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.

Social Networking Sites

I looked at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Of the four I am most comfortable with Facebook. My least comfortable/favorable site was Twitter. I found it a bit more tedious to navigate compared to the others. I feel that of the four Twitter is the least popular as well. I thought Snapchat was alright. I saw pros and cons in its disappearing message feature along with the stories. Instagram and Snapchat are very heavily focused on pictures/photos, which was a reason why I did not become such a fond user of those sites until much later on compared to many of my peers.

Blog Social Networking

Social networking has brought people around the world closer. It allows people to communicate much more easily, closing gaps between people. Family from different continents can communicate more easily. It is also more quick and efficient. A person can reach someone instantly by posting a comment or sending a message and as soon as the person sees the message they can respond as well with as much speed. This is a major improvement from typical snail mail which would require a wait time for a message to be sent and then to get an answer as well. One can send as much or as little as possible and easily receive as well. Social networking allows for interaction with a wide audience as well to further elaborate on families being able to communicate no matter how geographically distanced they are. This can also go for celebrities and businesses. Businesses can interact with fans/consumers much more easily through social networking. The people can be heard much more easily and efficiently as opposed to having to make surveys, write letters, etc. Businesses can post any updates on job openings, new locations, new services, giveaways, deals, and so on. It allows them to interact with consumers and the community.
There is a dark side to social networking however. One thing that is controversial in social networking is privacy. As mentioned in the Chicago Tribune article about the Zuckerberg family photo, it is possible for information/content that you may want to be private, to not exactly be so private due to privacy settings. They are not always straightforward and can be tough to navigate. They may also not guarantee privacy. So, sometimes it is up to the user of a site to know what to put and what not to put on social media because there are loopholes and such that can allow something that you want to be private, to actually become public and it is a very tough situation to face since as mentioned before, legally there are things such as loopholes or other things within the social network sites that protect them from legal action. From one of the older articles read for a previous blog about blogging and the downsides to it, cyberbullying was mentioned. This is also something that can be present in social networks as well. There is something that is a double edged sword when it comes to social networking which was sort of mentioned before. In the blog, "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum" it was mentioned that studies were done which found that despite undergraduate students participating in Facebook, having friended many people whom they may not even know, they have high social capital due to this. It seems terrible to be "friends" with people you vaguely or don't even know at all but it is done for attaining information such as for jobs, school, etc. but also just to gain different perspectives as well which is valuable as well in many aspects.
I think that as seen already with how businesses are trying to adapt to social media, it will grow. Now people are even being hired to manage social media accounts of businesses to help maintain their image or keep consumers/the community updated on their ventures. I do not know exactly what else can happen with businesses and social media but I feel that the use of it will definitely grow in the future since it is efficient.

Blogs V. Wikis

     Blogs and wikis are both mediums for sharing information. Blogs are created from one person or source and then branch off into conversation-like comments/posts. The person who made the blog is able to edit or delete anything off of their post. It is more individual since the content is monitored by one person. It can also be more informal or casual at times meaning that the content may be so much more flexible whereas personal feelings can even be discussed. As mentioned in the New York Times article, "Stung by the Perfect Sting", places on the internet such as blogs allow for bashing, cyberbullying, and disrespect since there isn't so much monitoring and the focus of the blogger and the audience is more subjective as opposed to objective.

     Wikis are more likely to be monitored by more people but at the same time it can be edited by multiple people as well. Usually wikis are meant to be more informational/educational. When in need of information some would like to go to a wiki to find it. The problem is that as spoken about in the New York Times article, "An Internal Wiki That's Not Classified", it is likely to come across "disinformation or vandalism". It is so easy for one to put up the information they think they know or don't know that it can very lead to having misleading information.

     They are similar because they are easy to utilize and they allow people to share information with others. There aren't really any requirements or credentials to create a blog or a wiki. They both have the purpose of sharing information but they both have their cons to them which can interfere with their purpose. Blogs can be used to collaborate by having, say a manager start a blog. He can post something for his employees to respond to(meetings, ideas, assignments, etc.) Blogs allow a better interaction between the blogger and the audience and it's close to having a conversation. A wiki can maybe be used similarly like a blog where certain opinions can be shared and those that are similar or overlapping can be grouped together. All of it would fall under a topic of discussion as opposed to it being strictly facts put in front of you, but it might not be convenient.

First post. Intro

My name is Jorge Hernandez, a full time Marketing student at Brooklyn College. I am Treasurer of the E-Sports Association at Brooklyn College. I like hip hop, wrestling, exercise, basketball, and video games.