Look at this Instagram (Nickelback Parody)

A LIFE ON FACEBOOK by Alex Droner

The Next Big Thing

This assignment is to try to come up with a new media that doesn't currently exist.
Gosh this is a tough one, I even asked my teenage son for any insight on this and we completely drew a blank considering all of the types of media that are currently already out there already.
You tube, Facebook, Twitter, Wikis, blogs...
you name it, its out there!

I am going to have to go with my inner Inspector Gadget on this one and go with Video Mail.  Soon gone will be the days of opening letters, bills,  emails, and possibly text messages!  I would love to just have something as simple as a watch on me, that has instant messaging for these avenues built directly in.  No paper would be wasted! And by then Wifi access will be everywhere, not just limited to a password protected network.  In regards to Inspector gadget, the good thing about this new media is that the message will not self destruct in thirty seconds!!

File Sharing & P2P

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to  digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia, documents, or electronic books. (1)

 

P2P is a peer to peer sharing network. In peer-to-peer sharing, you use a software program (rather than your Web browser) to locate computers that have the file you want. The most famous example of a P2P network that I can think of that I actually used is Napster and Limewire! (Way back when, I used to go on Napster and Limewire, search for a song, and find users on the site who had that song, and then download it onto my computer at home)  Downloading music like that was illegal due to copyrights.  According to the readings "People have swapped illegal copies of songs, television shows and movies on the Internet for years. The slow download process, often using a peer-to-peer technology called BitTorrent, required patience and a modicum of sophistication by users."(1)

 

Some examples of P2P file sharing include:

 

• BitTorrent
• Gnutella
• Kazza

 

 

1.www.wikipedia.com
2..www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/media/05piracy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Privacy and Confidentiality

For one week in 2012, Facebook manipulated the main news feeds of 689,003 users in an effort to determine how the social media website affects users' emotions (Meyer, NextGov, 6/30). To do so, researchers manipulated users' news feeds to show either mostly positive comments and posts or mostly negative comments and posts in an effort to determine how the content affected users' emotions. Some observers and Facebook users have voiced trust and privacy concerns related to the experiment.(1) This story was recently published in the news and is a great leeway into the issues and concerns a lot of people have regarding privacy and new media.
  Creating a profile and offering certain details about yourself, automatically gives the site insight about who you are and what kind of things that you like.  Type in "gold strappy sandals" into a Google search while logged into Facebook and surprise surprise......your news feed is now full of advertisements featured gold strappy sandals".
In terms of confidentiality regarding new media....yea right.  By posting something on the internet, you are pretty much committing your signature to whatever it is you just posted.  Facebook statuses and pictures can go viral and can even be used against you in a court of law!  There are even hackers and identity thiefs out there who can give your site, or your friends site a virus that can steal vital personal and confidential information.

A good rule of thumb when using social media, it to give out as little information about yourself as possible and never ever post any information that could potentially damage you at some point in the future.  Even if you block people, or even delete certain things, the internet footprint will always be there so please....BEWARE!

1.http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2014/7/1/facebook-study-of-users-behavioral-data-prompts-privacy-concerns

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

 

Virtual worlds are three dimensional environments in which you can interact with others and create objects as part of that interaction.  They can be used in many ways such as games, virtual offices, education, and research. 

The pros of virtual worlds are interacting with other people in an alternate environment.  When dealing with work,  virtual worlds have the ability to bring a lot of people together from all over the world. One member of the Second Life Virtual group stated "Not only did we save travel time, but because the environment was so engaging, a lot more ideas came through".(1)

One of the cons of the virtual world is the obvious lack of actual human contact. Virtual teams can't take advantage of the kind of impromptu "water cooler" conversations that occur in a real workplace, where colleagues can share information they may have forgotten to communicate in meetings.(1) Also there is also the event that some people could use virtual worlds with anterior motives.  In an era in which technologies can catch on and become mainstream quickly, the subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet wanted to know some basics. Could Second Life be used as a place to launder money? Are children safe in online worlds? Are there churches? Are you making any money? "We have never seen any evidence of such activity going on in Second Life," Philip Rosedale, Linden's chief executive, said of the possibility of criminals using Second Life to launder money. Rosedale argued that Second Life is a self-policing community and that users would likely be quick to report any behavior that seemed to indicate users posed real-world threats.(2) 

I think virtual worlds foster creativity because some people communicate better when they are not interacting face to face with people.  Ideas are being thrown back and forth in a virtual environment, fostering more and more ideas from others.

 

I see the future of virtual worlds becoming a reality more and more.  A virtual college class would be great at Baruch!

1.http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html

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

Social Networking Sites

Impressions on Social Networking Sites

 

I took a look at Wikipedia and found a list of social networking sites, limited to the notable, well-known sites.  To my surprise there were about 200, and I’m sure there are hundreds more! Here are my impressions on the ones I feel, are or were the most popular

  

Facebook:

I love logging into Facebook, I do it at least 10 times a day.  Logging in is quite simple, and I see what my friends and family post, as well as advertisements.

You can connect with family and friends, as well as keep up to date with what’s going on in the world.  Facebook is my primary source of what’s happening in the news.

 

Myspace:

I deleted my Myspace page about 8 years ago when Facebook became my go to place for social networking.  So imagine my surprise when I created a Myspace page specifically for this assignment and it has changed completely!!  I feel like it is now geared towards the music world.  It looks like a good place to network if you are interested in the arts, mainly music (an artist, performer, deejay…etc.) I was very very surprised to see that you can set up your Myspace account by logging in with Facebook or Twitter.

 

Twitter:

Out of all the social networking sites, I find twitter to be my least favorite.  Logging in is easy, but the screen is just too busy for me and I can’t communicate in less than 140 characters!  I do however log in from time to time to see what’s trending.  Maybe I will try to see the better side of Twitter but as for now, it remains at the bottom of my Social Networking list.  I know millions of people use it…but it just doesn’t impress me much.  The hashtag originated on here but the only place I really use it is on Instagram.

 

Instagram:

After Facebook, Instagram my other favorite Social Networking site.  I log in using my Facebook account, and what I post on Instagram can automatically be uploaded to Facebook as well if I choose to do.  I like to click on the hashtags to see other pictures people around the world have posted using the same hashtag.  I find it very easy to navigate and the filters can enhance the features of almost anything!