Creativity

In my opinion, New Media fosters creativity because it is easy and cheap to do. People have become famous by posting videos on YouTube and because of the things they have written on their blog, etc. I say that it is cheap because websites like blogger.com can give you an account for free and all that you need to do is write. People can write from anywhere, anytime. Whenever an event happens or a thought comes in their head they are literally free to write them down. To create an account in YouTube also requires no money and most people already own video cameras. All that is needed is a simple upload of the video. People are usually doing regular activities but they just want others to see them doing it. The music D.J Jeremy Brown was being his usual creative self in his house when he made the mashup song "Frontin on Debra". The article 1+1+1=1 by Sasha Frere-Jones tells us that this creative mashup was then available to iTunes for everyone to purchase. Brown wanted to share something special and unique with others and new media allowed him to do so. In many instances average creative people want to make things easier for themselves and for others. We see an example of how creativity was fostered by new media in the article Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers by Claire Cain Miller. Chris Messina an average user of Twitter thought that using the # symbol to filter conversations on Twitter would be easier for a group of people to follow a specific conversation rather than having to search through possibly many, many conversations. Although the creators of Twitter hesitated, users actually liked it. It was truly a creative idea that eventually was adapted by Twitter. New Media will continue to foster creativity because most people have access to new media and it is relatively easy to use, at least once you get the hang of new media.

Modeling Reality with Real Worlds

Virtual worlds can help people and are used in many ways. It is used by many to build social relationships, to make someone do an activity that they would normally not be able to do in real life and to train employees. The pros of using virtual worlds is that they can make the user feel good about themselves. They can also learn some skills and potentially apply them in real life so that their real life can be more similar to their second life. We see how virtual worlds can help people in the article: iReport:'Naughty Auties battle autism with virtual interaction by Nicole Saidi. The user that this writer interviewed is an autistic person who has used virtual worlds to try to learn how to interact. Subconsciously the user learns about the different emotions that others show through their avatar. The virtual world user learned new ways of communication and can potentially use what he learned in real life as many autistic people struggle with communication. The con of virtual worlds is that users can use them to criminal purposes. The article: At Hearing, Real and Virtual Worlds Collide in The Washington Post brings to light issues that may occur in virtual worlds. Criminals could use this technology to launder money or to prey on children. There is yet no real monitoring of virtual worlds. Users would self report anything that they feel is unsafe. If virtual worlds are beginning to get used more by more people, or if research is to be done to determine the positive effects then some regulation should be added to it. In the future I think that people will use virtual worlds more often. The look of the avatar will improve and have the quality of how people look on TV. I think that eventually this technology will merge with large social networks such as facebook. If so then people will not only read their Friends facebook status but they will also get to see what they are doing and join their friends in activities.

Twitter vs. Blackboard and class discussions

Twitter and Blackboard are similar in the fact that you have to participate by posting comments on them in order to get credit by your professor. Otherwise they are very different. Twitter only allows very little writing regarding a topic. I wanted to write so much more in my tweets about the topic but was greatly limited because you have to mention the article that you are talking about and enter a keyword so that other members of the class know that the topic relates to them and that they should read your tweet. Also a keyword is absolutely necessary so that members of the class can locate the topic. This is difficult to do if you have been using Twitter for a long time and follow many people. On Blackboard each topic has a section and you can see all the comments at once and organize the ones that you read and did not read. It is very easy to follow. Also you can write feely. If it's a topic that you really like then the student can write all that is in their mind. Twitter and Blacboard are very different than a phyical class discussion. Often in physical class disscussion, students can go by the whole semester without participating in any of the class discussions and still get a good grade for the class. As long as they pass the exams or write the required papers then they are fine. When the student does participate it takes less effort because they can say what is on their mind at that moment. Each communication method has something different than the other.

Social Networking Sites

Social Networking Sites have become very addictive. The sites that I have used are Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. Facebook and MySpace and similar in most ways. Through both you can have a list of friends, upload pictures, send personal messages and all types of videos for all to see and also share links. On both of these social networking sites you can see everyone's comments and participate in a public conversation with your "friends". My impressions of both are very favorable. I have to admit that I am a facebook person. I believe that Facebook is more user friendly and to me seems more visually appealing, maybe it's the blue and white color. MySpace has a dull white and gray. You can potentially learn from other users of these sights but they are more for leisurely activities.

