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.