The Next New Thing

Since new media has expanded so much already, it is difficult to think about where it could possibly go next.  I think that the future of new media won't be about inventing new forms of new media, but will be all about the world becoming more interconnected and giving people more accessibility to technology and information.  One development that will support this is the idea of universal access.  For example, as current technologies becomes more outdated they will become cheaper and in turn will be accessible to more people both around the country and around the world.  As a result of new media, everyone will eventually have access to just about every piece of media content in the world.  As it is now, there are a large number of cell phones, smartphones, and PDAs that have access to social networking sites, blogs, and etc.  I think eventually there won't be a mobile device that lacks this access, which will lead to everyone having a constant link to the rest of the world, ultimately leading to more interconnectivity.   

Our Class Wiki - So Far

The task I chose to complete for the class wiki was being the page editor for the New Media in Entertainment page.  The first thing I did to update the page was read through it thoroughly and change any spelling or grammar mistakes.  I also added a few words here and there to make some sections flow smoother.  Two sections I added a sentence or two of my own to were the New Media in Music section and the paragraph about different Facebook applications.  To edit the page further  I clicked on all of the links to make sure they all worked (a few  were dead links, so I deleted them) and in some cases added a title to the link as opposed to showing the web address.  The last few changes I made were to the order of content on the page.  I moved the section about New Media in Movie Production up from the end of the page to follow the section about New Media in TV.  I did this because I thought it would be better if the Video/Film/Movie sections were grouped together.  I also moved the Online TV and Additional TV Sources sections to follow the New Media in TV section (but before the New Media in Movie Production section) because they touch on similar topics.   

About My Research Paper

The topic I chose for my paper was the impact of new media on the entertainment industry.  I chose this topic because I figured it would involve researching topics that were a part of my everyday life and stuff that I already had some knowledge about.  I focused mainly on the impact related to the music and film sectors of the industry because those were the ones that I felt were most impacted by new media.  I researched a number of databases from the Baruch Library web-site as well as some links that I found from various Google searches.  There was a lot of research and information done on this topic so it was easy for me to find related articles and sources.  From my research I found that new media has had an overall positive impact on the entertainment industry.  Most of my findings revealed that everything in the industry has become faster, simpler, and more convenient as a result of new media.  I think in the future the industry will continue to expand by using new media as a supplement for growth.

Privacy and Confidentiality

If you use some form of new media, odds are you don't have much privacy or confidentiality.  I think the minute you sign up for a social networking site, you lose a significant amount of your privacy.  It surprises me how much personal stuff people will write on their Facebook or Twitter pages.  Overall, people who use these sites just have really horrible discretion.  More often than not I read Facebook or Twitter updates that fall into the category of "Too Much Information."  A lot of people think that only other users on Facebook can see their comments, photos, personal info, etc., but the truth is anyone with half a brain and a computer can pretty much find out everything about you.  If you type someone's name in Google, odds are one of the results will be for their Facebook page (unless they have changed their security settings).  

When it comes to privacy in new media, I think it depends on the user.  For example, I have a Facebook, but I don't write a lot of personal information about myself on there.  Even so, if someone wanted to find me, they would be able to find my first and last name on Facebook and also what school I go to since I'm in the CUNY Baruch network.  There are some people who are the opposite and post every little detail about their lives and make the information available to everyone on Facebook.  I think this is dangerous because besides stalkers and people like that there are also employers who check Facebook pages.  A friend of mine who works in the Human Resources department of a company told me that Facebook is the first thing they check when researching a potential employee's background.  That might be something to think about before you post crazy pictures from a drunk night out or write inappropriate wall posts...  

