The Next New Thing

A new type of new media that I think will be a good idea can be a website where people can teach other students about anything they want. It would consist of uploading an instructional video. The idea is to build a community that promotes helping others learn. It can be like a ""How to Cook" video or even a "How to do Math or Science" lesson on video. It's a website specifically designed for learning. People who have trouble reading can benefit from this. Also visual learning may work better for a lot of people. You can comment on the videos. I think it would be pretty popular. It's a great way to receive free information and make new friends.

Our Wiki So Far....

So far I am still working on it. There is a lot that can be contributed to the page. We can add different segments on how New Media has benefited certain industries. We can put how certain industries will use the New Media. And of course we can add how the New Media has damaged other industries. The goal is to show how the new media has shaped the economy.

About my term project

I did my research on social networking and the social effects it has had on our society. Most of my research was done through the database of the baruch website but I had also found interesting articles from the Time magazines. A lot of my findings were interesting. Social networking is being used for many things. One thing is certain that despite the issues of privacy control, it is a fact that people WANT to expose themselves. They just want to have control of what they expose. Of course this could lead to problems such as harassment through social networking also known as "cyberbullying". It is also interesting to see that the police have been using social networking to catch predators. I think it is a good thing. Research has also been done and many people enjoy social networking because it removes social tensions that normal socializing would cause. So perhaps it is a good thing in that sense. Also, it has facilitated communications with a larger group by the use of group pages from Facebook or other similar tools. One thing is certain and that is social networking will not replace meeting someone face to face. Although other studies show that people don't add strangers. So meeting new people is still being done in real life rather than social networks. I think of social networking as a plus and it doesn't really damage our basic social skills. It is just a way of keeping tabs on our friends. Of course one has to use it the right way. Social networking is increasing in popularity especially Facebook and who knows where it will take us. Social networking truly has revolutionized our ways of communications.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy has been an issue in the world of the New Media especially in the case of social networking websites. In websites such as Facebook and Twitter, sometimes people just give out way too much information about themselves. They don't think about the harm they could be doing to themselves. There could be stalkers checking them out daily and getting updated on their lives. And there have been situations where employers will check out employees' Facebook and judge them based on pictures and comments that could lead them to get fired. So it's more of a question of how to handle yourself on Facebook. Many people use Facebook to keep in contact with their friends from all over the world. But it is also a way of meeting new people. Because of this, people will try to portray themselves the way they want others to view them on Facebook and they will invent new ways of making themselves look better in their eyes. Perhaps they will use a picture of themselves as their profile picture from years ago that they look good in when they look completely different than they do now. There is a movie that just came out recently called Catfish. It was only played on selected theaters in Manhattan. Basically without revealing too much information to avoid spoiling it for people who may be interested, the plot is basically about a guy who meets this girl on Facebook and throughout time he would get to know her family through Facebook only. He would start a relationship through Facebook only. When he tried to meet her she always refused. Finally he decides to surprise her and go to where she lives to meet her. Everything he thought he knew about her and the family through Facebook just turned out to be completely different from what he thought. It's very crazy what he finds out about this woman. It's mind boggling what people will do on Facebook. You can never be too careful with the people you meet on Facebook. So it is important to handle your privacy very well on Facebook. I really think it's dumb to update my location on Facebook or Twitter every second of the day. I think it's annoying to see people of all, and t isn't very smart revealing your whereabouts to a bunch of people that you are friends with on the internet. Some friends you are with are close to you but there's a good amount of those "friends" that are really just acquaintances and have no business knowing what you are doing.  

Advice to Baruch College

If I was hired by Baruch College to use new media in Baruch, I would suggest more online courses because I feel it is something every student should experience. Baruch is a school where a lot of students commute to so I feel many students would benefit from having more online courses because instead of having to come all the way to school for 5 classes maybe they can not worry so much about a couple of classes that they know they can study at home on their own time. It would remove a lot of stress from them. I would also suggest maybe Baruch having their own Youtube channel or something to show the upcoming freshman students a tour guide of the school. This can be a way of letting freshman know what to expect, which places are good to hang out, and can show them the gym, etc. And perhaps Baruch can have a blog for all students to join and contribute ways to improve the school. This blog can also be used for students to advertise their clubs, events, or selling textbooks.

Twitter- Discussion

The most annoying thing about Twitter Discussion is the limited amount of characters allowed. You have to be very succinct about what you say. BB discussion you can say whatever you want without worrying about the characters allowed. And BB discussion is more organized since you can add a title to what you are talking about. Also people can still comment on your blogs. I think BB discussion is much more practical. Tweeting is for people to just ramble senseless thoughts. In class discussions is more personal since you are speaking your mind and you can see the expressions of one another. The only thing about in class discussions is that people can interrupt you and be rude.

