The Next Big Thing

From my own experience, when out of the house, work, school etc,  it is very difficult to find a restroom which will accommodate someone who is not a paying costumer or just isn't open to public. The application would alert people of the nearest open restroom facilities, depending on their location, along with the amenities it offers such as handicapped accessible, number of stalls, unisex restrooms, to name a few. For instance Starbucks is open for all to use, the user will be notified of said location, so that they  can do their business in peace. Similar to the way Yelp works, the reviewer can offer comments and offer a score of the facility based of cleanliness, accessibility, among other attributes.

Our class wiki - so far

At this current time, I have yet to contribute to our Class’s wiki page. I will most likely provide content to the pages that involve films, sports, food, and video games. Given the fact, that these are topics I am very spirited about and in themselves, often lead to some of the most heated discussions amongst users on the internet. I would like to address how often some of the aforementioned topics, because of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Etc. have amplified a person’s ability to emphasize their own opinions and in turn have made an impact on how some have used this to create online personas, in hopes of expanding their notability.

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is the act of sharing information/data among people, companies, and essentially one computer to another. Think of how music, documents, videos, images, spreadsheets, among others are being dispatched others. Email and Texting are examples of file sharing, in addition Dropbox users upload files for others to download. In the article, “Content Producers Should Take Advantage of P2P, Not Fear It" written by NMA staff, details how music, films, books etc., can only be uploaded, downloaded, and shared by those who have the software, this is known as  P2P File sharing (peer to peer). Often the case with P2P file sharing, besides being easy to acquire is the fact that majority of the files are being illegally shared.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy on the Internet doesn't really exist, even if you delete something there will still be way to locate the data. With the surge of New media,  people's credit card, social security and other personal information, have become there for the taking if an individual doesn't have the proper protection (sometimes even if they do). Sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where people are consistently updating others on their whereabouts and current daily activities, is kinda like a figurative voyeurism experience. This in itself isn't a terrible thing, but it unintentionally invites the possibility of a "so-called" chance meeting with someone, that you may not have wanted to see, by allowing them to know what you're doing.

Advice to Baruch

If I was hired to be in-charge of improving Baruch new media services, one of the first things I would address is utilizing Facebook to create a page dedicated on improving,  & helping students get acclimated to the school. Whether it be information regarding classes, careers, professors, function taking place in school and or any other dilemmas they may be facing. Another way to lessen the load of a student's life is too utilize open source textbooks(Andrea Agardy), which would significantly improve the current way things are done, in which older versions of textbooks are still expensive/outdated, open source books will be updated, minimizing the price spent on future textbooks.

Creativity and New Media

This is a photo of my sister and me, at a past comic con. By posting this photo onto Facebook, and with the ability of tagging people, allows for those who weren't there to be immediately alerted to see the photo ( which can foster dialogue within the comments section, or could be taken a step further by re-posting onto Instagram, to share the experience with others who may not have a Facebook).

Creativity

New Media has become a vital source for expanding the reach of creativity. The numerous social media avenues, have allowed people to express their thoughts, to share photos, videos, and art, they have created (paintings, drawings, music, among other things) at a mass scale. When some see the work others are capable of, it  could inspire them to create a piece of their own (with different interpretation,ex: music covers, parody), thus by sharing continues a cycle of art/creativity. In the article "Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?" written by Brook Barnes. showcases how people have took Disney characters and by combining them with the music from other musicians, created a new point of view/twist, of an already established song. A double-edged sword of new media, is how the use  of comment sections, could provide either help to prosper or hinder someone's  work, with encouraging/disparaging remarks. 

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

These virtual worlds can be used for some as an escape from reality and to live out some of their fantasies, in a world where they’re the architect, so to speak. These worlds allow our imaginations to live out within an interactive digital boundary. A pro of the virtual world is how it can be used to in an educational setting, to simulate the projected experience for a student to learn. “No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s The Real You” the article by Eric Spangenberg speaks of how people live through their avatars by purchasing and doing things, that they’re incapable of doing in real life. Some of the cons are how time consuming it is to create, in “ Virtual Worlds May Impact Real World Behavior” , it talks about how some of the users are negligent of how this time spent with their avatars in this virtual world, will have adverse effects to their real life behavior. I think the future of virtual worlds may incorporate the use of the currently evolving technology dealing with virtual reality headsets.