Advice for Baruch

A piece of advice I would give to Baruch College would be to make it mandatory for professors to implement the use of new media (blogs, wikis, social networking sites, etc.) in all of their classes.  This would help in a number of ways.  A lot of times if students have a question about a particular class, they will e-mail the professor and wait for a response.  Depending on the professor, a response could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.  Most likely if that student contacted another student, they would've gotten a response much sooner.  I think if classes were forced to somehow "link" up virtually it would make the whole process of interacting a lot smoother.  It would make it easier for students to approach each other if they wouldn't have done so in person.  Also, this would encourage networking, which Baruch advertises about all the time.  Another piece of advice I would have for them is to have some sort of interactive page for each major where students can talk to each other and post materials.  This would be  helpful for both students who are already in a particular major, as well as prospective students who are thinking about majoring in that subject because they could talk to others who are already in it.     

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

            Virtual worlds are used to “let online users construct settings and hang out in them, using video game-like characters called avatars,” according to the article “In Room 100, It’s Sid and Nancy All Over Again.”  These worlds can be useful for meeting new people, and expanding your social network.  According to the article, “IBM's Virtual World for its Employees: IBM Learning Programs Get a 'Second Life' by Ed Frauenheim Workforce Management” IBM uses virtual worlds to “conduct employee orientation and mentoring in simulated computer worlds.”  Yet another use is for companies to expand their product base by supplementing existing products.  For example, the Webkinz toys come with codes that activate an online version of the toy in a virtual “Webkinz World” (“TOYS WITH A SECOND LIFE; Can Ganz's Webkinz--plush animals with online alter egos--stay ahead of the copycats?”).   

            One advantage of virtual worlds is that they vividly represent reality, but in a way that’s simpler than the real world.  This helps out certain people such as some with autism because they can “practice social interaction and find information about the condition” (“iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction”).  The same article also describes virtual worlds as being “perfectly relaxed” and “a perfect tool to bring people together.”  Another positive of virtual worlds is that they minimize the geographical separation between people by serving as a realistic means of communicating.  This is useful for to have virtual meetings on their own computer network without leaving the office.  A disadvantage of working together via virtual worlds is that virtual teams might not share the same customs or culture and it may be difficult to adapt to each other virtually.  A similar disadvantage is that employees “can’t take advantage of impromptu “water cooler” conversations that occur in a real workplace.” (“IBM's Virtual World for its Employees: IBM Learning Programs Get a 'Second Life' by Ed Frauenheim Workforce Management”).  A third disadvantage which might be the most important, is the lack of human interaction virtual worlds create.  Because of this, people can feel isolated at times.    

            Virtual worlds foster creativity because they allow users to basically do whatever they want.  For example, if I was to enter a virtual world and create an avatar, I wouldn’t necessarily have to create one that looks like me in real life.  I think the relaxed nature of virtual worlds also fosters creativity.  Because users are accessing virtual worlds from their own home they are more comfortable and thus more likely to be creative and do things that are “out of the box.”  I think since the start of virtual worlds there has been a steady convergence between them and reality.  In the future I think this convergence will continue because technology is constantly upgrading and everything that is virtual is resembling reality more and more.   

Twitter: Discussion

       The big difference between a Twitter discussion and an in-class discussion is obviously the lack of face to face communication.  Also its different because instead of an instant reply in person, you would have to wait until someone signs onto their Twitter and responds.  Twitter responses can also be more thought out than in-class responses, where everything is said right on the spot without much time to think.  This is different in Twitter because you have all the time in the world to think up a response.  A downside to a Twitter post is the fact that you are limited to 140 characters at a time whereas in person you can talk for as long as you want.  A main difference between Twitter and Blackboard discussions is privacy.  A discussion on Blackboard is limited to people in a particular class.  On twitter, even if you put for example #3810NET1A before your tweet, it is still visible to the public.  A Blackboard discussion is also more like a forum than Twitter is.  For each discussion board, there's a title and all of the subsequent posts are listed under that discussion board.  This is different than Twitter because on Twitter everyone tweets from their own page, but on Blackboard everyone posts to the same place.      

