The Next New Thing

New media has replaced most of old media and is now dominantly used in our society. I would like to suggest a new type of new media that does not exist yet. Apps are being created everyday is considered the new media in our society. I would like to suggest a new app that could be useful and has yet to be established. If someone reading this can actually create it, it would be great. The app I'm thinking of would allow people to display their phone or tablet screen onto the TV. Currently I know of two companies that has this function which is Apple and Verizon but both companies require the purchase of an additional device. My idea is different in which no other device is require besides your phone or tablet and a TV. This way users can display their content on any TV they desire without having to bring the additional device everywhere. People can watch their content on to a bigger screen. Whether it's a video, music, pictures, presentation or even a video game, it would be awesome to have on a bigger screen. This app can be helpful for those who have bad eye sight since they can see the screen in a bigger display. Also, if the TV supports High Definition then it would display the content in a higher resolution. It's just an idea, but wouldn't it be great if someone can make it happen?

Our Class Wiki - So Far

So far I have yet to contribute to the Wiki blog but I have thought of some ideas to integrate in existing posts. While looking at the topics, I thought about including apps we use today like Snapchat, Uber, Tinder or Instagram but apparently it has all been posted already. So I looked through the website to see what other apps can added and figured I'll be contributing to the topic on business. To the category I will be talking about the Chase and Venmo app where people are now paying others electronically with these new apps. So far only Paypal, Square and Near Field Communication is mentioned so I'll be incorporating these two other apps. I have already found the images I want to use as graphics and will soon upload them along with their descriptions.  

P2P File Sharing

Let's begin with what file sharing is and how it is used. According to Wiki, file sharing is the distribution of digital media, which may include documents, music, video, and images. The issue on file sharing is that these digital media are usually distributed illegally. People would download these files and re-upload them under their account. People usually share the files without permission, thus infringing the copyright act. An example is the movie, "The Dark Knight" which was downloaded seven million times around the world according to the article, "Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios Besides" by Brain Stelter. Anonymous users uploaded the movie online which gave millions of people around the world access to the film. These millions of people took advantage of the resource and decided to download a copy of it. Besides file sharing, there's also peer to peer file sharing also known as P2P. According to Wiki, peer to peer file sharing is the distribution of digital media through peer to peer network technology. One widely used network technology for file sharing is Google Drive. People could upload any files onto Google Drive and allow specific people to gain access to it. Another example is BitTorrent which is a software that allows the user to download a torrent files. Once the user downloads the torrent file, it connects the user to others who has the file. File sharing networks are convenient in helping others distribute files but most of the time the files shared are illegally obtained. It's hard to enforce the law on illegal file sharing and many people still do it today.

Works Cited

Stelter, B., & Stone, B. (2009, February 4). Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Major Hollywood Studios. Retrieved November 12, 2014.

Privacy & Confidentiality

New media today is heavily tied to privacy and confidentiality. Most online activities require an account with a password nowadays. Whether it's using your phone or signing in the computer, everything needs a password to secure information.

Facebook is a great example of privacy and confidentiality in new media. There are privacy settings users can set to make their account more confidential. For example, users can limit who are able to see their pictures or view their profile. People have to be careful of what they post because others can make fake accounts with the information they've obtained from one's profile. How else is new media connected with privacy and confidentiality?

Well, since almost everything is done online, people need to be careful of what information they fill out. Social security is one of the most important identifications. If when someone fills out an online form requiring the social security number, their identity may be stolen if the website is not secure. That's why confidentiality is very important with the new media and technology today. Everything should be kept private in order to secure oneself.

Advice

New media is currently rising and a lot of people rely more on it than old media. If Baruch College were to hire me to improve the college with new media, I would try to incorporate more videos into class lectures. Since our society relies so much on technology and social media, students may learn better. Students would be more interested in the course. The videos of course are related to the lecture but shall be somewhat entertaining so students may remember the lecture better. Also the lectures should be recorded as well, so students who missed the class or want to review the lecture can do so. It would be very helpful and maybe, students will score higher on exams.

