Creativity and New Media

To complete this assigment I used an App call Snapshot.  Snapchat is a video messaging application created by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown. Using the application, I created the following photos. 

In this picture I'm in Space. On your right side you can see the Earth and on your left side you can see the sun.

In this picture I'm a puppy. That moment when you finished all your Homework "I'm a Happy Puppy".

CREATIVTY

One social media that fosters creativity is Twitter. As I mentioned before in one of my blogs I recently opened a twitter account. I see there’s a lot of creativity when it comes to Twitter. I think new media fosters new features and society gets more creative with social media. The author Claire Cain Miller describes “Twitter users started referring to others by typing the @ symbol before their name. For example, Biz Stone, a Twitter founder, recently wrote about his wife: “Wow, @Livia just took her homemade vegan lasagna out of the oven — I’m hungry!”” On the other side, I never heard of Design byME before!!! When I went to the website this is what I found out: “Despite this success, the overall Design byMe experience has struggled to live up to the quality standards for a LEGO service. As a result, the LEGO® Design byME service was closed in January 2012.” I think it was a pretty good idea to order your own model.

Reference

Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers by CLAIRE CAIN MILLER, the New York Times, October 26, 2009. Available at:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

What are different ways these virtual worlds can be used?

One different way this virtual world can be used is as a virtual office. It will help in your operating expenses. It will minimize capital outlay, reduce the overhead of permanent office space and it will create a more established presence for your business. According to Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, more than 1,400 organizations including large companies, educational institutions, government agencies and even the U.S. military use Second Life to hold meetings, conduct training and prototype new technologies more efficiently. Another large company that is using virtual offices is IBM.

What are the pros and cons?

Virtual reality helps autistic kids and adults develop skills. "Naughty Auties" it's in a virtual world called second life and it helps those with autism and one of the pros is to practice social interaction with each other. A 22 year-old man created the site with autism named David Savill. They can represent themselves with 3-D images called avatars and connect with each other over the Internet. As the article 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction states, "He was able to use chat rooms and soon realized that people used symbols to express themselves: the smiley signs, the angry signs, hug signs, etc., to enhance the text. He went on to say that subconsciously his brain was learning about communication from these sessions of chat." This site will help kids and adults affected by autism. I don’t really see a lot of cons. The only concern I see is that kids and adults won’t get to interact with each other face to face more often.

How do virtual worlds foster creativity?

Virtual worlds foster major creativity in the healthcare world. Many hospitals, medical schools and healthcare clinics are participating in this virtual world. The three-dimensional environment allows users to interact with each other through a virtual representation of themselves known as an avatar. It is designed to help students, and nurses make quick decisions in a case of an emergency. This virtual world serves as an immersive experience.

What do you think the future of virtual worlds will look like?

The article "I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life" by Dave Itzkoff reminds me of the movies “The matrix” and “Avatar”. I think we can create what we want in the virtual world as avatars that can look like us or even create different identities. As the movie Avatar the main character Jake Sully was invalid in the real world but in the avatar world he wasn’t. The author Dave Itzkoff created an avatar just like him but just cooler, “I was bold enough to dress my avatar in anything more daring than the white T-shirt and blue jeans he was issued; only recently I added a magenta sport coat, hip eyeglasses and an angular haircut called the Crispin to his ensemble. (“He looks like the cool version of you,” my girlfriend told me.)”  My imagination flies just to think how technology is going to be in years from now.

References

iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction by Nicole Saidi, CNN, March 28, 2008. Available from:http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html#cnnSTCText or HERE

Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life, CNN.com: Nov 5, 2009http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html 

"Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2010http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204.html?KEYWORDS=avatar+ii+the+hospital 

"I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life" by Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times, January 6, 2008, available athttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html 

Social Networking Sites

I have different impressions of the following social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest each of these sites are unique in their own way.

Facebook has more than one billion users. Once, I created a profile, I can upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with my friends, family and colleagues. Most of my friends and family have an account; it’s easier to communicate to each of them when they are outside the country with Facebook messenger. You can tag your friend if you download a picture. A member can make all his communications visible to everyone, he can block specific connections or he can keep all his communications private. Members can choose whether or not to be searchable!! This is an amazing tool Facebook has because I don’t want all my colleagues to see my page. I like some privacy.

I recently open a Twitter account since I use Facebook more often.  I know you only get 140 characters for each post. If you’re on Twitter, your bio will appear in the search results when people search for your name. I feel like Twitter is more for news sources.

In Instagram I find a lot of marketing and there’s not much text and no links. The photography from all the marketing is beautiful and eye catching. I find the pictures more vivid. I use a lot of hashtags in Instagram. You can also connect with new people when you use hashtags.

Pinterest is a great site where you can get unlimited ideas from food and drinks, weeding, birthdays, Holidays, fashion and more. The length of your description does matter. An image of chocolate chip pancakes might take you to the recipe; a picture of a whimsical birdhouse might take you to the instructions. I use Pinterest a lot to get different recipes ideas of food and drinks.

