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.