Next New

It is indeed amazing how the new medias that have been introduced have revolutionized our way of life.  Had we been reading about quadriplegics having hand movements, made possible with the use of their thoughts and a computer, it would have seemed far fetched.  However, as we see everyday, the advances in technology have made this and much more possible.  Thus, my suggestion for a new media that yet does not exist can very well be realized sometime in the future.  I suggest the implantation of a small device into every individual, something very much similar to a tracker.  Trackers are not new, these are used for tracking purposes on animals as well as on individuals, at the will of their guardian, who may be prone to getting lost due to a medical condition and things of that nature.  However, what I suggest is the implantation of a device that does that and much more.  The device I propose would not only help in tracking purposes, it would also be connected to an individual's brain (or whatever other place that makes its purpose possible) so that it can collect information of the person's vital signs.  The reason behind this would be so that the information collected can serve research purposes.  Thus, the information collected from everyone using this device would be remotely collected and found in a virtual repository, that can be accessed by interested parties.  The reason I propose the collection of such data is that I believe it can greatly benefit the greater society because it would give professionals access to critical information from, say, individuals who may be under a specific medication.  In my opinion the possibilities are endless because information on the lifestyles of people, eating habits and such can be used to correlate risks, anomalies and reactions to medications, something which is invaluable.
Clearly such a proposition may seem far fetched, especially given concerns over privacy of one's information, let alone health information.  I am very well aware of these concerns and many others, like who will have access to the information, and what they can and can not do with it.  Evidently theses are serious concerns; however, I am optimistic that these can be addressed and a consensus reached sometime in the future. 

Wiki so Far

Throughout the semester our class Wiki has grown substantially.  I have contributed the page "Wikis on the Company LAN," where I make mention of how the use of Wikis are becoming popular in corporations, as well as speak of how these are benficial for tha dissemination of information.  In addition to this I contributed to the page of "New Media in Healthcare," where I wrote about the topic of "new media and virtual worlds".  I focused on how virtual worlds are being used in the healthcare industry to help healthcare professionals train with very close to real life experiences, as well as learn how to handle patient interactions as well as emergency situations.  I am currently working on contributing information on how new media has affected gaming.  In addition to this I will also work on adding content on P2P file sharing as well as to other segments of our class Wiki.

P2P

Individuals have an incessant need to share and receive information.  Technologies, such as the internet, have facilitated the manner and speed in which information is shared.  According to the essay "Online Piracy and the Emergence of New Business Models" by David Choi, in its earliest of days the ARPANET was established as a platform to connect computers so that information could be shared for the mutual benefit of its users; in essence this was termed file sharing.  Thus, file sharing is a manner in which information is distributed, allowing users to get access to information and content that is digitally stored.  

The growing popularity of file sharing and its ease of use and access through mediums like the internet have led to breakthroughs in file transferring technologies, such as peer to peer file sharing (P2P).  P2P allows for file sharing, however it does so through the use of a program used through a medium like the internet, this according to Choi.  

As mentioned in the article "Digital Pirates Winning Battle with Studios" by Brian Steller and Brad Stone, one example of P2P file sharing is RapidShare.  RapidShare is largely used by advertising agencies to show potential clients around the world their campaigns. In order to get access, users get the use of passwords, given that the content has limited public access.  RapidShare is an example of how P2P sites make use of new file transferring technologies to expedite access to information.  However, given the digitization of nearly everything, books, music, movies and such, it has also given rise to ethical concerns and issues of piracy.  For example the once largely popular, and controversial, website Napster was built on the pillars of P2P as well.  Napster made it possible for users to access and upload the files stored in the hard drives of others's computers.  Moreover, it "used the internet as a channel for copying" those files; Napster became a repository of "hundreds of thousands of bootlegged audio files donated by users."  

Clearly file sharing and its evolution to P2P has demonstrated to be useful, popular and beneficial for users.  Yet, there are various ethical and legal implications that need to be considered and handle appropriately; needless to say this is greatly difficult given the popularity and widespread conception that it is the new 'norm'.