Creativity

Creativity usually leads to building new inventions. The various inventions are what differentiates one individual from another. Companies try to design newer products that differentiates itself from other companies. All companies want to please their customers. They want to provide the needs to customers so more people will be interested in buying their products. Since our society is moving towards the reliance of technology, companies trying to come up with new ideas that would attract more consumers. For example, Ford is a motor vehicle company that has been around for quite a while. The company notices that people "were modifying Sync, its voice-activated system for playing music and getting directions" (Miller). Since the system is being widely used by other companies as well and is being upgraded, Ford needs to think of newer features that would give them a competitive advantage to lure in more consumers. Same with new media, as more and more websites are being created everyday, web owners are looking for ways to update their domain so consumers would continue using their creation.

Not surprisingly, some ideas the companies have come from the consumers. For instance, hashtags came from a twitter user called Chris Messina "to mark conversations about a certain topic with the # symbol" (Miller). Other users started to follow the trend as they've noticed it. Twitter then built on the idea by hyper-linking the hashtags so other can view the same topics. Ideas are always being added on to. Whenever there is a consumer suggestion, companies acknowledge their needs and try to better its products. With new media, creativity is always on going as companies are constantly coming up with new ideas upgrade its products.

Works Cited
Miller, C. (2009, October 25). "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers". Retrieved October 25, 2014.

Creativity and New Media

Creativity fosters from new media. As you can see below, I've attempted to create an avatar of myself. Although it doesn't look exactly like me, there is some resemblance. Basically what you see in the pictures is a real image of me and an attempted replica of me. The other images are the features that is included in an app called FaceQ. The app allowed me to choose various character traits which led onto building a resemblance of me. I was able to choose the hair style, hair color, face shape, skin color, eyebrows, mouth, and clothing. One feature allowed the user to be even more creative by allowing the user to add a dialogue bubble, like in comic books. By using the new media tool, I was able to recreate myself into an avatar form.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

The virtual world relates to the life on the internet. In the virtual world, people can engage on activities that they won't be able to do so physically in real life. It's basically another dimension created online where users control and take in the form of avatars. So far I've seen virtual worlds used  mostly for gaming but I'm sure there are other useful uses for it.

The pros of the virtual world are staggering. People are able to do things they can't do in reality. In video games characters can fly, drive nice cars, live wealthy and more. The virtual world is the ideal world people want to live in. Besides being fun, the virtual world can help professionally. According to the article, "Going to the virtual office in Second Life," the computer company, IBM created a virtual office where it "allows businesses to share ideas and collaborate in a 3D world" (Tutton). Workers are able to communicate and share their ideas online even if they're miles apart.

The cons may include, focusing more on the virtual world and less on what is actually real. For example, according to the article, "I’ve Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life," by Dave Itzkoff, he mentions that it took him months to create a virtual world of the Lower East Side even though he could experience the world outside himself. In the virtual world he was able to go to a cafe/music club that was too packed and crowded. Instead, he spends hours on his website living the virtual world. He's using the virtual world in replacement of real life. Besides reality confusion, another aspect that isn't as ideal is cyber bullying. Users create false accounts that are used to orally harm another behind the screen. It's pitiful but people do it anyways just for the heck of it.

The virtual world can definitely foster creativity. The people of IT and developers can use their skills to create a world where everyone can enjoy. It creates team collaboration, where developers work together to design an ideal world. In "Going to the virtual office in Second Life," IBM was able to create a world made for sharing ideas and communicating conveniently. In "I’ve Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life," Dave was able to create a world to his liking. He was able to experience things he wouldn't be able to experience and enjoy in reality. Creating the virtual world stimulates one's brain to creatively construct the perfect world.

