The Next New Thing

I think the next new “new media” will be virtual reality. Although the concept exists already, I think in the near future it will be more developed and used by a bigger audience. In the future it won’t only be used for entertainment but also be used by companies to hold meetings. Companies that do business overseas will be able to choose a particular time to meet and have a meeting in the comfort of their home. Business partners would be able to come together from all over the world and hold a meeting in which they can participate in and see each other. This would save millions of dollars on airfare, which in the end will help the environment.

Virtual Reality would also be used for entertainment and perhaps even replace the current social media platforms. Instead of seeing picture of your friends Thailand trip on Instagram and 10 second videos on Snapchat, users will be able to virtually go on the trips with their friends. Gaming experience will also be upgraded for gamers. Instead of holding a remote and looking at graphics on a screen, gamers will be able to virtually enter the gaming world and have a more hands on experience. Virtual reality has the potential to change how our society engages.

As of right now virtual reality exists but not used by many, and since its a fairly new concept the gadgets are expensive and not something everyone can afford. As the concept continues to develop, the cost of it will decrease and with proper marketing will be appealing to more individuals. The only downside to virtual reality would be people losing sight of actual reality and living only in the virtual world, which could lead to psychological problems. But like all things, if used in moderation it wont be harmful.

 

 

Our Class Wiki – So Far

So far I have contributed to the Advertising, Culture, Love and Food, Beverage & Hospitality Industry in Our Class Wiki Page.

In the advertising category I contributed to the Snapchat section. In the Snapchat section I brought up how advertising is done on Snapchat through geofilters. Geofilters are filters users can apply to their photos, and lots of companies “buy” their own filters in order to reach users on Snapchat. Some of the recent sponsored geofilters are the Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign,  Samsung, Hollister, McDonalds, Starbucks,  and the Terminator. The advertisement tactic is a great way to reach millennials since TV viewings are low for the millennial generation.

In the culture category I edited the “Weak Relationships” section and brought up a popular TV show by the name of “Catfish”. The show is based on two guys (Nev and Max) documenting traveling across the United States and helping people meet with other people whom they met online, fell in love and have never met or seen before. The show portrays how weak relationships are constantly being formed online and users continue to fall for people they have never met. The show is in its fifth season and people still haven’t learned their lesson and continue to form these online relationships.

The “Love” category had different dating websites listed and I edited the OkCupid portion of it. The OkCupid was the shortest section of the love category so I did some research to find out more about it to edit it. I ended up contributing some functions of OkCupid and also including some data, such as that the OkCupid is 46% cheaper than an average dating website.

Food, Beverage & Hospitality Industry category had a website Airbnb section under it and I edited the section because the grammar was poor and information on it was  inaccurate.  The wiki said the the website was launched in 2007 when it was actually in 2008. Also it touched briefly on the CEO’s but did not include their names, I added the CEO’S name and included more information on how the idea came up and how the website really began. I also, talked about the features on the website and how its not only met to rent out homes, but you could also be a host yourself and list your home on the website. The last thing I edited was the global factor of Airbnb. It started in San Francisco but now you can rent it all over the world.

In the future, I plan to contribute to our class wiki even more. There are several great categories and sections within each category that I think I can contribute a lot to. I’m not sure if i’ll be adding a new page or category because there are so many already. I want to include more pictures to my contributions and maybe make some changes to the layout. Overall editing the wiki is a fun assignment because we get to work as a group to create one great wiki page that everyone is able to contribute and learn from.

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is uploading media content and sharing it with users online. The content is accessible to anyone with no restrictions. For instance, there are countless numbers of textbook pfds on the internet that students can find online and download instead of buying a physical copy of the textbook. Another great example would be found in the New York Times article by the title of “Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios”. The article used a blockbuster movie as its example of file sharing. When the Dark Knight Rises was released in theaters, Warner Brothers did everything in their power to keep the movie strictly in theaters. However not long after it was released, it was all over the internet for users online to pirate it and watch it without paying. The movie came out in in July and by December was illegally downloaded seven million times around the world!

P2P file sharing is Peer to Peer that’s similar to regular file sharing but instead is meant for a particular person or group of people and generally involves a specific sharing network. An article published by the npr by the title of “Peers Find Less Pressure Borrowing From Each other” brought up a great example of P2P File Sharing. The article talked about The Benefits of the “Lending Club”. The Lending Club is an online alternative to taking a loan from a bank. How it works is, investors contribute money to fund the loans and the interest rates for the borrowers are significantly lower than those offered at a bank. The great part about this is, even though the interest rates are lower, the investors still make a profit. As a result, its beneficial for both parties.

