Blog About Twitter

Twitter is different compared to other forms of social networks and new media because it limits the amount of information able to be put out. This can keep discussions short and straight to the point. It differs however from a blackboard discussion because in Blackboard there is not such a strict character limit. The same goes for a class discussion. It is much more different from a class discussion because in a class it is verbal and people can elaborate as much as they want. People in a classroom setting may also interrupt each other without having to wait for a time window, since they are able to both listen and speak to each other simultaneously whereas on Twitter, you follow a person, you keep up with what they post, you reply to it and then it goes back and forth until the end of the discussion.

Next New

For the next new media, I would suggest the creation of virtual reality TV. To be able to immerse audiences in television even more would be a bit out there but it would be interesting. It's tough to know how it would work in all genres and networks. I think maybe if there was a specific network or channel dedicated to this, it could be possible. Where viewers can be a part of the show.

P2P

File sharing is the transfer of information over a network. P2P file sharing is the sharing of media over a peer to peer network. These include music, movies/videos, and literature. An example of this is seen in the New York Times article, when The Dark Knight was pirated a million times around the world the same year the film released. All it takes is a person to have the information/media to then just make it available for anyone to have. This was explained to be once done through a time consuming and sometimes sophisticated process utilizing torrent sites or software but has now been made easy for most. Now it is very easy for one to find a movie to watch or a song to listen even if it was just released recently. Examples of this are movie torrent websites and Limewire.

Advice

If Baruch College needed help to improve using new media, I would say to make sure that they don't have sensitive identification cards as well as to store students' and faculty information very well. Having simpler yet still very secure sites for homework assignments, announcements, and updates would also improve things a lot. Aside from privacy concerns, too much privacy precautions can counter the objective as well in a way, where no one can access what they need because of the complexity of security.

Privacy

Privacy is a huge concern especially up to present day. With the rise of technological advances in sharing information and paying more efficiently, there have also risen ways for sensitive information to be compromised. An example of this was when Target customers had their credit card security breached which led to the introduction of making cards with a micro chip which makes hacking more difficult. Another example is when the University of Maryland had a breach which risked information of students and faculty. Information such as Social Security, dates, and names were compromised. Situations like these can have very serious impacts on the people involved, which is why these are issues that must be brought into consideration when looking into moving forward with more advances in new media and technology.

Creativity

The New Yorker article, "1+1+1=1, The New Math of Mashups" explains how creativity is used to combine already existing music to create new music or mashups. Examples are given with songs such as by Christina Aguilera and The Strokes, where their songs each had their own meaning but when creativity was used to combine these songs it created a new song in a sense that another meaning was brought from the already existing lyrics and sounds used. This proves how even with something existing or old, new media and technology allows people to be creative and make something new. A real life example of this is the music genre hip hop which was at first derived from mixing old existing songs to create a beat for one to rap over, which led to a completely new song.

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used to create several types of environments such as social, learning, and work environments. These worlds can be used to make communication more convenient and to introduce another aspect into work/learning as well as communication. An example of this is creating a virtual world for learning, where a student can get learning material through this to learn, read, write and problem solve. Work environments can fulfill projects through virtual worlds making collaborations beyond what is physically and geographically possible. Virtual worlds are also used for social interaction and entertainment such as games shown in the New York Times Article, "No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You" where people spend currency for virtual currency to acquire in-game items to customize their characters/avatars and creations. In CNN article, "iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction", explains how this program helps take the first steps in helping fight Autism by aiding to make communication easier for those with the condition.
The cons of this are that a virtual world may become a bit too real for some people if they do fail to remember that it is a virtual world. An example of this would be overspending on a virtual world game for customization, prioritizing it over other needs. Another con is virtual worlds leading to a dependency on technology. The pros were mentioned before. It can harbor creativity because a virtual world has far less limits than the physical real world that we live in. Much more is possible in virtual worlds and it is up to the user basically to create and they are no longer without any power to change anything. I think virtual worlds will be more common especially since social media and technology use are on the rise. With the uses as mentioned it is understandable to see why it may have popularity and with time there may be more possible to be done through these virtual worlds which will only make them increasingly present in our lives.