Social Networking

          Social networking has many uses for both the corporate world and everyone else. One way social networking is useful is for marketing/advertising/campaigning something. The article “How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power” says that “by bolting together social networking applications under the banner of a movement, they created an unforeseen force to raise money, organize locally, fight smear campaigns and get out the vote.” Because of the wide spanning reach of social networking websites, a simple message posted once could possibly reach millions of people within hours. This obviously had a positive effect on Obama’s campaign and I think more politicians will use social networking in the future to get their message out.

          A social use for social networking sites is the ability to find/keep up with you’re your current and old friends. Sites such as Friendster and Facebook make it easy to find friends you might have via your e-mail contact list. Another related use for social networking is data collection/research. Because people post so much information about themselves, it is very easy for researchers and companies to collect information and use it for either academic or business purposes. Because so much information is available, web sites are becoming more and more personalized for each user.

         A major business use for social networking is to expand professional networks and also to find a job. Companies can also post “help wanted” listings to find potential candidates to work for them. The article “Tweeting Your Way to a Job” talks about how the Murphy-Goode Winery in Sonoma sought a new employee by posting on blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. I think this has especially been helpful during the current recession because it has aided the job hunting process for many people. Being part of a social network gives them access to more people and companies than they would have been exposed to otherwise.          

          Social networking is also being used more often is classrooms. The article “Professor Encourages Students to Pass Notes During Class -- via Twitter” talks about how a professor at Penn State University made Twitter useful for his class. He thought that communicating via Twitter would make for “richer” class discussions. At first students were apprehensive, but “once students warmed to the idea that their professors actually wanted them to chat during class, students begin floating ideas or posting links to related materials.” I think in the future more professors will use social media and social networks to supplement their class materials. The article “Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum” says that “undergraduates who used Facebook intensively had higher bridging social capital scores than those who didn’t, and our longitudinal data show that Facebook use preceded these social capital gains.” Basically it is saying that undergraduates who used Facebook had an advantage as far as social networking is concerned over those didn’t use it. The article restates this and says that “these students were using Facebook to increase the size of their social network, and therefore their access to more information and diverse perspectives.”

          There are similar uses like this in the business world. “IBM, for instance, has created an internal social network site, “Beehive,” to encourage more collaboration and communication across teams. In India, Babajob harnesses social networking tools to pair employers with those who seek work. We will continue to see these trends grow as social networking features are employed for fun, profit, and social good” (“Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum”). This shows that there are both academic and corporate uses for social networks and they benefit society as a whole.

          I think the biggest concern overall about social networks is the lack of face-to-face interaction it causes. Whereas in the past looking at a computer or cell phone would isolate someone, now it’s almost the opposite. I know personally that if I happen to forget my Blackberry when I’m leaving for work/school I feel isolated or I feel like I’m missing out on something. Overall I think this is just an example of a general overreliance by everyone on technology. Another related risk is the loss of information. For example, if you upload pictures to the computer and don’t back them up and then your computer crashes, you lose your pictures. 

          Another potential risk of social networking web sites is that anyone can post anything at anytime. The article “They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites” addresses this issue by talking about campus-gossip web sites where students can post anonymous messages about other students. It says that “internet shaming creates an indelible blemish on a person's identity. It's similar to being forced to wear a digital scarlet letter or being branded or tattooed. People acquire permanent digital baggage. They are unable to escape their past, which is forever etched into Google's memory.” This is harmful because it leaves a lasting effect on that person that won’t be forgotten as fast as rumors that are spoken to one another. Something like that is potentially harmful because everyone on the Internet can see it such as that student’s professors, friends, family, and even potential employers.

Social Networking Sites

            Facebook is the main social networking site that I have been using for about the past 4 years.  From my experience using MySpace a couple of years back, I like Facebook a lot better.  I think overall Facebook does a better job of maintaining privacy than MySpace does.  Whereas on MySpace it felt like anyone could create a profile and impersonate another person, Facebook seems to have less of that.  They definitely have a better system for verifying that you actually are who you say you are.  Moving from MySpace to Facebook felt like a big upgrade. 

