The Next New Thing

"New media" is a topic that we see becoming more popular with a bunch of different websites for different things to do. I believe their should be a new website just for teachers. In order to sign up, you have to have a teachers account. It will basically for teachers to communicate with others no matter where they are in the world. They will be able to exchange lesson plan ideas, tips on how to teach different topics or just use it for support when the days get tough. It should be called "Teachers Corner". Teachers of all grades would be able to use it and it would hopefully make things a lot easier on them. It is a way to get help from others who know what they go through and who are in their field. "Teachers Corner" will have a chat room, where you can hold discussions with anyone. You will have your own profile stating what grade you teach, and how long you've been teaching. It will describe your teaching career. Then, you can upload some of your lesson plans or have people review them, if you do not feel it is correct and finish. It will be all about the teachers and helping them out.

Our Class Wiki- So Far

For the class wiki I came up with a new page I want to create. I haven't done it yet, but I want to create a page on how new media has affected sports. I want to discuss how sites like Facebook and Instagram have incorporated a some type of sports page on their websites. On Facebook, they put the score of the teams pages you liked on your timeline for you to see. On Instagram, there is a page for every sports team and for every professional sports team. I also want to talk about how new media has helped advanced the actual games. Having cameras and being able to re-watch a play that just happened can really affect how the game is going. There is also ways to watch games from your phone now using apps. It just has such a great influence on sports and that is something that interests me. I also want to edit some of my classmates pages about a topic they feel is important.

P2P File Sharing

File sharing makes sending files such as documents, pictures, videos, to other people through the internet. You can send it to another computer online. Everyone does it and it’s as easy as using any website.  There is also P2P file sharing which shares bigger sized documents. This method sends books, games and movies through a P2P network, which looks for other computers using this network as well (Wikipedia).  P2P is also used for lending out loans and we see how this is possible in the article “Peers Find Less Pressure Borrowing From Each Other” by Wendy Kaufman. The article says that people go on websites like Lending Club or Prosper to borrow money and it is very simple. This makes it easier for people who need the money fast to do whatever they need to. Websites like these are grower bigger and bigger. This file sharing method makes it easy to share big files with your friends or anyone else who has a P2P network. For students, they can send textbooks that they have downloaded on the internet. P2P file sharing is going to continue to grow in popularity as the internet grows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer_file_sharing

Privacy and Confidentiality

When mentioning new media, we can't say that it is private or confidential. I don't believe any information that is posted on the internet, even if you can make a profile or the information private, actually stays private. Just by typing in someone's name, you can pull up a whole list of facts and at least one picture of them. If you intend for your information to not be known by a lot of people, then you are better off not posting it at all. Facebook is an example where there is no such thing as privacy. A lot of people post pictures, videos and comments on Facebook about things that are going on in there life. That alone isn't privacy because you are sharing personal information with your friends on Facebook and sometimes even strangers. If your profile is private and only your friends can view it, there's still a chance that others will see your information. If you post a picture and tag a friend in it, not only can your friends see it, but also their friends. This information is never fully private. After reading an article I found out that our personal information is being pulled from the internet and sent to other companies for money. The article "The Wild West of Privacy" by Joe Nocera says the data brokers Acxiom is a company selling information they get about us from the internet to other companies. It is crazy to me that our information is not private at all. People easily access our information without trouble all the time.

Advice to Baruch College

If I was hired by Baruch College to use new media to improve the college, I would first suggest them to use it more in the classroom. A blog site like this can help improve participation from all students. It could more a class based more on what the students have to say, rather than just the professor. I would also suggest to use wiki sites to do group projects. This way you can make sure everyone is contributing in the project, instead of one or two people doing everything. Posting homework on a media site might also be better. Another good thing that could help the students is making a Facebook page for that class where the students and professor can post information, for example, if a project is due soon or if a class is cancelled. It is an easier way for the professor and students to communicate. The school itself could use new media for communicating with the students. They could set up a page on one of these sites where they can get student feedback. Maybe having a page can make it easier for students to get in contact with the school when they have questions. I also feel like the school should use one of the picture sites like Instagram to promote the school. They can post pictures of the different events going on at the school. A lot of high school students use sites like that and if they can view what goes on at the school, it might attract more people to go there. They could also set up an account for their clubs, athletic programs, sororities, fraternities and groups like that. Using new media sites can help promote the school in many ways.

