The Next New Thing

A new media platform that I think would be very beneficial would be a site for people to strictly only talk about politics. Politics always finds its way into Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn posts. Many people (like myself) are tired of seeing people argue about politics when they're trying to enjoy cat videos. I think a platform dedicated to politics would give people who want to talk about it an outlet to rant and debate with others. There would also be an option to post anonymously so people can freely express their thoughts without the fear of being judged by their friends and family.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

So far I haven't added anything to our class wiki (😞). But I am planning on working on the food page of the Wiki. I've been looking at different types of food such as vegetarian, vegan, meat, sweets, and savories. I will particularly be focusing on different flavor profiles and the different tastes. Each flavor triggers a different part of the tongue causing our flavor sensations. I've found articles from chefs and how they create their food to fit every palette.

P2P File Sharing

1. What is file sharing? File sharing is transferring files from one computer to another via the Internet or through another platform. 
2. What is P2P File sharing? P2P file sharing is when users upload files onto a file sharing website and allows all of the other users to download and view the file. 
3. What are some examples of P2P file sharing? Kazaa, Toorgle.com, BitSnoop.com, TorrentDownloads.net

Privacy

In the new media age, privacy is depleting. While one can hide posts and block certain users from seeing their posts, there are still ways of getting around the challenges and accessing information. Many social media platforms have admitted to selling their users' personal information to other companies for profit. This poses a problem fro social media users because they do not know who can see the content that they are posting. One threat of this is exposing your location to the wrong person.

Advice to Baruch College

Social media has become a widespread and effective way to communicate with people from all around the world. If Baruch College hired me to help with their new media, I would advise them to create Twitter pages for every department and have people from each department monitor the account. This way students and applicants can Tweet the department they have questions for. Since Tweets are public, users can look at old Tweets for answers or Tweet follow up questions they might have. This will reduce the amount of people calling the offices and asking the same questions over and over again. It's an easy and effective way of getting people to engage directly with the school.

Creativity and New Media

The great thing about new media is that it allows you to share your creativity to the world very easily. An app that I recently discovered is Bitmoji. It is linked with the popular social media giant, Snapchat. It allows you to create, customize, and edit an avatar. After you create your own avatar, the app uses your avatar and creates different emotions that you can add to your Snapchat story or send in text messages. Below is a screenshot of what my Bitmoji looks like. I was able to customize everything from her eyes to her outfit.

 

Creativity

Since the start of the Internet innovators showed their true colors by creating websites for sharing information, pictures, thoughts, and feelings. Amongst those innovators were Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Noah Glass whom invented Twitter. The social media giant revolutionized how we connect with people. It came up with the idea of using the "@" symbol to directly speak to someone. This idea was later adopted by Instagram and Facebook. The creativity used by the founders has had a huge part in their overall success. In addition to the "@" symbol, they also used the "#" symbol to group similar content together. The simplicity of the symbol allows users to understand the system easily and use it effectively.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can affect how everyday things are run. IBM is an innovative company that revolutionized how we get data. With their Watson Data Platform, retrieving data is easier than ever. Instead of having to sort through hours of data, Watson allows you to organize all relevant data into useful information. This allows people to take the newfound information and apply it directly to their fields of work. 

Virtual worlds can also bring people together. For companies with offices around the world, it might be difficult to get everyone in the same physical room. But through virtual worlds, people can attend a meeting without physically being together. While this is great for some people, it raises many safety concerns. By sharing information in the virtual world sensitive information may be leaked and pose real-life threats. 

Creativity lives in virtual worlds because there is so much inspiration. In virtual worlds ideas can be shared and improved upon. It harbors creative ideas and allows them to grow. I think in the future there will be more virtual worlds with their own audiences. They will become larger and include more people. Once the information is digitalized it stays there forever and the span of networks it touches will increase. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/#566181e1143b

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/04/01/ST2008040103032.html

Social Networking Sites

In recent years, social media has had huge presence on the Internet. Many people use social media to get their news, stay connected with loved ones, and stay entertained. Four social media giants, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, topple over other networks.

Facebook is the largest of all social media networks with 1.15 billion daily users. The site is easy to navigate through and very modern looking. On the right hand side panel there are advertisements that make it seem a little cluttered. But the platform as a whole is organized. The left hand side panel has quick links to groups, favorites, and applications.

The Twitter homepage is similar to the Facebook homepage. All of the Tweets from the people you follow take up most of the space and trends are on the side. The color scheme is also similar. They both use blue and white, but Facebook's shade of blue is darker.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram does not have much copy to read. The majority of the space is taken up by photos taken by its users. They recently launched a feature that allows people to share photos and videos temporarily.

LinkedIn is a professional networking site that allows you to connect with colleagues and peers. It is different from the other platforms because it's not as casual. The website itself has a darker color scheme and a more serious tone.

Blog about Twitter

Twitter is a social media platform that allows anyone with Internet access to view. It is widely available and stretches across the globe. It is meant to be a casual interface where people can interact and connect virtually. Discussion boards on BlackBoard can be used for the same purpose. However, it can only be accessed by the people who are in the class or group. It is a more professional environment to share thoughts with peers and add input. On Twitter, there is a 140 character maximum per Tweet. But on the discussion board, we have an unlimited amount of space to express our thoughts.

Social Networking

Social networking has transitioned from being a a part time hobby to a full on lifestyle. It has created jobs and industries that were never foreseeable in the past. According to Fred Vogelstein in his article, Great Wall of Facebook, companies can be proactive in their marketing initiatives. They can buy ad space on the networking site and based on recent searches by the user, the company's ad campaign will show up. These targeted ads will lead to more sales and business growth. The downside of this is that users can feel like their privacy is being violated. By sharing the user behavior, Facebook is allowing outside companies to see what their users are interested in. Many users feel like their searches should be private and not sold to other companies as profit.

Another way companies can use social networking is by keeping up with their employees. Since everyone on social media is either posting a status, a picture or a tweet, peers can stay connected with each other. This builds relationships between colleagues making the work environment friendlier and more inviting. According to Clive Thompson in his article, Brave New World of Social Intimacy, some people enjoy being able to see what's going on in other people's minds. By sharing thoughts on social media, colleagues will have more to talk about than just work.

For my research paper, I will be explaining why face-to-face interaction is more important to social networking than the internet. We currently live in world where social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SnapChat run many people's lives. This causes a lack of ability to interact in the real world. There are many aspects in the real world that must be dealt with, such as getting a job. Without the face-to-face interaction experience, people are less equipped to handle day to day situations.