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.