I've had an idea for quite some time that uses various different types of social media. It utilizes the purpose of LinkedIn, the exposure into one's personal life like Facebook, and the importance of media like music and videos of YouTube.
The goal is to showcase one's talents in a professional and a personal manner. People can post up videos of their comedy acts, acting routines, dancing, and clips of their music. Instead of just posting it up, I'm hoping that everyones posts correlates with what's going on in the world. For instance, on Facebook, during big events lie inaugural speeches and big games, people will voice their opinions or thoughts on what's going on. I'm hoping through this type of social media, people can perhaps put up jokes regarding what's going on, or act out what just happened.
Instead of just simple posts like on Twitter and Facebook, users will broadcast their talents to the world, and people will be able to connect regardless of their interest in the talent because it relates to recent news. With so many outlets out there like Vines to post up videos, Instagram to post photos, and Twitter to write dialogue, I feel there should be a form of social media that incorporates everything into one. Making a series of connected blogs that connect ones talents to what's going on in the world.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
P2P
File sharing is the act of sharing files with other parties online. File types can include documents, media files, and electronic books. P2P file sharing is just an extension of that. P2P file sharing is file sharing that occurs over P2P networks. Members will join networks and have access to download certain files that other members over the network have. Downloads may become faster over some networks when more than one peer has the file. The success of P2P networks lies in the peers sharing the files they download from others, constantly improving the rate at which members afterwords can download files.
There are currently many P2P file sharing networks. One of the most popular is BitTorrent. BitTorrent was estimated to have as many active users as YouTube and FaceBook combined in 2009. BitTorrent allows for P2P file sharing of large files such as movies, through computer files known as torrents. These torrents contain metadata, or data about other data, on files and folders that are meant to be shared over P2P networks.
One very popular P2P networking file is movies. Although popular, it's illegal and very costly for the movie and entertainment industry. In an article called "Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios" in the New York Times, the authors describe just how costly P2P sharing of movies and show episodes can be. They use the example of series called Heroes. Each episode gets an estimated 10 million views. Through P2P sharing, viewers online view it 5 million times illegally.
Although very helpful, P2P can be dangerous and harmful as well.
There are currently many P2P file sharing networks. One of the most popular is BitTorrent. BitTorrent was estimated to have as many active users as YouTube and FaceBook combined in 2009. BitTorrent allows for P2P file sharing of large files such as movies, through computer files known as torrents. These torrents contain metadata, or data about other data, on files and folders that are meant to be shared over P2P networks.
One very popular P2P networking file is movies. Although popular, it's illegal and very costly for the movie and entertainment industry. In an article called "Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios" in the New York Times, the authors describe just how costly P2P sharing of movies and show episodes can be. They use the example of series called Heroes. Each episode gets an estimated 10 million views. Through P2P sharing, viewers online view it 5 million times illegally.
Although very helpful, P2P can be dangerous and harmful as well.
Privacy
Privacy is an issue that is becoming more of a hot-button issue with the explosive growth of new media. It doesn't take much to find debates on how social media websites such as Facebook & Twitter are reacting to privacy concerns. Why are people so concerned? Well for one, new media becomes an outlet for people to expose different parts of their life to the public. Usually, it's in a controlled environment, where only the people you want to see the posts may see it.
There are multiple problems to this however. The first problem being the open-ness of the internet and today's digital world. Although what you post may seem to be private, there are usually ways in which people that want to view a post or picture of yours can view it. Despite someone's best attempts, it's hard to prevent someone from getting their hands on your information and this can be disastrous. For one, somebody can quickly grab information such as hometown and birthday, information which can be used for malicious intentions such as fraud. In addition, one can study behavioral patterns for other ill intentions. One can just check one's profile to see if they've checked into some place other than home, perhaps in preparation of a robbery.
Another problem that rises is how the host of this new media chooses to utilize your information. Regardless of how tight you set your privacy settings to, the host, such as Facebook and Twitter, will always have access to your information. You become a sitting duck to their ambitions. For one, Facebook utilizes your information and search patterns to come up with targeted advertisements. This may not be welcomed by people with Facebook accounts.
In conclusion, although new media allows for many benefits, privacy is a huge issue that comes with all the good. One must be aware of his behavior and actions on new media, because it's usually available for all to see.
There are multiple problems to this however. The first problem being the open-ness of the internet and today's digital world. Although what you post may seem to be private, there are usually ways in which people that want to view a post or picture of yours can view it. Despite someone's best attempts, it's hard to prevent someone from getting their hands on your information and this can be disastrous. For one, somebody can quickly grab information such as hometown and birthday, information which can be used for malicious intentions such as fraud. In addition, one can study behavioral patterns for other ill intentions. One can just check one's profile to see if they've checked into some place other than home, perhaps in preparation of a robbery.
Another problem that rises is how the host of this new media chooses to utilize your information. Regardless of how tight you set your privacy settings to, the host, such as Facebook and Twitter, will always have access to your information. You become a sitting duck to their ambitions. For one, Facebook utilizes your information and search patterns to come up with targeted advertisements. This may not be welcomed by people with Facebook accounts.