The future of virtual worlds seems to be successful. Since our society is so technology oriented, it's no surprise that one day virtual worlds would be of great benefit to us. I've heard about e-malls where people can shop online more conveniently. There's a program where the mall is in 2-D diagrams and customers are able to shop in the mall as if they were actually there. Maybe in the near future, businesses will operate in the virtual world like the virtual office in second life but more developed.

Works Cited
Itzkoff, D. (2008, January 5). I've Been In That Club, Just Not In Real Life. Retrieved October 18, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html?_r=0

Tutton, M. (2009, November 9). Going to the virtual office in Second Life. Retrieved October 18, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html

Social Networking Sites

There are a variety of social networking sites out there. A few that our community currently uses is Myspace, Facebook,  Instagram, and Twitter. Myspace is one of the first social networking sites that people were hooked onto. Back in the day when I was still using it, I connected with my friends and listened to good music. But after Facebook took over, Myspace has just been abandoned. Currently, Myspace has a new look and is solely based on a music background. There are features for songs, music videos, radio and artists to follow. It has a new and vibrant look but most of it's fans have moved onto to the next big thing which is Facebook.

Facebook is currently one of the most famous and most used website for social networking. People use it for online communication, interaction and connection with friends. It also features news feeds updates of people's daily lives, shared links of entertainment videos, and shared pictures people post. Now with a convenient app that Facebook created, users can connect with others through their mobile devices. The app makes it so much more convenient and easier to access the site instantly. People can check their statues and account every second if they have their notification enabled.

Instagram on the other hand. started off as an app made for sharing photos only but recently become more popular when users were able to share videos as well. Instagram is a great site where people can share a moment of their life with just a click of a button. Users are also able to make comments on the pictures or videos. Another great feature is the like button, all the user has to do is double tap the picture and it will be marked as like. This site is great to use with friends and family when a great moment is captured and is worthy to share.

Twitter is a site mainly for status updates. Users are limited to only 140 characters. One of the main features that is very popular on Twitter are hashtags. People would literately hashtag any word or sentence they can. Whether it's #eating or #working, there would be a hashtag with the word. Another feature for twitter is the follow button. Users can follow anyone they can, whether it's family, friends or even a celebrity. After they click the follow button, the user will get updates on their news feed of whoever they follow. Nevertheless, Twitter is one site where people can express their thoughts and be updated on other people's lives.

Blog about Twitter

Twitter differentiates from Blackboard discussions in many ways. Twitter is both convenient and easy to access. It has a limit of 140 characters and people from all around the world can see what one has posted. There are notifications when someone replies to a tweet since there's an app created for twitter for east access. Blackboard has none of those features. It is not easy to access since there is no app for it and there is no live update to know if someone replied on a comment. But one good thing about Blackboard discussions is that there is no limit on how much one can type for a post. Nonetheless, both  Blackboard discussions and Twitter are both great places people can share thoughts and relate to one another.

What's different about Twitter and in-class discussions is quite simply. Twitter is used online where as in-class discussions is face to face interaction. But of course, one big difference between the two is that with Twitter, people from all around the world can make comments on the tweets when shared to the public. But one can say, in-class discussions are more intense when one has to criticize the person in the same room and at the spot without given much time to think.

Social Networking

Social networking websites has been around for years. Currently the popular ones are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and blogs. One of the many benefits to these social networking technologies is that people are able to stay connected with each other even if they're miles apart. Besides helping distant family and friends staying updated with each other, the social networking technology can help people access employers for a chance of recruitment. One well known website current used for job recruitment is LinkedIn. The benefit of this website is that, not only those in search of a job can use it but also employers can select the people they want to employ by looking at their uploaded résumé. According to "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting," Langfitt states that there are "8 million professionals spread across the world" who uses LinkedIn and with a click of a button the recruiter can find high quality candidates they won't find anywhere else. Alfred LaSpina was hired as a product marketing manager by a company called Osram Sylvania as a result of making an account on LinkedIn. The recruiter was able to view his profile and background information and decided he was the right fit for the job. Thus social networking websites has benefited job hunters and recruiters by allowing one another to look for the right candidates for the job from a span of selection from around the world.

