if they do not use the proper privacy settings. Just the other day I was having a conversation with a women at work who was telling me about why she does not use Facebook. She was telling me a story about how one of her relatives posted online that their family was going on vacation for two days. Somehow someone was able to view that status update and ended up robbing their home. The robbery was never solved. Aside from that example their are countless stories about people being stalked and harmed because people were able to follow them through there online activities. Hence, people must use these technologies intelligently, or else as with anything there are negative aspects to them. 

We must be aware that social networking is in it's prime. These technologies will continue to evolve. I believe that in the future more and more of our lives will be immersed in a constant stream of communication with our family, friends, and peers. I think that as technology improves everyone will have access to social networks through their cellular devices. Slowly and slowly televisions, even refrigerators, are coming with built in apps for Facebook and Twitter. I know of some cars out at the moment that have social networking in their display units, and I believe that will become the norm sooner or later. I also believe that in the future social networking will have a greater role to play in our day to day communications. Regardless of whether we think this is a good or bad thing, I believe it is a change that will occur. Social networks are here to stay. 

For now I believe this is enough of my commentary on social networking. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to comment. So for now Blog to you later.