Modeling Virtual Reality and Virtual Worlds

One way virtual worlds can be used is in the business world. They can use virtual worlds to hold meetings with people of other companies from around the world that saves a lot of travel time and money. "Parmar told CNN that he recently held a meeting with 12 technical leaders from across Europe and Asia. While that would typically involve flying everyone to a central location, he said the meeting was held using the new Sametime 3D." (Tutton, Going to the virtual office in second life). I think it's a more convenient way to interact with one another to share ideas. The virtual world also allows you to store files in them using "dropbox" and you can also work on projects together using "basecamp". It saves a lot of time having to travel to a specific location. Also, for people who are shy, perhaps using virtual world is more comfortable for them. A negative side to this is that it isn't the real world and certain expressions and conversations may be misrepresented in the real world as we aren't actually seeing the other person face to face. 


Another way it can be used is social networking. It's like a new way to socialize. People can use websites such as secondlife.com or ivmu.com. People can get away from the real world and join virtual communities and use their avatars to even buy products that they would never buy in the real world. “Ms. Rayna, an avatar on Second Life, and her free-spending cohort can quaff Champagne, teleport to private islands and splurge on luxury brands that are the cyber equivalent of Prada waders or a Rolex watch. Real-world consumers may have snapped shut their wallets.” ( Ferla, No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s the real you). It's like creating your own world that you want. The bad thing about this is that people may get tool carried away with this and spend too much time and money on their avatar. 


I think virtual worlds do foster creativity. Especially in the gaming world such as role playing games where players can interact with each other online such as Warcraft, creators have to come up with new ideas to attract consumers to buy and play their games and keep them from other competitors. 


I think the future of the virtual world can be something like we see in the movie Avatar where we maybe can control it using our mind with a headset. That's a neat idea although I don't know if it's possible or if I am watching too many movies. In the social networking aspect I think these virtual world websites can possibly replace facebook or myspace and instead of having our own profile page perhaps everyone will have their avatars and socialize through these virtual worlds. 

Social Networking

Social Networking is a new technology of the new media. It is used by all sorts of people world-wide. Social Networking has innovated new uses and defined a new way of socializing.

Social Networking is a great way to keep in contact with your friends. Through websites such as Facebook or Twitter you can see what your friends are up to by seeing their status updates. It's a new way of socializing so you don't even have to call and talk with your friends when you can leave comments on facebook to your friends all at once. A new use of this technology is job postings. Companies are now recruiting and posting jobs on twitter. "We spoke with some career experts about how you can search wisely. In general, you must sieve through hashtags, a symbol (#) Twitter users assign to their tweets that sorts them into different categories (I wrote a CIO.com overview on Twitter hashtags a few months ago). We also learned about a few Twitter handles (Twitter user names) that post some helpful content if you're trying to land your next gig." (Lynch, Twitter Tips: How to Find Job Posts on Twitter). Companies may also even advertise on Facebook creating groups to promote themselves and try to hire people. It's easier to promote themselves with these social networking websites because it doesn't cost them anything. 


However there are bad sides to social networking. For example, people can be nosy and post things about other people causing problems. During the MTV Awards when Kanye West made a rude outburst during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech. Obama made a remark about Kanye calling him a "jackass" and it got around so fast it made it into the headlines. The president weighing in on the biggest pop culture story of the day was too delicious to ignore.  "Soon, e-mails about Obama's comment began circulating internally at ABC. Before news executives had determined whether the material was publishable, Moran and a handful of other ABC News employees posted the remark on Twitter." (Gold, Obama, Kanye West and Trouble With Twitter). The problem with this is that Obama made this remark off the record. Social Networking can be bad because it can cause too much gossiping. People getting into other people's business may cause problems. 


I also want to talk about this movie briefly since it kind of relates to this subject. The movie, Catfish, is a documentary film that came out on selected theaters. You can only watch it in Manhattan to my knowledge. Without revealing too much of the plot in case anyone else wants to see it, it basically is about a guy who forms a relationship with a family through facebook. He discovers using google that some of the things they said were lies and they aren't who they appear to be. He decided to take it upon himself to go visit unannounced and the things he discovers is just scary and crazy. To find out, you should go watch it. But it makes me think that people using facebook or other social networking websites can be "fake". You have to be careful with who you associate with in these social networking websites. The thing you have to think about is that when you create a facebook account, and all the pictures you post up and statuses, you are trying to represent yourself the best way possible. And people will try to look the best they can even if they are lies. They can adjust their pics using photoshops, etc. It's like a facade. And people updating their facebook or twitter statuses are basically people raising their hands in the air calling for attention. You have to be careful not to get carried away with it. That may be a bad thing about facebook. Sometimes you should get out into the real world and socialize the old fashioned way. 


In the future these technologies will improve. It can only improve. If there is one aspect that will improve on it should be privacy settings. Sometimes people have no lives and try to spy on others. Unfortunately I feel social networking may replace phones and letters. I feel it already has. Even I use my mytouch phone to contact people more on facebook. We'll see how else they can improve it on. 