Twitter and LinkedIn are two very new social networking sites. Twitter is a bit confusing to me. I am just learning how to use it. For example, I just learned what keywords are. The keyword is used to search through the tweets of a particular topic. I tried to see the tweets for #prayforjapan and there were way too many to read. Also I really don't want to sit there and read every detail of every person's life that I may potentially follow. I prefer significant things and events like Facebook or MySpace users post. I don't think that I would use twitter outside the classroom. I do realize that Twitter can change the lives of many instantly. The plane that went down on the Hudson River was first reported on Twitter. Personally, I think that I can wait a few more minutes for network news to break the news. I can't live looking at my phone everyminute for breaking news. LinkedIn is a new soical networking site that I learned about a few weeks ago. This site is for professional use. People post information about their carrers and link up with other people that can pottentially help them with a job. I created an account and one day I hope that all my educational and job experience will help me get a good and succesful career. This site actually impressed me. Or better yet my contacts impressed me. I get to see what people have accomplised and where they may be headed in the future. Their collective information makes them look very professional. The site is also very user friendly. I think this site has great potential and will soon have many users.
Overall, I like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. I do not like Twitter. You don't need to use a specific code to understand and use Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, unlike Twitter.

Social Networks

Social networking technology is being used in many new ways by corporations, groups and individuals. One of the new ways that corporations are using it is for new personnel. The article titles "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting" gives the story of the recruiter from Osram Sylvania who uses Linkedin. She believes that it has made recruitments easier and that it helps corporations search for high quality individuals. Danah Boyd expresses in the article "Is MySpace good for society? A Freakonomics Quorum" that individuals and groups are using social networks to bring people together who can learn from each other and this technology can also provide an outlet for creative expression. I believe that this is one of the benefits to society that social networking has to offer. Recently groups have been using social networks recently to form social movements against brutish government regimes. People have learned from one another the events occurring in one part of the world and it has given them strength to do the same actions and promote the same social changes. Positive and life changing events have occurred because of "friends" connecting on social networks.
There is a dark side to social networking. As Martin Baily said in the article "Is MySpace good for society? A Freakonomics Quorum", social networks can be bad because negative information can be shared and it could lead to suicides and the addiction that many form as a result of social networks. Many people begin to just keep contact with their social networking "Friends" and lose interests in their true physical friends. I believe that is the darkest side to social networks. The meaning of socializing is changing as a result of social networking. Some have encountered both negative and positive outcomes through these social networks. But it has only just begun. I think that social networks will just make the world a smaller place. Everyone will know everyone even if it is through their profile pictures. I don't see this technology evolving more than it already has. I just predict that more people will have facebook and twitter accounts, children and grandmas will even have accounts.

Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and wikis are two very different new media ways in which people are communicating. A blog is more of a social journal where one writer can write about anything he/she wants and they have people who can only read, follow the blogs and then maybe comment on them. A wiki on the other hand is written by two or more people. Like a blog, a wiki can also be on anything the group wants it to be but the difference is that the information on the wiki can be changed by any of the members. Wikis also have people who can follow them. In today's networked world it is very important to have convergence. Businesses for example use wikis for convergence because they feel that the more people work on a project the more ideas can get contributed. One idea would be even better if another idea is incorporated in it. As the saying goes 'Two heads are better than one". If everyone puts their knowledge together into a project, then bigger and better things can result. Improvement would be contant when convergence is used. Ezra Goodnoe writes in the article "How to use Wikis For Business" that wikis are best for businesses. She explains that often in a business many people can be working on a document and eventually things can get confusing and no one would be sure who has the latest version. If businesses were to use wikis this issue would be removed and businesses would be more productive. In addition, the best and most succesful businesses are those with the best and most unique ideas. People also learn more from each other. In today's competitive world everyone wants to be the best.


Blogs can also be used for collaboration. The writer of a blog can initiate a discussion and have people contritribute to the discussion or start a plan of action. In the end a final blog can be written incorporating everything into a final blog. An example of collaboration in the blog world is the seen in the article "Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid" by Michael Wilson. Residents in that community contributed into a blog about their everyday life. Their complaints and experiences were written in the blog and it helped the police start an action that would help make their neighboorhood safer.

Wikis are being used in every place where there are groups of people. Businesses, schools and social groups are using wikis because they are easy to use and very productive. Maybe the government can also begin to use it as a way to communicate with the electorate. Two or more agencies can write about what they are doing. I am using a wiki in two of my college courses. It is a new thing for me and all that I can predict is that more people will begin to use it.

Politics and New Media

For my New Media project, I would like to research the current and future effects of new media and politics. More than ever constituents have turned to new media to follow politics and to view presidential, gubernatorial and mayoral debates, political rallies and interviews. The 2008 presidential elections saw many changes brought on by new media. An example of new media and political campaigns came when for the first time constituents submitted video questions via YouTube to be answered live by the presidential candidates. I would like to write about the ways that each political party used new media and how successful or not they were. I am also curious to know how new media will be used in the 2012 elections. Hopefully I can get that information as that election is fast approaching.