The Next New Thing

The Next New Thing

          As a proud Greek-American I always love staying connected with my heritage. I go to Greece every year and attend Greek events and interact with fellow Greek-Americans here in NY as well. 

          I would definitely create a social media platform that is for Greek people from Greece and Greeks living around the world. It would be a form of new media where people can meet fellow Greeks from the same areas of Greece or fellow Greeks who are living in their neighborhood or state around them. It would give people a chance to bond and possibly even meet up in Greece over the summer or throughout the year. There would be different pages, one for each city in Greece, that people can become members of. They can post status', comments, and even pictures of their adventures in that city. In addition, there would be a general page which everyone could be a member of and talk about anything they want. 

          I personally go to Greece every summer and I am constantly meeting other Greeks from around the world- even including people from New York that I didn't even know were from the same part of Greece as me. Last year I actually met one individual who was from the same neighborhood as me in NY and who knew so many mutual friends as me and we became really close. 

          This new media platform would serve as a great place where Greek people can meet, communicate, and become friends. This way people would always stay connected with their heritage and feel like they're apart of something big. 

Our Class Wiki - So Far

Our Class Wiki - So Far

          On our class wiki, students are able to selectively contribute their thoughts and findings on numerous topics. So far, I have contributed to two different topics of information: Privacy and Advertising and New Media in Social Networking. 

          In Privacy and Advertising, I took some information from my research paper that I believed was really interesting and important. I spoke about Target and how they gather intel on all of their customers and create an entire profile on them in order to keep track of their transactions and analyze their purchasing habits. This enables them to bombard them with advertisements of products Target believed that certain customer would be interested in buying. 

          In New Media in Social Networking, I talked about how new media fosters creativity in numerous ways. Many large corporations use new media in order to expand their companies and better their products. I spoke about how Twitter is one that uses its followers and their ideas in order to better their platform and engage more users to join.  

P2P File Sharing

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is defined as the public or private sharing of computer data through networks and the Internet. It creates an environment where the sharing of information, ideas, and data can be done easily and affectively. 

P2P file sharing is a type of file sharing that allows users to access online media files like books, music, and games by using a P2P program that searches for other P2P devices where this data and and content is located. 

Some examples of P2P file sharing are:

1. Bearshare (a leading file sharing program- also a free-music downloading software)

2. Freenet (a P2P platform for censorship-resistant communication and publishing)

3. LimeWire (free software which allows Internet users to search, share and download files from the Internet)

P2P file sharing continues to grow more and more popular each day. One major step in the growth of P2P sharing was Google's decision to team up with the nation's largest peer-to-peer lender. Google's actions resulted in a growing interest of P2P file sharing. Wendy Kaufman's article "Peers Find Less Pressure Borrowing From Each Other" gives the audience a great insight on how P2P file sharing can serve as a lot more than just a place to share music, movies, and games. It can also be used as a platform for peer-to-peer lending operations where funding can be a lot easier for investors and borrowers.

Advice to Baruch College

Advice to Baruch College

          New media is most frequently used to expand and innovate certain aspects of society. I think Baruch could greatly benefit from adapting new forms of new media into its atmosphere. My advice to them would aim to create new forms of media platforms that would make both the students and the faculties' lives a lot easier. For example, Baruch could create a certain website or blog for anyone who is interested. Students can use it to meet new friends, discuss class topics, or even share notes and study for exams together. Professors and other faculties can use these blogs as well. Whether it be professors of the same department discussing their teaching methods and sharing new ideas or actual individuals working in the office using a more organized way of communicating and getting the job done. There are so many different ideas that could be introduced to Baruch and it is slowly evolving into a technology based and new media environment already. 

Privacy & Confidentiality

PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY

          Many can agree that one of the greatest innovations of the past decade has been the creation of social media. Yet, the advantages of social media and the Internet itself come with a price, our privacy. What a lot of people may not understand is that everything they do online is in some ways monitored and recorded into different databases and then later analyzed into pattern behavior profiles. Every time you search the web, send a message, share a video, or like a post you’re leaving behind cyber footprints that are being collected and used for research without you even knowing it. Private companies, large corporations, as well as advertising firms including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter are all stockpiling immense amounts of information and using it to their advantage.

        Nothing you do online is confidential anymore. Someone is always watching and  monitoring your every move, waiting to use this information against you and get what they want. Whether it be companies and corporations using this data to advertise products that they think you would buy in order to increase their revenues. Or individuals out their trying to steel your identity and take everything that is yours. 

        A lot of people fall victims to identity theft, scams, and harassment of all sorts. That is why privacy and confidentiality should be a main focus for users of the Internet. People should be aware of this lack of privacy and should cautiously limit the amount of information that they give out on certain sites and what types of posts they create and share. 

Blog: Creativity and New Media

Blog: Creativity and New Media 

          Creating online avatars is one of the many ways new media enables its users to be creative. It gives people a chance to use their imagination and create a character that they can then live through and do things they may not actually be able to do in real life. These avatars are usually characters in a virtual reality world (including children's games) or just in particular stimulations. It gives users the power to control their actions, their appearances, and their language. 