Check Out Social Networking Sites

          Myspace and Facebook are different in ways that Myspace allows you to post up a music and there is a video section where you can watch music videos or music trailers. Myspace is a good source for underground bands to promote their music with the option of posting up music. Also, Myspace allows you to decorate your page with different backgrounds. And the photos of Myspace can be seen as a slideshow. I feel with the sense, Myspace is more directed to the younger generation. Facebook is more simple and straightforward. You can update your statuses and the newsfeed is the first thing you see so you can see the statuses updates of your friends. I feel it is easier to find friends. More people use it professionally and don't create fake names or alias and it is easier to find friends through different networks such as the same college networks and hometown networks. 

          Friendster is different to me. I have never heard of it but it seems simple also. Nothing too fancy, it is more like facebook. There is just a page, you can update your status and post pictures, etc. I don't think it is too popular. 

         Twitter is another social networking site. It is pretty much a site where you only update your status. It is a simpler way of posting and letting everyone know what you are doing. Also in Twitter, you can interact with famous celebrities, magazines, athletes, etc. It's a fun way to get updated with their lives. 

Blogs vs Wiki

Blogs and wikis are both ways of sharing information. The main difference is that with a blog it is more personal. A blog writer can choose whatever they want to write on and people can post comments on them and share opinions freely. For example, "In the world of celebrity and entertainment, some blogs have found a niche and have become quite successful in discussing celebrity news, sharing photographs, and other topics in entertainment..." (Gerry, Celebrity Blogs: The Impact of New Media). Blogging has become a new way of getting information across and it helps keep us updated. With a wiki, it is a more collaborative effort. A wiki allows you to post a topic and anyone can edit and post information on it. An example of this is Wikipedia which is an internet based encyclopedia. It has information on almost anything in the world and anyone can just edit it or update new information on it. An interesting article showed how wikis can be used. The VP of EMC, Tony Pagliarulo, used a wiki as a way to build their project. “He chose a wiki—a software application that allows groups of users to create, edit and comment on online documents—so that each team member could contribute and access up-to-date information on the project.” (Locher, More on how to build your on wikipedia). It seems like a very convenient way to keep each other up to date with the project. This shows the importance of convergence. It allows people from everywhere to come together and work collectively. Wiki allows this. Another way we can use a wiki can be to start a wiki for a specific community so people involved in that community can offer ideas of improving it or complaints. 

Social Networking: Better or Worse Than The Real Thing?

I am just curious as to see how socializing has become nowadays. Instead of leaving outside to meet new people, we are able to meet people online. Through websites such as facebook, myspace, and twitter, there is a new way to socialize with people. People can just check on these websites and find out what their friends are doing. They may chat with them online rather than pick up a phone and call. I am curious to see the development of social networking and to analyze to see the negative and positive effects it has in our society.

Describe New Media

How can we describe "new media". In my opinion the new media is the new technology today that generally have made the "old media" digitalized through advanced technology (such as laptops, smart phones, and of course the internet) and as a result made it more interactive for us people. 

The "old media" such as books, radios, newspapers and magazines have been replaced by this new technology. Rather than flipping a page in the NYTimes, we are able to read the news on the internet. And we are also able to leave comments on these articles as a way to share our ideas with other people. 

What the new media has also allowed us to do which I find amazing is being able to catch shows online. When I'm in school all day and I know I am going to miss a show, I can watch it on the internet. “For network television shows the best places to start are their home Web sites, including ABC.com, NBC.com,CBS.com and Fox.com, where shows are posted usually within 24 hours of being shown on television” (Holson, Who needs a TV? I’ve got a laptop). Also, I am a huge sports fanatic and when I know I can't watch games on a television (usually soccer games) because I don't have a channel, I am able to stream it online! It's incredible what this new technology allows us to do. And as I'm watching the games on these websites, I am able to share opinions about it in a chatroom with random people I meet online. 

In an article, Heffernan says "In the ’90s, “magazine” was a pacifier — a word like “bookmark” to keep us quiet as we acclimated to life online. But now that we are here, Slate and Salon are communities and producers of influential articles; they’re not really magazines. Two online things — TheHuffington Post and The Daily Beast — don’t call themselves magazines. HuffPo is “an American liberal news Web site and aggregated blog” and The Daily Beast offers “curated news aggregation plus original reporting and opinion.”" (Heffernan, Articles of Faith). One of the things about the new media is that the news is not only reported by big companies such as the NYTimes but now anyone can go make a blog and report the news themselves. The ability of social networking has allowed us to report and share our ideas and thoughts to everyone using websites such as twitter, facebook, or even this very own website right now! We are having an online class through blogging! This is an example of new media! I still find it strange but I guess it does make things easier for us all who just want to sit at home and read in peace rather than in a classroom with students and a professor. 

Oliver Valenzuela

Welcome to my blog everyone!!