  

Social Net'g

What are some ways (corporate and otherwise) that these technologies can be used?

These technologies can be used as presidential campaigns; Obama was also the first presidential candidate to effectively use social media as a major campaign strategy. He was sending out voting reminders on Twitter and interacting with people on Facebook.  The real power of social media is not in the number of posts or Tweets but in user engagement measured by content. Obama used social media to raise money for his campaign. He took advantage and used a database, where, there were millions of names of supporters who can be engaged almost instantly. Some of the technologies Obama used were Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter, YouTube, Pinterest and more of these technologies helped him to raise money for his campaign.

What are the benefits of these technologies to society?

Recruiters are using Linkedin as one of their technologies sites to recruit professionals. Linkedin has over 300 million users and I’m one of them. By creating an account you will show people who you are by showing off your experience.  Other members from Linkedin can recommend you to other companies if you are available in the market. If you are looking for a new job or about to graduate college I think Linkedin can help you find a job as soon as you graduate from college. Some of the benefits are: job e-mail alerts, connect with professionals, conduct company research, getting recommendations and most important letting companies find you.

Is there a dark side?

Every time we use social media to post pictures or comments we are leaving behind our fingerprints. Some people are over sharing personal information in Facebook, Instagram , Tweeter and I think this is the dark side because it makes them an easy target. Predators, thieves and others can use your personal information to harm you.  I don’t think there is such a thing as privacy when it comes to social media. Once you post something I believe anyone can see it somehow. In addition, recruiters can use these technologies to see their future employees as the following article describes: “the line between professional networking on a site such as LinkedIn, and social networking on sites such as Facebook, “has become very thin,”… When a business contact from the LinkedIn world wants to become your friend on Facebook, do you accept the invitation, giving them access to the photos on your Facebook profile from last summer’s rowdy beach party?”

These technologies might evolve in the future?

In my opinion, technology is going to evolve in the future and every generation is going to contribute something new to this world. An article, “How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power” written by David Carr describes how “Thomas Jefferson used newspapers to win the presidency, F.D.R. used radio to change the way he governed, J.F.K. was the first president to understand television, and Howard Dean saw the value of the Web for raising money,” The impact of social media in the 21^st century is changing the way we communicate.

Works Cited

"How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power," by David Carr, The New York Times. November 10, 2008; at

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10carr.html

Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting by Frank Langfitt, NPR, March 16, 2008. available from

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6522523&sc=emaf

Knowledge@Wharton, "Leaving 'Friendprints': How Online Social Networks Are Redefining Privacy and Personal Security

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/leaving-friendprints-how-online-social-networks-are-redefining-privacy-and-personal-security/

Blog v Wiki

Compare and Contrast Blogs and Wikis

A Blog is short for ‘web log’ and is considered a shared online diary. The posts tend to be relatively short, but have enough information and interest to engage other readers. Blog posts can also have the provision for readers to leave comments. Comments are optional but encouraged to continue the conversation. Content is considered to be static! Once posted, the posting doesn't change. Blogs are usually more informal, chatty and consider as an online journal.

A Wiki is a collaborative online space for students to view, contribute, and edit content. Each wiki can have a specific purpose and a bunch of wiki pages that are maintained by the users of that Wiki. Anyone that visits your Wiki will be able to create new pages and update your content whenever tey desire. Comments are not expected and topics are considered public space and owned by all. Wikis are open to collaboration and the focus is the content produced, not the individual authors.

Important on the Importance of Convergence in today’s networked world

Converging is very important in today’s networked world. Across the business world there are examples of companies that have started to absorb the lessons of the 21st century and have started to adapt. They are innovating their business models, their corporate systems, and their organizational hierarchies. Most businesses are using blogs and wikis to communicate with customers, and employees. By using this method businesses have a better understanding of their customers and employee needs. For example: “Microsoft uses its blogs to provide tips and technical information to its customers, to answer customer questions and to host conversations among product users.” Blogging is one of the most valuable tools that businesses have to engage with customers and ultimately make their lives easier.

How can blogs be used for collaboration?

Blogs can be use in classrooms, in business, and in social media. Blogs are being used for effective education. Teachers can use blogs to publish assignments, resources, and keep students and even parents up to date on class events, due dates, and content being covered. Blogs tend to provide the students with four basic functions: Collaboration, Classroom management, Discussions and Student portfolios. Vivek Krishanan described, they provide the students and teachers with a space for developing their writing and other skills and provide an advantage with an immediate audience. Students can interact with other students by making comments on your classmates’ blogs. Blogs are a new way of learning!!!

Wiki

 A new use for a wiki that has not been done yet is Architectural Engineering. We can collect knowledge about different technologies that engineers are using to design and build. The different raw materials, construction machineries and heavy equipment can also be part of Architectural Engineering.

Works Cited

http://famousbloggers.net/effective-education.html

http://www.cio.com/article/2438542/web-services/blogs-and-wikis-in-the-business-world-definition-and-solutions.html?page=2