The Next Big Thing

New media is constantly being developed and popularized by the public.  While some thrive, others are surviving.  For example, MySpace was introduced years ago, but lost attention as Facebook to power.

If I were to suggest a new type of “new media” that doesn’t currently exist, it would be something similar to Twitter in the sense where users can post instantly to the web.  However, instead of simply text posts or having to attach or embed a video to their posts, it would be in the form of video clips (almost like Vine videos).

It would be different from Snapchat in the case where the posts wouldn’t be deleted, but shared with the public/your followers.

No filters, 100% you.

Users will record short clips (~10 seconds) about anything.  They would be able to categorize it or add tags to their posts and would be indexed into subcategories so that people who are interested in a specific topic would be able to find related posts.

Users would also be able to leave feedback/responses at any given moment in the user’s video (text), video responses, or simply like the post, and the original poster would be notified on their news feed.

Users will have the option of making certain posts private or accounts private (other users need to request to follow).  The rationale behind this is to protect the privacy of the users and to offer a space where they can preserve their moments without taking up physical space on memory cards (and mitigates the chance of losing a user’s personal data).

Wiki So Far

Although I haven’t contributed much to the class wiki pages thus far, I plan on becoming active very soon.  Because I am an avid gamer, I am considering making contributions towards the wiki page about games.  Specifically speaking, I want to focus on First-Person Shooters (FPS) and Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG).

I will soon be adding a section on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and will be linking it to the First-Person Shooter section.  Additionally, I will be adding Guild Wars 2 and creating a link to the MMORPG section.  The reason I decided to contribute to the game wiki page is because e-sports is becoming a rising competitive “sport” and has a large following.  New media is incorporated into this because professional players/athletes use new media to interact and manage their fan-base/following.

P2P

The Internet is a gateway for people to interact with one another without having to be physically present.  One of the many ways that users can interact with one another is through file sharing, where users can transfer files from their computer(s) through the Internet.  Similarly, peer-to-peer file sharing is when users share media files (music, movies, games, books, etc.) through a P2P software on a P2P network.  A user can search for any media file they want and the results generated would be a list of files that other users have uploaded online.  Once uploaded, the files are allowed to be downloaded by any user from any location.

Although peer-to-peer file sharing may seem beneficial for the general public, it actually ends up hurting the content creators the most because it is a form of piracy.  In the article “Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios,” Brian Stelter and Brad Stone tackles the issue of piracy and the fact that the amount of money that movie producers make from film productions come from DVD sales.  This example illustrates the impact that piracy has on certain industries.

Piracy doesn’t only appear in the film industry though.  It affects the video games industry, music industry, and book sales as well.  Although people appreciate the idea of being able to share files with one another free-of-charge, they don’t take into account the impact that it has for the lives of others.

Privacy & Confidentiality

Privacy and confidentiality are critical to new media because they help to make both users and companies feel safer on the Internet.  For example, when companies have privacy policies written out for their customers or clients, it states what the company can, can’t, will, and won’t do with the data or information that their clients provide them.  Although the general public seem to skim or skip through these, it plays a huge role for companies because data can be sold to other companies.

Confidentiality helps to preserve a person’s identity.  When a person requests to keep their information confidential, companies will more than likely have to oblige to their requests.

Privacy and confidentiality are related to new media in the sense where users can be anonymous on the Internet and still share their opinions with the mass.  However, there are also drawbacks of privacy and confidentiality in new media.

For example, Facebook was under fire around a year ago for forcing its users to opt-out of having their data collected.  Additionally, every time that their privacy policy changes, their users’ settings are reverted back so that they would have to opt-out time and time again.

In new media, there will always be a fear of having information stolen or breached into by hackers.  This puts the privacy of companies and users at risk.  It forces people to be careful of what they put on new media and to make sure their data is encrypted or secured with layers of protection.

Privacy and confidentiality are two of the most important issues in new media that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  They act as layers of security in which makes users feel safe, and hackers, hungry.

Advice to Baruch College

In order to improve Baruch College, we should integrate new media with the courses taught at the College.  This may include incorporate blogging or posting blog posts as a means of getting a discussion going.

Blackboard isn’t as efficient because the average user wouldn’t check Blackboard regularly, in comparison to social networking sites.  Creating Facebook groups for each course may be more efficient in order to encourage class participation so that the professors can interact directly with every student in the class (because students would be more active on social media than they would in class).  This way, students are able to be credited for participating in class-related content if they are shy to speak in class.

Another suggestion that I have for implementing new media to improve the College would be for professors to create online recordings of their lectures in case anyone has missed or wanted to review content for exams.  They can create private accounts on YouTube and let their class view the lectures as long as they have access to it (via link).  There might be a way to link a specific group (a Google group or something) and provide permission or viewing access only to members in the group.  This would prevent students from sharing the link with people outside of the specific class.

One last suggestion that I have would be to monitor the new media in the sense where spam, flagged, or irrelevant posts should be hidden or removed from people’s newsfeed.  This helps to keep both organized and safe in an environment that fosters learning and sharing within a community.

Creativity and New Media

For this assignment, I downloaded Second Life and created an avatar.  I changed my avatar to represent myself as much as I could.  The amount of customization in Second Life may take some time for any new user to understand and figure out but it makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.  I can’t explain specifically how my avatar ended up crossing his arms in the photo attached below but I’d like to assume that he has a personality of his own and is being rebellious.