Creativity and New Media

For a class I had to create an avatar of myself in a virtual world. I learned that this virtual world is very similar to real life, but you have no limits on who and what you want to be. First, when you pick your avatar you can be a person or an animal like person or a robot. You get to choose from a bunch of different choices. Then, when your actually in the world you can create how you want your place to look. You can visit other people's worlds and make friends through this virtual reality. When I payed, I was able to change my clothing. I visited a world which was a family site. We danced on the dance floor. I also visited a night club where I danced even more. I enjoy playing in this virtual world because your free to just express yourself.

                

Creativity

New Media continues to grow in popularity over the years. It is a way for people to express themselves through videos, pictures or through writing. It is a way for these people to be creative without really having too many boundaries. A lot of these new media sites use fans to help build new things for their sites; to help improve it in a way that will attract these people. The article "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers" by Clare Cain Miller talks about and gives us a few examples of this method. For example Flikr found out that sharing photos was becoming a popular thing, so that's how the site came about. They actually leave there innovations up to their users. It is a good way to get an idea of what they like to make the site more attractive. As the article states, Twitter is one of the top sites that uses customer innovation. Users of Twitter are the reason why tweets have that name. They started calling them that and eventually Twitter adopted the term. The # was also another thing brought about by a user of Twitter. These are ways in which people were just being creative and it caught on with other users and Twitter itself. A site like this lets you come up with new ideas for Twitter. Being creative on websites is very easy. I believe these type of sites are for users to be creative and express themselves.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

The virtual world is actually really interesting when you really come to understand it. People choose who and what they want to be and through these characters act out good or bad deeds. A lot of people tend to not realize how much a virtual character affects your actions in real life. Reading the article “Virtual World may Impact Real World Behaviour”, it gives us an example of how it affects our real life. It talked about people being heros’ and villains. In real life they gave them a test where they would taste chili or chocolate, then pass it further on. They would choose how much of each they would give to the taster after them. The people who acted as heros gave a lot more chocolate than chili and the people who acted as a villain in these virtual worlds, gave a lot more chili than chocolate. This can be a pro and a con for the virtual world. A pro in the sense that if people are choosing to be a hero, they tend to do better in real life as well. A con because these people who are choosing to be villains are also acting that way in real life. The virtual world gives people a chance to leave their normal stressful lives for a while and either save the day or terrorize it. A few other advantages of the virtual world is that it can help with training programs for the military, surgical procedures such as diagnosing and procedures and also gaming experiences. Its an advantage in these ways because the virtual world is so similar to real life. Some disadvantages of making a virtual world is that it is very time consuming, it could also not be as clear to see or hear. There are many disadvantages a virtual world can face. The virtual world is all about creativity and the idea that you can be anything you want. In the article No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s The Real You” by Ruth La Ferla it talks about how people during the Recession could not actually go out and buy these expensive things, but took to the virtual world to do it instead. People would spend money on these games in order to have what they wanted in the real world. It is almost like a way to express who you really want to be, even if it isn’t possible in real life. You can create your world however you want to with very little boundaries. I think the future is going to have a lot more involvement with virtual worlds. I believe it is going to eventually be a way to help train employees, especially in the retail industry. In my eyes the virtual world can be a very positive thing for the future.