Although File sharing and P2P are very similar and both offer beneficial aspects to users online, they are in fact different. File sharing is accessible to a much bigger audience, while P2P is designated for particular groups. The examples mentioned earlier in the posts, such as pirating movies and downloading textbooks pdfs, don’t require an account. But P2P example such as Lending Club require an account and one needs to be approved for the loan. Overall both are great contributions to the internet that help our society.

 

Works Cited

Kaufman, Wendy. “Peers Find Less Pressure Borrowing From Each Other.” NPR. NPR, 10 May 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Stelter, Brian, and Brad Stone. “Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Feb. 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Privacy & Confidentiality

Privacy and Confidentiality are an important matter when it comes to social media. All social media platforms offer privacy settings, such as, who can view certain posts but those are often times ignored by younger generations.  People generally turn to social media to share what they’re doing and whom they are with.  Instagram and Twitter are driven by likes and followers. Users want to gain as much popularity as they can on those two platforms and ignore all the safety precautions because they want their content to be seen by as many people as possible.

This has become an big issue in the past years as users continue to share every personal aspect of their lives. This could be seen in a new reality TV show “Catfish”. Catfish is a TV show that explores online profiles that are created through people that pretend they are someone else. Users fill out fake information and upload pictures of other people. Not setting your privacy settings, allows other users to steal your pictures and pretend to be you online.

Job searches have also been affected by social media. Recruiters and Employers have been doing background checks on possible employees through Facebook. If your privacy settings are not on effect, you can lose your chances of getting hired by someone that saw something offensive on your Facebook. There has been countless incidents when people were about to get hired but got rejected because of the content they shared on their Facebook page.

People anonymously pretending to be you on social media and losing a job opportunity because you were doing shots at a bar is unfortunate, but not as scary as someone stalking you. Sharing your location, phone number, and full name, gives stalkers the opportunity to find where you are and potentially cause you harm. By using the feature “check-in” you are giving away your current location when anyone that sees it can go to and stalk you.

Everyone values their privacy and wants their personal business to stay their personal business but with new media its a hard to manage to do so at times. Our society is constantly struggling with gaining popularity and keeping their matters private. Unfortunately its hard to have both, and its important to choose privacy over popularity for the sake of your own safety.

 

Advice to Baruch College

Baruch College is a commuter school and many students complain how hard it is to make friends. Although there are clubs and events going on every semester, its the same group of people attending each semester. Since almost every millennial has some sort of social media platform that they use regularly, I would incorporate new media into the events going on at school. The existing clubs have their own Facebook and Instagram accounts, but I don’t think they reach the students outside of those clubs. If Baruch had a one main Instagram page that was viewed my majority of students, students would have a better chance of seeing events that are being promoted. As of right now, the main way events are promoted at Baruch is through email, and many students, including myself, don’t check the email frequently.

Although this might be an expensive suggestion, another way to improve Baruch experience is by creating an app. The app would be introduced to new students coming in and the app would have different sections to it. Students would have to create a profile and instead of “adding” friends, they would see what everyone on campus is doing. There would be different sections to the app, such as a”rate a professor” so students can read reviews on professors from past students. Another section would be “study groups” where during midterms and finals students can find other people in the school that are studying  for particular subjects and meet up with them. The app would also have a section for students to sell their old textbooks that were used by Baruch professors. This function would help students save hundreds of dollars each semester. Another function of the app would be “nightlife” where students can plan to meet at local bars and restaurants and make friends since its hard to make friends in a commuter school.

While creating an app would be an expensive suggestion, using Facebook and Instagram more frequently might be the best suggestion. Some of the suggestions I incorporated into the app already exist, but it would make things much easier if everything was in one place (one app). It would also get more viewers since it has several functions and uses.

Creativity and New Media

I decided to demonstrate how new media fosters creativity by creating my own avatar. I got to personalize my avatar to look as much as me as it possibly could. The website provided several options for skin tone, face shape, eyes, nose, and lips. I had to play around with some options in order to make it look exactly like me. I actually got a mirror and was going back and forth between the avatar and the mirror to create the most realistic version. To my surprise, the website did not even ask me to create an account, and gave me tons of options to choose from. I put together the outfit that best fits my style, the shirt my avatar is wearing is very similar to what I have in my closet! The website really allows you to get as creative as possible and allows your avatar to have accessories such as musical instruments or even bunny ears if you want to be silly.