          I created an avatar in my old childhood game "Club Penguin." When I was younger I would constantly play this game because of how fun it was and how much power I had to control my Penguin. Creating this penguin avatar allows me to control its appearance, name, and movements. This platform allows its users to build igloos as homes, decorate them, buy pets, and actually play games throughout the town. This game can also be very educational considering there actually is a library where you can read books and other games where knowledge and pattern analysis are needed. This form of new media strongly enables its users to use creativity and imagination to enjoy and innovate the game itself. 

         In addition, to the club penguin account, I created a separate individual avatar in the perception that I would want to look like. Many times others who are not happy with the way they look or just want to see something new but are too scared to do it, often create these avatars and again live through them like it is them themselves. The biggest difference with my avatar is basically the color of my eyes, seeing as I wish I had blue eyes. 

BLOG: CREATIVITY

BLOG: CREATIVITY

       New media fosters creativity in numerous ways. Many large corporations and companies often use new media in order to expand their companies and better their products. Claire Cain Miller's article, " Twitter Serves Up Ideas From its Followers" gives its readers good in-site on how Twitter uses their consumers' ideas to innovate their platform. "Twitter, may rely on user-generated innovation more than any other company." Its producers basically sit on the sideline and watch the activity of its users and analyze that data to come up with new features that would benefit their platform. Aside from Twitter, many other companies use the same method because what better way to produce a product that customers will like, than getting the ideas from the customers themselves. New media most definitely fosters creativity and is a crucial part of the success of most products and social media platforms as a whole. 

BLOG: Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

         Virtual worlds are a very large part of the technology world today. Whether it be used for entertainment purposes such as video games or for professional purposes such as crisis preparation drills or business meetings. The world of virtual reality has greatly evolved and continues to evolve everyday. Some people may even say that it is sometimes hard to separate real from reality while participating in virtual worlds and what it offers. 

         Virtual worlds are useful in numerous ways and serve as a great platform for many businesses. Specifically, "Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, talks about how this virtual world, Second life, allowed them to be able to create an accurate and complex drill for all its nurses in the case of a crisis. The ability to create any type of situation and monitor the reactions and actions of each nurse throughout the drill has greatly benefited the hospital and further prepared these nurses.

         On the contrary, "At Hearing, Real and Virtual Worlds Collide" brings up some scares that many citizens might have on a program like this. The concept of this virtual reality poses this question to many people on whether or not virtual worlds like Second Life can be used "as a place to launder money," pose a threat to children or make money. Although the world of virtual reality strongly benefits society both professionally and personally, it also does pose a threat if its resources are misused and abused. 

        Creativity wise, the virtual world enables anyone and everyone to come up with their own ideas and put them into affect. It allows people to channel their imagination and creative ideas and turn them into something real- or at least virtually real.

        Technology and the world of virtual reality will continue to grow as the years pass. Soon enough people if not already, people will become so comfortable and reliant on this tech world that they won't be able to separate it from reality. Our world is a world of technology. No one knows how things will be in years to come, but its going to be extremely different. 

TWITR: Blog About Twitter

TWITR: Blog About Twitter

       A Twitter discussion is a lot more different than a Blackboard discussion. Firstly, a Twitter discussion is actually on a social media forum which makes it a lot more modern and engaging than a Blackboard discussion. You are able to comment on your peers posts a lot faster and you are able to really read all the comments made by different classmates all one after the other, making it almost like a live conversation. It is more interactive and inviting than a Blackboard discussion. Twitter is just a more technologically advanced and like-able platform, one that most students are familiar with using and it just enables them to be more interested in the discussion as a whole. 

       Compared to an In-Class discussion Twitter is obviously a little less personal. Personal in the sense that it isn't face-to-face and although students can answer to peers responses pretty fast on Twitter it will never be as fast as answering in person.  On the other hand, Twitter discussions may in some ways be more effective in the sense that many people may be shy to speak up or participate in class, but they may feel comfortable doing it online through Twitter. Twitter is definitely a good networking site for discussions aside from face- to- face discussions. 

BLOG: Social Networking Sites

BLOG: Social Networking Sites

       Facebook is a very inviting networking site. Its appearance looks organized and appealing. The news feed just makes you want to scroll down and look at different friends' posts and any sort of videos that were shared by others. It also shows an area where you can quickly 'say what's on your mind' or basically post a status which will only take a few seconds. 

       Similarly to Facebook, Twitter is very organized and inviting. It also has a news feed with multiple trending tweets, both public and specific to your followers' posts. The one thing twitter has that separates it from Facebook is that its repost button is just one click and most people on twitter usually repost rather than posting their own content. 

        Youtube is another organized networking site. Youtube is strictly for video content which makes it the top site for most people looking for visual sites. The Home page is very appealing because it gives its audience recommendations of videos depending on previously watched videos as well as trending videos of the day on any category. The unique thing about it is the unlimited variety of both knowledgable and entertaining videos- some aspects that other networking sites might not have. 