Blog About Twitter

You can have discussions on Twitter, on Blackboard and in a classroom. There are differences however, on how each one is held. We all know how classroom discussions go. I think this one is the easiest one that is held. The teacher talks about the topic being done in class and then everyone comments on it. Usually the students are learning and will occasionally asks questions. It is just an easier way to communicate between everyone about what is going on in class. A discussion on Blackboard is easy enough to have, but I don't think it is as effective as actually being in a classroom. Usually a topic will be put up on Blackboard and questions will be asked by the teacher. Then, each student will go and answer the questions and talk about the topic. It is in the form of a comment, so everyone will comment on it. You usually view them as separate answers, but there is a way to see them all at once. This can cause students to not read all their classmates answers, so they won't get as much out of the topics as if they were in a classroom. The good part about Blackboard is that it is always up there, so the students can go back whenever they want to look at it. They are in order of dates when they are posted. Twitter, I believe is the hardest way to hold a discussion. People are always tweeting, so your feed is constantly updating with new information. If you have a discussion, it doesn't mean that all the comments will be right under each other. A easier way to hold a discussion on Twitter is to all use the same hashtag. By doing that, you can click on the hashtag and all the comments will come up that used it. Although each way can be used for discussions, I believe some are easier then others. Face to face discussions seem the easiest to me, but discussions online are more convenient.

Social Networking Sites

Social Networks are used by everyone as a way of expressing themselves and also communicating with others. I visited Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr. I've had a Facebook for a long time and I am very familiar with the site, however, it is constantly changing. To me, Facebook is a very public site, even if your profile is private. You can share everything on, like what your thoughts are or even photos. It makes it very easy to communicate with anyone. You can comment on people's photos or status. You can also privately messaged people on Facebook. This site is very similar to Twitter to me. I haven't had Twitter long, but you can do very similar things on it as Facebook. Its actual setup is different looking, but you can tweet about whatever you want. You can retweet other people's things or even comment on them. Just like Facebook, Twitter gives you the option of being private or public. You can upload pictures and also like any comments or pictures you want. Both Twitter and Facebook have the same feel when it comes to their websites. Instagram is different then both Facebook and Twitter. It is more focused on pictures and videos. You upload pictures and then your friends can comment or like them. Instagram also has direct message which is its form of privately messaging someone. Instagram is more used as an app though because when using it as a website, you can't do everything. You cannot upload new photos or videos on the website, but you can do all that on the app. You can only comment and like other people's photos on the website. This social network is app based on phones. Flickr is the newest social network for me and I just got one. It seems very similar to Instagram, except it has its differences. With Flickr you can upload any photos you want onto the site, but not everyone will see that. It is called the camera roll, like the ones cellphones have. In order to make photos public, you have to upload them to the photo stream. You can favorite other people's photos or comment on them. All these social networks are very similar and can do pretty much the same things. They allow you to upload photos or videos, comment on other peoples things and overall just communicate with others.

Social Networking

Social Networking has emerged throughout the years and is now a huge way in communicating for everyone. There are many ways in which social networking can be used and there are many benefits of using it.  One way social media is used in business is for job recruiting. In the article "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting" it explains how social media helped Maureen Crawford-Hentz recruit for global lighting company. She used a site called Linkedin where all she had to do was type in a keyword and it navigated her to a person who was working that current job somewhere else. It was as simple as typing in one word and she found a possible new employee. However, not everyone needs to have the option of being contacted for  a job opportunity. As the article states, there are privacy policies that allow you to decide whether you can be contacted or not. Other ways social media can be used is for keeping in touch with all friends or even family that lives around the world. A website like Facebook makes it very easy to communicate with anyone at anytime. I have family living in Italy right now that I keep in touch with. Facebook even has a translator button, so if someone writes something in a different language, Facebook will translate it right there for you. I find myself using that a lot when I am talking to my relatives. Social media is beneficial for those who want to communicate with others. It is beneficially, as the article showed us, for businesses to find new employees. Within a company social media can be very beneficial because it can be a way for the employees to communicate and keep up with what is going on at work. It can help them figure out when their meetings are and what new project is being worked on. Although social media can be beneficial it also has it's "dark side".  A big problem we see now is how anti-social social media made people. We see people constantly looking at their phones either texting, using the internet, or on some social media site. The article "Antisocial Networking?" by Hilary Stout goes into great detail about how kids do not do normal kid things anymore. It talks about how kids are constantly on social media and are no longer actually able to have conversations with their friends in person. Kids don't go outside anymore and play games, instead most of them are inside sitting on their computers. The article says that unlike the kids parents, who had relationships with their friends, the kids could miss out on some experiences that will help them develop socially. Another dark side of social media is that nothing is really private anymore. No matter how private you try to be, your information is out there for anyone to access. I do believe that in the future social media is going to be the center of everything. The only way people will communicate is through social media. I think that businesses will even jump more on the social media train and run a lot of their daily work through it. It is going to take over.