Blog Social Networking Sites

Social Networks have become the new outlet for people to interact and express/share their thoughts. The 4 I visited were Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, & Tumblr. Of the four Facebook is the most popular, and provides the user with the abilities to create written, photo or video media, DM and seems to be more for networking and professionals. Twitter is similar to FB, in regards to abilities except for the fact,  each post is limited to a 140 character limit. Compared to the other Instagram appears to be the most organized by being the most simplistic, when categorizing your followers latest exploits. Instagram has similar capabilities to the previous two, but only photo/media posts can be shared. Tumblr on the hand seems to be more for those interested in blogging, compared to the other social media sites. Each allow users to comment on others' posts (depending on the settings) and if they want to have a private or public page.

Blog about Twitter

Between discussions on Blackboard and Twitter, conversations the latter could be confusing if someone forgets to use the hashtag, before their writing (in some cases it is not in chronological order). Blackboard on the other hand, by going into the proper settings is much more organized regarding the discussion and what is being posted . Although at times, a fallback of this is some students can miss others posts if it is not correctly opened. The most effective way of communication compared to the others previously mentioned, in my opinion would still be face to face, although it may not be convenient as the previous two are, it allows for questions and answers,to be provided at that moment.

Social Networking

Social Networks over the years has been a prominent fixture in helping people build business contacts, meet new people, connecting with people from around who share your interests or maybe someone that you lost touch with. In the article “Antisocial Networking” by Hilary Stout, she discusses how kids have changed and aren’t doing things as children are expected to do. Stout attributes this to children are not as active playing outside and bonding with other kids, but are instead conversing with them, while on the computer. This could hinder their interactions in future business and personal relationships. In the article “Is Myspace Good for Society, a positive that is established from the expansive numbers of contacts and meeting new people is the being able to look up friends and family, that you may have lost contact with. The dark side that coincides with the expansive opportunities of interaction comes from the lack of privacy, putting any information out there can be found for anyone who has the resources to find it and people could lie/manipulate/ extort (a lot easier)others by using personal information. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if social media, becomes the main outlet of communication between individuals at some point in the future. .

Blogs Vs Wikis

Blogs and Wiki are both very similar, but they each have their own distinctions. Blogs are little more casual and personal, specifically to the creator or creators (having the freedom to discuss whatever topic they feel like), while Wiki is meant for more as a informational tool to a wider audience (touching on any topic as long someone has made a page about it already). The article “Brooklyn Blog Helps Drug Raid” by Michael Wilson exhibits how a blog, played a pivotal role in removing drug dealers, who lived in a suspect house within a community, by neighbors posting on the blog fishy/suspicious acts they would see and hear, led to the police taking action and shutting down those criminals. Also, both may encourage interaction, Wiki allows users to edit and update content, whenever they see fit. In the article “Wikipedia: No longer the Wild West?” by John D. Sutter, he addresses as much as the site is about convenience , it is guilty of providing many errors within its content, requiring some editors to oversee it. Each of these depict the growing collaboration of an ideas taking place within the online community, sites such as Tumblr, Twitter, among others, which have drastically contributed in expanding the exchange of opinions/information on an eclectic array of topics around the world.

Project

Celebrities: The New Generation’s False Idols (Working title)

  I'm interested in doing a topic on how the privacy and statements of athletes/celebrities attribute to how on social media, they are often held to a higher standard. We as a public/media find the need to nitpick, judge and give our own opinions to rationalize or denounce their endeavors. Why do people care so much and waste time with issues, that don’t affect their lives (at least not directly)? Is this a way of making people feel as though their voice is being heard or matters, when addressing it on social forums? We see the public resort to selective anger towards certain people (because of who they are) which can heighten or downplay incidents involving them. At times, it seems as though the public A la carte what and who as they please without taking into consideration, a rational objective point of view.