Although these technologies may be beneficial, there is a "dark side" to it. With social networking websites being so convenient to communicate with others, people abuse the power of the internet by using it for cyber bullying. According to "They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites" by Jeffrey R. Young, there are "abusive, harmful, and embarrassing personal attacks on high-school-aged children." People would comment anonymously about their classmates and make false accusations about them. The classmate would talk trash about another through a school form used for news updates. It is hard to control cyber bullying with users being able to create fake accounts and comment anonymously on the internet but there are ways to track down the user with the help from government officials.

Undoubtedly, these technologies will eventually evolve in the future. With technology advancing every year, it isn't surprising that these technologies will someday impact our world significantly. In comparison to apps we use everyday on our phones, there will always be an update. Maybe someday, social networks will come to the stage where people would no longer speak face to face any more. People would rely on the internet so much that they might eventually replace face to face conversations. Who knows what might become of the future. With so much technology being created and impacting our daily lives, it's hard to tell what's to come next. 

Works Cited
Langfitt, Frank. "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.

Young, Jeffery R. "They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites." Chronicle, Web. 05 Oct. 2014

Blog v Wiki

With the internet being used dominantly in society, people rely on websites such as blogs or wikis as a source of information. The difference between blogs from wiki is that blogs are written in a journal format and others are able to comment on it but only the user can edit it. Whereas wikis are just information posted by a user and set to public where anyone is allowed to edit the post. Blogs usually consists mostly of personal opinions rather than facts or information. Blogs and wikis are similar in which both are places where people can publicly provide information to others. But sometimes wikis can't be trusted since there are anonymous users who can just publish whatever they want without having a credible source. Nonetheless, blogs and wikis are both websites where people are able to express their thoughts and share their knowledge with others.

Convergence definitely impacted our world today. With so many people sharing their stories on social media, it's what helps bring opposite ends together and form commonality among groups. On the other hand, collaboration refers to the cooperation with another person in order to produce something. As people share stories with others, it unintentionally helped with crime fighting. There's an example given by New York Times publisher Michael Wilson in "Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drugs Raid," about how blogging helped police officers solve drug raid cases. Bloggers described their neighborhood surroundings about suspicious drug related activities which cops read about and investigated. Later on it lead to the arrest of several drug dealers. Due to bloggers blogging about reoccurring suspicious drug-related events in their neighborhood, police officials were able to make several arrests and solve the case.

With wikis being so widely used, it's not surprising that wikis might one day evolve into bettering companies. According to "How to Use Wiki for Business" by Ezra Goodnoe, "Wikis can centralize all types of corporate data, such as spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, PDFs — anything that can be displayed in a browser." With wiki being able to operate with these types of files, all companies will one day use wiki for collaborate with other businesses and manage or share their business files online. A new way people can use Wiki for is to work on company projects with their co-workers. Since wiki is able to support various file types, the co-workers can all share a file on wiki and edit it together. Wiki's useful functions might one day just impact our world in social networking.

Works Cited
"Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid." New York Times., 26 June. 2008. Web. 29 Sept. 2014 "How To Use Wikis For Business." InformationWeek. N.p., 8 Aug. 2005. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

Social Networking: Better or Worst than the Real Thing?

Social networking has become the dominant form of communication amongst individuals and groups nowadays. With so many social networking services being designed, its not hard for people to keep in touch with each other. These services brings people together through communication over the internet. These services not only allow people to communicate with each other but it also builds relations by connecting those who share the same interest, profession or even mutual friends. Social networking has made a huge impact in history by allowing the impossible to happen. Who would have known that such an innovation would allow friends and family to be even closer to each other even though they could be miles away. These services even allows businesses to reach out and learn more about their potential customers. Allowing communication is just one of the benefits to social networking. There's a lot more to it.