Blogs Vs. Wikis

Reading up on the topics of blogs and wikis we can see they have many differences and similarities. They are very useful for students or people in general who want to express themselves and connect with people all around the world. Blogs and wikis, both are very easy for everyone to access. They can be viewed by anyone, anywhere in the world. They can also be commented on by anyone. After reading either one, you can respond to the article. There is a difference between the two when it comes to editing a wiki or blog. The difference is you can actually edit a wiki anywhere within the text. You cannot edit a blog, only comment on it. With both a blog and wiki, you can express your own ideas and be creative. Both a blog and wiki can be a good source of communication with people who have similar interests to your own. There might be quite a few similarities, but there are also differences. A big difference between the two is that a Blog only has one author and that author is the only person who can edit that work, while a Wiki is made up of a bunch of different authors that are constantly editing the work. The information posted to both a blog and a wiki is usually different. A blog is usually the opinion of the author, where the wiki is usually information on a topic. Both may have differences, but the convergence to the Wiki and Blog in the business world is very important. In the article Brooklyn Blog Helps Drug Raid by Michael Wilson we can see how important blogs can be and how important the convergence to blogs can be to a business. In a neighborhood there was a very suspicious house where the neighbors assumed were selling drugs. A few neighbors would post on this blog explaining what they would see and hear day to day. It brought up suspicion and the cops were brought in for investigation. They eventually figured out there was drugs being dealt and taken. The cops arrested five people including three bothers who lived in the houses. This investigation would have never took place if the neighbors did not post on the blog. It shows how important blogs could be in the business world, in any type of business. In the article How to Use Wikis For Business by Ezra Goodnoe, we see how Wikis have become important to the business world. First off the article says that the cheap prices of a Wiki make it easy for businesses to publish their work. This helps the business exchange information and make it easy to communicate within the business. Wikis can make a business run more smoothly and get their business ideas across more easily.
Blogs are not normally known as collaborative works, but I believe there is a way that it could be used like this. It originally starts off with one author who voices their opinion. I do believe, however, once people start commenting on the blog, they are imputing their opinion into the work. These comments can be used to help the blogger with their new blog posts. Wikis are usually a collaborative work. We already know the lists of things that wikis are used for. I believe that in the future wikis will be used in classrooms. I know they are used now in classrooms, but I mean have even more importance. Maybe, they will be used to actually do class projects, or used for class notes where students can add information if they feel its necessary. I think there is going to be a bigger role in the future for wikis in a classroom setting. I also believe online classes will also incorporate them more into their class work.

Blogs Vs. Wikis: How Are They Similar?

My research paper topic is on blogs and wikis and how they are similar. I come across what the two are and how they differ in many ways. They also have many similarities between them. A blog from my point of view is like a diary entry on a webpage. However, many others can view and comment on what you write. You usually write about topics of your interest and just give information about it and your view of it. I did not know much about wikis and so I looked it up. They are said to be information on a website that it read and edited by any of the people who can view it. This is also an entry of information on a topic, but it can be a bunch of peoples' view instead of just one. Blogs usually have one author with people who comment. The author communicates their thoughts to a bunch of people. Wikis are multiple authors who constantly can change the text. It is a way of communication between a wide group of people. The two might be different, but they have many similarities. They are both used as a way of communication between people. With a blog you can communicate through the comments, and with the wikis you communicate throughout the texts. Anyone can view either of these two websites. They are also a way that people can express themselves. For the most part both wikis and blogs could be based on the writers opinions. Blogs and Wikis are both similar through communication and the way that people can express their ideas to each other.