My avatar’s having a bad day.

New media allows people to be creative and allows users to be flexible in virtual environments and I believe that matching an anonymous entity with an avatar/picture provides an extra dimension to the platforms that people use.  I believe that the extra dimension/the avatar is a key factor why video games are so successful in terms of captivating their users.

In addition to Second Life, I have also used software (Photoshop) to distort/alter a picture to my liking.  My creation reflects some of my biggest fears (and a few familiar faces as well!).  Despite how elementary my Photoshopping skills are, I’m sure the possibilities for creation are endless with the amount of new media being released in both the present and future.

Under the Sea

Creativity

New media fosters creativity by providing new outlets for people to create, produce, and publish content on.  With the introduction of new social networking platforms and social media outlets, users can freely express their thoughts and concerns without having to mail letters straight to the company.

According to Claire Cain Miller’s “Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers” on The New York Times, companies use Twitter as a means of getting to know their customers.  As a result, they are able to generate an understanding of what needs to be changed or implemented in order to appeal to the general public.  The article explains how the consumers are often the people who come up with the ideas for future products and the companies are the ones observing how much appeal the ideas garner.

It is because of these new types of media/social networking that customers are now able to provide feedback and interact with their favorite (or despised) companies.  As a result of this, companies are also able to give back and (can) become more successful.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used in a number of ways (and still counting).  From my point of view, I believe that virtual worlds have a lot of potential from within, but they take away from reality.  According to “Going to the virtual office in Second Life” on CNN by Mark Tutton, he explains that businesses can have meetings or conferences in a virtual world instead of physically being there.  Second Life, according to the article, allows for avatars to be created for the employees of the company.  This is beneficial in the sense where businesses can emulate a real world conference with the use of avatars, giving the company a more interactive and engaging approach to traditional styles of having a conference.

On the contrary, the article “Virtual world may impact real-world behaviour” on health24 discusses how detrimental a virtual world might be.  People tend to imitate a character or avatar as they connect with them (play as a certain character in a video game — hero and/or villain) and depending on how invested they are in the game, it will affect their social behavior.  This means that being too dependent on virtual worlds can be harmful to a person’s behavior in the real world.

Other pros and cons to virtual worlds may include:

Pros

• Allows for people to connect remotely and communicate/collaborate with one another
• Can be used in various fields and not just in business environments
• Offers experiences in which don’t require dealing with or interacting with the actual/physical environment (applies to medical training simulation or military training simulations)
• New technology and has a lot of potential

Cons

• Costly (as technology advances, price will also go up)
• New technology
• Can allow oneself to disconnect with reality or use as a way to escape reality (affects social behavior)

Personally, I feel that virtual worlds foster creativity in the sense where people are free to experiment and try things out.  Whether it’s videoconferencing or gaming, the idea that people can interact with one another without physically being in the same room can alter the traditional “9-to-5” lifestyle and perhaps allow it to become more freelance/less stressful.  When people are able to collaborate on projects together remotely, it gives them time and space to collect their thoughts and come up with a solution in their own comfortable environment (as opposed to being confined in a cubicle).  I feel that in time, people will be able to work remotely and there will be many restrictions/policies strictly for remote activity (virtual environments/worlds) because of the kinds of interactions that can go on.  There can be crime or frauds discussed over virtual environments, and there will eventually be a need to regulate online activity in those worlds — just like what we have in the real world.

Blog About Twitter

A Twitter discussion is opened to the public and restricts users to a maximum of 140 characters.  Twitter can generate a discussion from users all over the world in real time.

On a BlackBoard Discussion, however, students are allowed to create posts, view posts, and  reply/comment on posts.  BlackBoard is used among college students and professors to communicate and share files necessary to complete assignments throughout their courses.

In comparison to Twitter, in-class discussions are also real time but not as flexible in the sense where everyone is taking time out of their day to partake in the discussion.  Additionally, discussions on Twitter have no limit as to how many people can participate in it but in-class discussions have as much as a room can hold.  In-class discussions are usually organized, where people take turns to speak.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram.

Facebook is a social networking site that allows people to stay connected with their friends, family, and acquaintances through wall-posting, messages, and the ability to share things on their news-feeds.  It can get a bit hectic or repetitive at times, but it does its job of keeping people connected!

Twitter on the other hand, is clean and simple.  It may be restricting in terms of how much content you can post in a tweet but it will get your message out.  Anyone can read your tweets as long as they follow you or have your twitter username.  Twitter has a clean user-interface and has a simple and attractive icon. It’s easy to navigate around the site and to look for trending tweets.

LinkedIn is a professional social networking site that like Facebook, connects people with one another.  People are allowed to share links and articles and also endorse people for skills.  LinkedIn allows its users to upload their resume (for connecting with professionals) because it is mainly used for professional purposes.  I thought that LinkedIn seemed a bit underwhelming compared to other social networking sites but I also realized that it doesn’t require much considering how professional it’s supposed to be.

Instagram focuses on pictures and videos (15 second clips) and offers in-built editing tools and filters for users to perfect their photos before publication.  Instagram focuses on its mobile users (app).  You can use the site however, a majority of its user-base uses the mobile application.  The news-feed is easy on the eyes and some of the pictures you can find there can be breathtaking!

One thing that I’ve noticed that most of the social networking sites have infinite scroll or loads a bunch of posts at a time so it allows for easier access and viewing pleasure!