Privacy and Confidentiality

New media has altered the traditional concept of privacy and confidentiality given the nature of how information flows and communication is conducted in our modern world.  Prior to the popularity and ease of accessibility that new media tools and technologies provided, there was a generally accepted definition of one’s privacy as well as who has control over it.  Traditionally people held the notion that real and private property was theirs.  Thus, they were in control of what and how much to maintain confidential and when and what to make available.  However, new media has facilitated the availability of information.  Given this and the popularity of people willingly providing it, so as to ‘update’ their statuses and remain informed, are sacrificing their right to privacy and confidentiality in exchange for access. 

         New media has blurred the boundaries of privacy and confidentiality and because of this many issues in relation to it have aroused.  In attempts to clarify what is remain private or not sites instate privacy agreements that users must accept. In addition to this, the ease of content access and use has led to widespread misuse and reproduction information.  It is very important to instate functioning rules and generally accepted norms so that privacy and confidentiality issues do not become rampant.  It is inevitable for privacy to not be involved when it comes to new media; yet, actions can be taken to avoid further complications.  Individuals must take proper care and be conscious of the information they make available as well as how it will and can be used.

Advice to Baruch

Amongst the many things that new media has done it has facilitated collaboration and communication.  Baruch has done a very good job at incorporating new media tools; it uses social networking sites to inform its community, as well as built an infrastructure to support the use of mobile and wireless technologies.  However, there are several new media tools that Baruch College can make use of.

         Blogs are can serve very informational purposes in addition to serve as the grounds for discussions.  Thus, I would suggest the college to create a blog where its community can read, post, make suggestions, and essentially function as a medium for collaboration and idea exchange.  Moreover, the idea of an open source collaboration of sorts is an attractive idea.  The nature of open source collaboration may serve it purpose better for the writing of computer programs; thus, setting up a webpage where Bruch’s community could just that would help bring afloat the diversified talents of the college.  Moreover, such an open source common place will serve as a location where individuals could get access to ideas, build on them, contribute to them, which overall is beneficial to the evolution and innovation of Baruch’s community. 

         In a similar fashion, paralleling collaboration at work, I would also suggest the creation of a Baruch Wiki.  A wiki is a composite of what new media tools and technologies make possible.  Thus, a Wiki would permit any Baruch member to make contributions, edits; much in the same manner we are doing so in our class Wiki.  I believe that such a Wiki could prove to beneficial for not only Baruch member but also those who are not.  This is so because the Wiki will include anything and everything related to Baruch, its culture, academics, ect.  Thus, it will provide information for all those who contribute to it as well as are informed by it.

Creativity and New Media

New media has made possible many new things, but most of all it has fueled creativity.  Whether it be through blogs, social networking sites or virtual worlds the limits of what can be created is only limited by the individual.  I was very interested in exploring virtual worlds, so I set out to create an avatar in Second Life.  In my opinion virtual worlds such as this one put a vast amount of possibilities at one's fingertips.  Thus, it was left up to me what I chose to do with it and how to exploit it.  As a result, I decided to go over the top and be creative when choosing my avatar.  Interestingly Second Life lets you chose from animals, vampires, robots, and people for the avatar.  I decided to chose from the vampire group because where else can one have this opportunity?  Moreover, Second Life lets one's imagination go rampant by permitting one to customize a home- which can be located anywhere we want it to be.  In addition to this, avatars can fly and teleport to interesting locations around the world.  Everything is accessible with the click of a button, in just a few seconds one can be in Brazil in a virtual world modeled with incredible detail to the actual location.       

In a similar fashion, an avatar can be personalized or changed at one's whim!  In addition to all this, an I was ble to chat with other people via their avatars.  I found Second life to be a summation of what new media technologies can do: they have decreased communication barriers and increased the depth, richness and reach of information.  Second Life is but one example of how via our avatars we can travel to distant places, meet and "talk"to people around the world.  Thanks to new media like this one I can virtually travel to a environmentally rich location and feel as if I were actually there.  