This was a fun little experiment where my creativity was met with new media. The avatar I created I can use on social media accounts in order to protect my privacy. I am actually using the avatar I created as my profile picture on Instagram, so my profile remains as private as it could be. Overall I think new media does influence a big part of creativity because it allows individuals to express themselves as much as they can and want. Another example of new media fostering creativity would be my Tumblr blog, where I post pictures and gifs that I think are interesting. Tumblr is a good way to show off your creativity and also get inspired by other blogs.

 

Here is the avatar I created:

and here is a picture of me:

I’m not including my Tumblr Blog because it contains content that might be inappropriate or offensive to some.

CREATIVTY

        With New Media, there are countless creative possibilities that could be generated at any time. Creativity prospers with new media because there are so many ideas flowing through at all times, and these ideas evolve and improve throughout the help of millions creative mindsets. Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why? An article in the New York Times, explored why Disney doesn’t enforce their strict piracy laws on YouTube videos of Disney Characters singing along to rap songs.  The answer to that is Disney supports creativity. Disney saw the video mash-ups as creative process for fans instead of a copyright issue. Besides that, I think it was also good publicity for Disney, without Disney having to spend any money or time on it.

            Another example of new media fostering creativity is through Twitter.  Our class recently had a twitter discussion and many of us realized how entertaining Twitter really is. The social media platform has been around for ten years and remained successful and perhaps now is the most successful that it’s ever been. Twitter Serves up Ideas from Its Followers gave an insight behind Twitters success, which we learned was outsourcing. Twitter gave its users the opportunity to suggest possible new features for the social media platform. With the help of Twitter users, Twitter developed two new features, lists and retweets, both which have been very successful functions on the platform.

           If Twitter wasn’t open to its user’s creative ideas then who knows if Twitter would still be around today. We’ve seen many social media platforms that have crashed and burned (i.e. Myspace) because they were not open to new innovative ideas from its users. There is actually a new function on Instagram that was introduced yesterday, that has many users upset and even threatening to stop using the social media platform. Let’s see if Instagram will listen to its users in order to remain successful or lose users.

Sources:

• Barnes, Brooks. “Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?” The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2007. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
• Miller, Claire Cain. “Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Oct. 2009. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds have the potential to be a very useful tool for people of many ages. The tool has the potential to benefit both business and education. According to “Going to the virtual office in Second Life” big corporations turned to virtual worlds in order to save money. Instead of traveling across the country or even across the globe, employees had the opportunity to hold a meeting in a “virtual meeting”. Companies even as big as IBM are taking advantage of this tool. Rashik Parmar, who’s the chief technology officer for IBM, talked about his positive experience with a virtual meeting tool, where 12 technical leaders from across two continents (Europe and Asia) had the opportunity to hold a meeting, all in the comfort of their own place. The pros of a virtual meeting are not only travel time and money being saved, but Paramar said “the environment was so engaging, a lot more ideas came through”. This shows that perhaps people are more open to contributing ideas in a virtual meeting, than a physical meeting.

While virtual meetings save time, money and perhaps encourage contribution, there are also negatives that come along with it. A professor at Binghamton University brought up a lot of good points when it comes to the negative aspect of virtual meetings. One being that, just because something works in the “real world” doesn’t mean it will work in the virtual world, and vice versa. Another con is the cultural differences, which could lead to possible clashes or disputes. According to article “At Hearing, Real and Virtual Worlds Collide” typos can be a serious con, since “Give me a sec” and “Give a sex” are only a letter off (and the letters are right next to each other on the keyboard).  I think the biggest con of a virtual meeting is the time restriction and lack of interaction that comes with it. Once the meeting is over, that’s it, you can’t run down the hall and contribute something that was left out in the meeting.

Education also has the potential to benefit from virtual words. According to the paper “The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Virtual Classroom and the Role of the Teacher” because of the internet, education, for the first time has the ability to educate beyond a classroom. Internet being a huge resources has the potential to reach out to kids that can’t afford education in other countries and also to children that don’t have the ability to go to class. This biggest pro of this tool will be the convenience factor. Students will have the convenience to learn from their home, during the time that is suitable for them, rather than being in class during designated hours. Virtual classrooms will be much more personalized for the student and could focus on their specific needs. Some of the cons with virtual learning would be glitches occurring in the system during a lesson, the lack of computer knowledge teachers have, and the training that teachers would have go through in order to become computer literate and as well as the amount of inappropriate content that’s online that kids would have access to. While the idea sounds good in the beginning, once you begin to explore it, you find many negatives that come along with it.