In conclusion, although new media allows for many benefits, privacy is a huge issue that comes with all the good. One must be aware of his behavior and actions on new media, because it's usually available for all to see.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Creativity and New Media
The above image shows my avatar, Squeege8, flying in a location in the virtual world created in Second Life. In order to create my avatar, I went to the Second Life Website and selected my avatar from a bunch of choices. I liked the outfit and shoes for this particular avatar so I chose this one. Next, I had to use a name. To be extra cautious, I decided to go with my nickname, Squeege, as opposed to using my real name online. To my shock, Squeege was already taken, which just goes to show how large of a user base Second Life has. After downloading the application, I started playing around in Second Life. It has really cool features and the worlds seem incredibly realistic. I have the free version which has limitations such as having no house. I'm still able to do things such as chat, and theres even a window that displays chatting options with all the people in your nearby vicinity. I also really like flying because it looks incredibly realistic. I get why the virtual world is called Second Life.
Creativity
New Media, due to the increasing popularity, is fostering creativity worldwide. Whether through social media or virtual worlds, users feel the need to become creative, due to rapid expansion. As one user creates something, it's much easier for people around the world to see it, break it down, reconstruct it, and perhaps make it better. For instance, in the article, "1 + 1 + 1 = 1", a user created a mash-up which then became an incredibly popular type of song. As mentioned in the article, the first major mash-up was seen as the The Grey Album, a mash-up of a Jay-Z Album and a Beatles Album. Since then, mashups have become incredibly popularity, through an outlet many of us know as YouTube. New Media allows for many people to quickly see advances and creativity and expand upon it, which fosters creativity world-wide.
Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds
A virtual world is a simulated environments, that usually plays host to a large amount of users. These virtual worlds can be used as a means to interact with people in a roomier setting, as opposed to the rigid structures of chat rooms and private messaging. In addition, virtual worlds may allow users to show off their personality through customization of space or behaviors that show in the virtual world. Virtual worlds may also be used to model real-life scenarios, since users will interact in a simulated environment, their actions may better reflect their behaviors in real-life. For instance, "In Room 100, It’s Sid and Nancy All Over Again", users interact in a virtual world that models an actual hotel that was taken down. This is a good way to help people find others interested in similar objects when they are no longer available.
Another added benefit that will lead to collaboration, which in turn leads to creativity, is using virtual worlds in the professional setting. As opposed to having to meet up in rooms or conference calls, employees can meet up in virtual worlds. Like it's mentioned in the article, "Going to the virtual office in Second Life" companies such as Enterprise are using it to facilitate better communication.
Although virtual worlds may be used to model behavior, there is a possibility that users will just do the socially desirable behaviors due to interactions with others, instead of the actions they may normally do. In addition, there may be some users with malicious intentions. A virtual world could be corrupted based off the ill intentions of a single user.
With advancements in technology, I think that document sharing and picture editing will be big in virtual worlds. Similar to how Google Doc's allows for collaborative editing, I think that to allow virtual worlds to gain more importance, users will need to provided with certain applications to allow the growth of popularity for virtual worlds.
Another added benefit that will lead to collaboration, which in turn leads to creativity, is using virtual worlds in the professional setting. As opposed to having to meet up in rooms or conference calls, employees can meet up in virtual worlds. Like it's mentioned in the article, "Going to the virtual office in Second Life" companies such as Enterprise are using it to facilitate better communication.
Although virtual worlds may be used to model behavior, there is a possibility that users will just do the socially desirable behaviors due to interactions with others, instead of the actions they may normally do. In addition, there may be some users with malicious intentions. A virtual world could be corrupted based off the ill intentions of a single user.
With advancements in technology, I think that document sharing and picture editing will be big in virtual worlds. Similar to how Google Doc's allows for collaborative editing, I think that to allow virtual worlds to gain more importance, users will need to provided with certain applications to allow the growth of popularity for virtual worlds.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Social Networking Sites
Facebook, regardless of the user, has the same structure and set up for all users. The timeline feature allows for easy access to a different users activities during a wide span of time. Facebook allows for users to have a public persona, through their page, which they'd most likely want to show others, while they can keep certain other actions private, such as group page activity and private messaging. There is also a focus on ads that cater to the interests of users.
Myspace allows for more format customization. Users can make their profiles match their personalities a bit more. I also like the musical focus of Myspace. Users can upload playlists onto their profiles. Although Facebook has partnerships with Spotify and sites can show what certain users have listened to, Myspace can be used directly to show other users your interest in music.
Twitter is a social networking site that allows for users to instantly update others regarding activities or any piece of information that they'd like the world to know. Anything from, "I'm eating breakfast" to reporting information on political elections. Also, any communication between different users is usually visible to all users and everyone replies directly back to each other.
The last social networking site I chose was Google+. Since Google owns sites such as Youtube & Blogger, there is a lot of synergy between these sites, and user activity in these sites can all be seen through Google+. For instance, if a friend of mine comments on a YouTube video, it may appear on my feed. Google+ also has a very simple interface that allows users to easily make changes and personalize their page.
Myspace allows for more format customization. Users can make their profiles match their personalities a bit more. I also like the musical focus of Myspace. Users can upload playlists onto their profiles. Although Facebook has partnerships with Spotify and sites can show what certain users have listened to, Myspace can be used directly to show other users your interest in music.
Twitter is a social networking site that allows for users to instantly update others regarding activities or any piece of information that they'd like the world to know. Anything from, "I'm eating breakfast" to reporting information on political elections. Also, any communication between different users is usually visible to all users and everyone replies directly back to each other.
The last social networking site I chose was Google+. Since Google owns sites such as Youtube & Blogger, there is a lot of synergy between these sites, and user activity in these sites can all be seen through Google+. For instance, if a friend of mine comments on a YouTube video, it may appear on my feed. Google+ also has a very simple interface that allows users to easily make changes and personalize their page.
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