            I think Facebook is more sophisticated and makes better use of social networking.  It’s more sophisticated because instead of having crazy color schemes and images/music/video playing in the background it just has the same basic profile for everyone.  Therefore navigating everyone’s profile is the same, instead of having different setups on every MySpace you visit.  The social networking aspect is better than MySpace’s because in your News Feed you can see what everyone else is writing, or posting, or playing and etc.  This links everyone because instead of going around browsing everyone’s profile, you get the updates right on your homepage.  I think this is a major item that MySpace doesn’t have (or at least it didn’t have it back when I was using it).   

            It seems to me that Twitter is basically one big Facebook where the only thing you can do is update your status.  I’ve never had one until recently (I made one earlier today) so I’m still trying to figure out what the site is all about.  I know that a lot of actors, athletes, and other famous people use twitter to connect with their fans.  I know from hearing on the news that some athletes have been reprimanded by their teams for tweeting during games.  I think in this case it just serves as a distraction from what they should be doing which is concentrating on the game.  The same goes for everyone else is general.  From what I have seen on Twitter, people will post just about anything that they’re doing or thinking.  Personally I don’t see the point in posting stuff on Twitter, Facebook, etc. such as “taking a shower” or “going to sleep.”  I think posts like this fall under the category of too much information.         

            Having just made a Friendster account today, I’m not really familiar with this website either.  Based on my early use of it, it seems like it would be useful to an older crowd of people mainly because you add friends via e-mail address.  This might be useful for business purposes or if you communicate heavily with your friends via e-mail, but personally speaking, I don’t even know my friends’ e-mail addresses.  Also, this website seems very similar to Facebook.  You can add pictures, update what you’re currently doing, play games, connect with friends, etc.      

Blogs vs. Wikis

            A major similarity between blogs and wikis is that they are both very easy to set up and use.  It is fairly simple for just about anyone to use either one.  Another similarity is that both are accessible to anyone in the world as long as they have a computer.  A third commonality between the two is that posts in blogs or wikis usually involve the author’s personal thoughts/ideas/information.  I think typically a blog would have more personal thoughts/feelings while a wiki generally has more academic uses.     

           

           One difference between blogs and wikis is the amount of users who have access.  Typically in a blog there will be one user, while in a wiki there will be many authors who all have equal access.  Another differing point between blogs and wikis is their purposes.  For the most part the purpose of blogs is for someone to communicate their own personal ideas/messages to the world.  In wikis there is more of an emphasis on collaboration among users and less emphasis on communication.   A third difference is the type of feedback users get.  In blogs the feedback from other users usually comes in the form of comments, but in wikis the other users can either directly edit the content themselves, or leave a comment for the original user.           

            

           Convergence in my opinion is the most important aspect of the 5 C’s because of its underlying effect on new media.  New media has been made possible mostly by convergence.  A major part of new media is that it combines with and builds upon old media to some extent.  Therefore I think convergence is very important because it makes the transition from old media to new media a lot smoother by fusing the two together.  A positive effect of this is that users of old media will have an easier time grasping and understanding new media and at the same time users of new media with still be able to use some aspects of old media. 

            

            I think generally speaking blogs don’t have that much use for collaboration.  The reading “The New Media Technologies: Overview and Research Framework” talks about how unless there is a group of people who all have access to the same account, a blog really isn’t useful for collaboration.  Even so, I don’t think there is any advantage to using a blog for collaboration over using a wiki.  One example I can think of where a blog could be useful for collaboration is if a person posts something and asks other users to comment with their thoughts.  The original person can go back and change/edit whatever they posted based on the response of their peers’ comments.    

            

           There are so many uses for wikis already it’s hard to think of something original to use them for.  I’m not sure if this is already in existence, but I think it would be cool if professional sports teams had wikis that only players on the team could edit.  Since a lot of professional athletes already use Twitter I think it would be pretty easy for them to collaborate and post their own content as a team in a wiki.