        Pinterest is one other organized networking site. It is known as 'the world's catalog of ideas.' Its home page consists of a search button to search for any specific item or category that its audience is looking for. It also shows many visual pictures of trending items, gifts, and places. Pinterest is both for ideas and for advertisement of products and you see many advertisements on the home page alone. 

BLOG: Social Net'g

BLOG: Social Net'g

Social Networking has and continues to play a tremendous role in society today. It benefits society and the technology world in numerous ways. Whether it be strictly for amusement and social media purposes, or for professional and governmental purposes as well. 

Frank Langfitts's article, "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting" serves as a perfect example of how this certain technology has benefitted the labor force in a big way. Maureen Crawford-Hentz recruits for Osram Sylvania, the global lighting company and states that she uses social networking to "dig out high quality candidates that she can't find elsewhere." This clearly shows that this social networking technology has become a breakthrough for all corporations big or small, who are looking for unique individuals with specific skills. It has allowed for individuals who share their interests and knowledge on the internet, to be found by people like Crawford and given a once in a lifetime job opportunity.

Although social networking clearly benefits society, many can fairly say that there is a "dark side" to it as well. There are many negative experiences tied to this technology such as managing inappropriate content, lack of privacy and control, social comparison and trolling, and personal conflicts. Many sites lack the ability to filter its data making it extremely inappropriate for many users that might cause large controversies in the long run. There is also this sense of lack of privacy which many people have been struggling with since the invention of the internet and certain aspects of it. In addition, social networking does give power to many people who are too afraid to compare and let down many individuals who they are jealous of our hate. 

Going into more depth with lack of privacy, large social media and networking sites struggle with this issue. Marc Perry's article, "Who Cares ABout Facebook Privacy? Students Do" show us how people's fear and distrust in their privacy is not completely flooded. Many college students are taking certain precautions, small and big, in order to ensure their privacy protection. In addition to their efforts there are efforts being made by Facebook itself in order to ensure its users privacy safety through new and advanced default settings. 

Social Networking is continuously evolving day by day. Good and bad aspects of it continue to reveal themselves, but all we as consumers and providers can do are try to minimize the negative aspects of this technology and continue to embrace the positive and useful aspects of it instead. 

BLOGS VS WIKIS

BLOGS VS WIKIS

       A blog is defined as a "regularly updated website or web page, typically run by an individual or small group." Similarly, a wiki is defined as a "website that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure." Both forms of media are websites in which individuals or groups of people post information, news, or feedback on any kind of topic. Blogs more specifically deal with informal posts on both fictional and nonfictional topics that cannot be edited per se, but can be commented on or altered in separate posts. Wikis on the other hand, allow its users to fully edit any content or structure of the webpage, but its main purpose is to collaboratively come up with a unified source of detailed information. 

     Convergence in today's networked world is very important. Networking including blogs and wikis allow more people to share their knowledge, thoughts, opinions and ideas. Different people's few ideas put together form large chunks of the information provided to us on the internet as a whole. 

       Blogs can be used for collaboration in many ways. It can be used to gather information on any type of topic or thought. But more importantly in many instances it can help make society safer in some ways. In the article, “Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid,” Michael Wilson shows how those people who chose to speak up instead of hiding behind their computers helped the police catch these criminals. Through their blogs and through their voices they provided enough inside information to allow for the police to use that information to make their community so much more safe. 

       Similarly wikis can be used for collaboration in many ways. One important way was mentioned in Margaret Locher's article, "More on How to Build Your Own Wikipedia." Locher talks about how the technology can help companies gather and manage their own collective knowledge by posting and editing their own wiki page formed specifically for their business. This allows the information to be collected and put together in the most efficient way. 

              New uses for wikis are emerging each and everyday. I personally cannot think of another use for it, but I am looking forward to eventually learn about all its uses and how I can contribute to them. 

BRAINSTORMING

BRAINSTORMING

* Cyber Footprints

* Companies Gathering Intel

* Product Promotions Through Advertisements

* Dependent on the Internet

* Identity Theft

* Poor Security

* Vulnerability

* Disconnection from Society

* NO PRIVACY

DOES SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INTERNET DEPRIVE US OF OUR PRIVACY?

DOES SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INTERNET DEPRIVE US OF OUR PRIVACY?

Perhaps one of the greatest innovations of the past decade has been the advent of social media. Today, almost any individual can reconnect with a long-lost friend, share photos and videos, and even carry out their daily tasks online. Yet, the advantages of social media and the Internet itself come with a price, our privacy. ”The Internet is transforming from a tool of liberation and expression to one of oppression and control.”[1] A source of information that was created in hopes of ‘saving’ the world is instead ‘corrupting’ it and abusing its power to control it.

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[1] Taylor, Astra. "How the Internet Is Transforming from a Tool of Liberation to One of Oppression." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 5 June 2014. Web. 10 Sep. 2016.