Virtual Worlds have the potential to foster creativity in terms of how meetings are done. Going back to the CNN article “Going to the virtual office in Second Life”, employees have the ability to “create their own avatars (animated alter-ego) and choose what setting the meeting will take place, “avatars could pick up a beer around a log fire, or walk around a sculpture park and talk”. This lets employees get creative and makes the meeting more “fun” rather than just sitting around a table, sharing ideas. I think in the future, virtual worlds will be taking over the face to face meetings. As technology progresses, more and more companies will taking advantage of the tool. I personally am not a fan of the virtual words because I think it lacks the personal interaction factor, and if we continue to communicate only online, eventually it’ll we won’t be able to have common personal interactions.

Sources:

• Going to the virtual office in Second Life
• At Hearing, Real and Virtual Worlds Collide
• The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Virtual Classroom and the Role of the Teacher

Blog About Twitter

Today was my first time being active on Twitter and I really enjoyed. I actually enjoyed it way more than Blackboard discussions and maybe even in class discussions. I never realized how easy and even fun Twitter is! By using hashtags you can easily connect with so many people and discuss one particular topic. Since you are only allowed 140 characters, your contributions have to be short and to the point. At times in the blackboard discussions, it’s easy to go off on a tangent. Also, when it comes to in class discussions with so many people in a class, so many thoughts and different opinions are exchanged, by the time it’s your turn to contribute the topic has already changed, or you forgot what you wanted to say. With Twitter it’s much easier because even if someone posted a tweet 14 hours ago, you can still respond to them by tagging them and retweeting. Another thing I liked about Twitter is that you can share files and links. Although you can share links on a blackboard discussion, you can’t do it during an in class discussion. Another factor that differentiates Twitter from in class discussions and blackboard discussions is the amount of input you get. In class and on blackboard you are limited to only your classmate’s opinions, but on Twitter, anyone in the world is able to see your tweet and contribute. Getting opinions from people outside of the class and maybe even across the globe is a great way to gain insights from outside your own culture or even comfort zone.

My favorite thing about Twitter and what makes it different from in class discussions and blackboard discussions is the hashtag function. By using the hashtag #3810NET2 on Twitter, the entire class was able to communicate and hold a discussion, share opinions and articles. It felt like the most involved we have been all semester. It didn’t feel like a homework assignment but instead a discussion among friends. I personally really like using twitter for discussions and look forward to having more discussions with the class. Now that I know Twitter has more to offer than just sharing Tweets, I’ll be using Twitter way more often.

Social Networking Sites

I have a Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter account and use all four of them, but for different reasons.

Facebook was the first social media account that I created. I created it back in 2012 and would use it to communicate with friends. Later one as more social media platforms came out I began to drift towards Instagram and Tumblr more.

I went from using Facebook every day, to share thoughts, pictures, and links and so on, to barely logging on. Today the main use of Facebook for me is the “Baruch College Textbooks: BUY or SELL!!!” group that helps Baruch students buy and sell textbooks.

Instagram is my most used social media account. What I like about Instagram, unlike Facebook it’s more personalized. I can have someone follow me and not follow them back. On Facebook when someone adds you as a friend, and your approve, you automatically see all their posts. There is the option to unsubscribe from their posts, but that’s just an extra step. With Instagram it’s much easier. I also feel as if Instagram has less drama. Especially with the elections coming up, everyone has been putting out their opinions and starting controversial debates on Facebook. On Instagram you barely see that, you just see a picture, you like it, and you move on with your day.

Tumblr has to be the most drama free social media account I have. Even though Tumblr is a social media network, I use Tumblr to get away from social media. With Tumblr, you can spend hours just scrolling. I personally follow blogs that post fashion, makeup, funny memes, food, scenery and it’s a great way to get inspired or just unwind for me.

I’m really new to Twitter, I signed up a few weeks ago and only began to use it today. I found out that you can do way more on Twitter than just tweet! You can share files, share music, exchange business cards and even look for jobs. I had no idea twitter was so useful and perhaps now will be using it much more often. My first impression of twitter was that it was used to share constant updates and statuses, but now I’m realizing it’s the most useful social media account I have.

I have all four social media platforms and use them all sporadically. The four sites are all considered social media but have their own angle. Facebook is meant for connecting and sharing thoughts with old and new friends. Instagram is for sharing pictures and gaining “likes” and in a sense popularity. Tumblr is for expressing your creativity and getting inspired. Twitter is a social media platform that can help you connect with anyone around the world, by using hastags. Twitter can even land you a job.