My New Media Class- So far

As the semester has went on, and we have learned more and more about New Media, we are becoming very familiar with it's technologies. Some of these technologies that are part of the new media are flikr and picasa which took over photography and youtube which took over film. There are podcasts replacing radio and blogs replacing journalism. There are also e-books, hypertexts, and wikis replacing books. There are social networking sites that are part of new media such as facebook, myspace, twitter, and badoo.

Internet is essential to new media because it is where all of the above mentioned and more are taking place. In order to read a blog, you need to be on the Internet. To be able to catch up with friends on facebook or myspace, you need to be on the Internet. Everything I mentioned has to do with the computer, and being on the World Wide Web, as well call it.

I already explained how new media is replacing old media, but why is old media being replaced? Old Media is being replaced because technology is changing and being updated every day. We are finding out all new ways to accomplish things with using the computer and Internet, and since they are very important components to our world today, people use them for almost everything. So old media is becoming a thing of the past, hence the word old, and all of the new media technologies are more accessible on that thing we use everyday called the computer.

Cited Readings: Friedman, Linda. “Old Media, New Media.” 2009. Baruch College.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

I think that Virtual Worlds is a great place for the imagination and one's creative outlet. It gives people a chance to use their imagination and do things that one cannot do in "real life." For example, fly. It allows you to open up a world for yourself that you may not have or be able to have in the real world, but through imagination, it can provide similiar satisfaction. For example, In the Youtube video "A second life on second life," the woman describes what it is like to have a disability, and creating an avatar for herself in the virtual world, allows her to do things that she physically cannot like walk, dance, jump, etc. This is another reason how virtual worlds can help people. This woman learned more about her disability and shared stories with other "avatars," with similiar disabilities and different ones as well. Virtual Worlds allow users to explore the environment and interact with other people and information. Like social networking, its a place where people can communicate and share ideas by developing their own simulations and models. These virtual worlds allow players to create individuated characters with unique identities, and sometimes be someone they want to be but are not. By saying that, I'm not trying to imply that being your own person is wrong, because each and every individual should find happiness within themselves and who they are, but with societies pressures, people are constantly trying to be someone there not. A virtual world in a way can help an individuals self-esteem, as crazy as that may sound. By acting through avatars, players take on a role distinct from yet related to their own identity. This allows players to create public characters who think and act as members of a community, rather than just being a private individual like they may be in real life. Also, The avatar can choose to behave in ways that the avatars creator might not.

The only dark side that I can see a virtual world having is similiar to the above, basically having to do with psychology. A person may get great joy from creating an avatar because of the many reasons I mentioned earlier, but in some cases it can lead to a false sense of reality. The person might be come so wrapped up in their " second life" on the computer, that they neglect importants aspects of their real, actual life. They can become so fascinated with their avatars character, that they forget who they are. This is probably a rare case for most people, but it is possible and one of the negative aspects I could see virtual worlds having.

Virtual worlds create a community of people and the participants can learn as much from eachother as from talking to any official source of information. Just like in social networking, it can bring to the surface a world of new ideas and evolve people's commitment to a better community.

Social Networking

Social Networking technologies can be used in a numerous amount of ways. Here are some of the ways that these technologies can be used and their benefits. Many use it to keep in touch with old family or friends or get reacquainted with someone from their past. Big companies or small business advertise there merchandise, services etc,to the public (their target market) and can draw in more clientèle and/or business opportunities. Others share their ideas with people and get feedback which can help them put those ideas into something real and tangible. Some people even start charities or organizations to help others in need, and many people provide advice on something that they are somewhat of an expert about to others looking for that specific information. Musicians use to it to promote their music in hopes of getting gigs or one day making it big. Social Networking is huge, and whether its corporate or personal, it can be very advantageous. Like the youtube video, Social Networking in Plain English, you can get free customer reviews without advertising and give yourself the chance to do what you want and say what you want thanks to blogs, podcasts, and video sharing.

However, there can always be a dark side to these technologies as well. For example, Facebook and Myspace. Of course, its a good way to keep in touch with your family and friends or share your opinions and views on different things, but there is also sexual harassment issues as well, which was stated in the class lecture notes. Due to facebook/myspace comments, you can have people leaving inappropriate comments or inbox messages to you which isn't what you wanted when you signed up for these sites. Now with everything in this world, there are pros and cons to these sort of things, but sexual harassment can also lead to stalking and rape. There have been several cases of young women being stalked on facebook which can lead to a number of dangerous outcomes. And yes, many will say that there are privacy options one can make on facebook and myspace and yes, its your choice to accept someone or not especially if you don't know them, but its still an important issue that should be taken into consideration, especially with young children.

What I like about these technologies is that anyone can put their ideas into writing or videos and show the world what they want to be done or changed. These ideas can start as just a thought but can become something so huge and lead to many good things. There are some down points to it, but you have to take the good with the bad, and social networking can put a whole new twist on technologies that can only help it evolve into bigger and better opportunities for society.

Check out Social Networking Sites

Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, and Linkedin are all social networking sites that pretty much have the same thing in common. They are all a place where you can make connections with family, friends, old friends,future clients/employees, business opportunities, etc. You share information about yourself, make friends, and view information about other people. You can get reacquainted with someone from your past, or catch up with someone you haven't been able to speak to as often because of life's busy schedules. You can even advertise your business or talents, and make connections with people doing the same thing or possibly looking for your services. Each of these sites plus others that are out there all do these things, and the best part about it, is its free and can still open up a world of opportunities and new adventures and friends.

Blogs vs. Wikis

What is the difference between a blog and a wiki? Well, a blog consists primarily of multiple essays or excerpts presented in chronological order, last written, first read. A blog is usually personal, with little collaboration, and the posting is owned by the poster. A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify the content. A wiki can be personal, but it is open to collaboration. A blog is not open to direct editing by the readers, and if it is edited by the author, earlier versions are not retained like in the wiki. A blog has archives by date and possible category, and a wiki rarely has archives. There is a much broader range of contributors (authors, editors, researchers) that share in the wiki, then in a blog. Wiki pages almost always appear separately, not in a stream, and in a blog, each passage is written one after the other, in a stream. There are several other differences between blogs and wikis as well.

I feel that blogs are already somewhat used for collaboration because people can comment on what the blogger contributes to their page, and others can view those comments. However, if society wanted blogs to be a more informative type of collaboration, we can make blogs more open to the public like the wiki, where people can contribute their ideas to the blog topic, instead of just have a commentary page. They can even put up external links on the blog where it can bring the reader to a poll whether they agree or not with the blogger and what they feel can be useful information to the blog topic. This can make it a little bit more collaborative because people aren't just commenting, but having their own links to share their ideas.

In society now, there are always new products being made, places to see, and things to do. A wiki could also be used as a place where people can find out new things to do and/or how to go about doing it. For example, a vacation spot. A family wants to find a new place to go but doesn't know much about it. They can go on the wiki, and see what other people have to say about it and things to do and places to go at that specific vacation spot. It can even have links to nice hotels or restaurants for the people to plan their trip. This way instead of searching site after site on places to go, you have it all in one on the wiki.

The importance of convergence in today's networked world is because it is a new concept that is growing day by day, and will continue to grow in the future by combining and incorporating existing media forms. Eventually, it can create a whole new media.


Cited Articles: Elaine Plybon. "Blogs and Wikis in the Classroom" (2008)