Creativity

New media technologies have achieved something truly amazing, they have helped increase communication amongst people as well as facilitated collaboration.  Given that new media has diminished the barriers of working with others as well as made tools and ideas more readily available, it has inevitably fostered creativity unlike ever before.  The article "The New math of Mashups" in particular addresses how the use of digital technology has enhanced the popularity of mashups.  Given that articles, ideas, pictures, videos and such are accessible through the Internet, users can easily find and make new uses with all the elements they have at their reach.  Thus, the possibilities of user generated content and mashups are endless.  Moreover, new media has great mass appeal and reach. Thus, people are able to become aware of trends and ideas very quickly; as a result ideas are constantly being received and build upon by others.  It is in this manner that creativity through new media is enhanced.  

Moreover, new media fosters creativity in a manner that no other does because user generated content is favored due the speed in which these catch on.  The article "Twitter Serves Up Ideas from its Users" addresses how Twitter has come to outsource design to its users because they recognize that it is through their ideas that Twitter can know what users truly want.  Twitter itself is a perfect example of how new media has fostered creativity.  Deemed a social networking and micro blogging site, Twitter's use of #,@,RT where generated by users who sought to facilitate their Twitter experience.  Twitter has adopted these tags because of their convenience.  It is interesting how this, as well as mashups and other user-generated content were not anticipated.  This demonstrates how the introduction of new media fosters creativity because users seek to make their experience with it more convenient, enjoyable or merely want to express their ideas through the use of various new medias.          

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used for many different things, ranging from a tool for collaboration and communication with the aim of completing a task, a means of training, or merely for engaging socially with others.  The article "VLES" touches on the social interactions virtual words can provide.  VLES is a virtual recreation of the lower eat side; its developers believe that the future of interaction won't be built on static and flat web pages but rather in traversable 3D spaces.  In worlds such as this one and Naughty Auties, people engage with other users through conversations that, despite being virtual "you've in fact experienced it as if it were real because in fact it is real."  Thus, an avatar can come across a the avatar of someone in the other side of the world, or even the president of Harvard and have the opportunity to interact with them- something very unlikely in the real world.  Moreover, according to the article "Naughty Auties: Battle Austism with Virtual Interaction" virtual worlds can truly be beneficial to people who need practice with social interaction.  For instance, Naughty Auties was created for those who have autism, and their family and friends, so that they could get out of their shells and interact with others.  Given that virtual worlds bring together people because they "excel at minimizing geographical separations", people are more willing to  leave their comfort zones.  For people with autism engaging with others in this manner can help prepare them to do the same in the real world, thus, fostering social skills.  Despite these advantages, one particular downside to second worlds such as VLES, as claimed by the author, is that the accessibility made possible through virtual worlds detracts its uniqueness.  

Virtual worlds such as VLES and Naughty Auties serve as a platform for socializing and visiting remote places.  Presently virtual worlds are also being used by corporations and for training.  As the article "Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life" mentions one driving force toward this trend is the need to cut costs.  Thus, conferences, meetings and collaboration is being employed through virtual worlds.  There is no longer a need to travel, employees merely create avatars and world directly from their computers with absolutely anyone in there network no matter where they are.  This very idea fosters great creativity because the engaging environments in which they are situated creates a dynamic in which collaboration and exchange os fostered.  
Virtual worlds are also being used by health care facilities for training and simulation.  Once again this is driven by the dramatically lower costs of maintaining virtual worlds versus real simulations.  Nurses can learn much more because anything can happen in these virtual worlds where their responses and treatments are monitored.  Because of this, virtual worlds become more of an "immersive experience" where learning is much richer.  However, despite all the benefits of virtual worlds for health care facilities there are impediments that hinder its success.  It is important for users to have good connections via compatible computers so as to reap the benefits of virtual worlds to its fullest.  This problem can be extended to any type of virtual world, just as the issue that it is a bit difficult to master moving around in them.  Moreover, the fact that these worlds are completely virtual can lead to users feeling isolated.  This is made even more difficult when corporations use virtual worlds because employees need to keep in mind the various organizational and national cultures of other users.  Indeed collaboration and exchange is facilitated, yet, if one is not mindful of these differences collaboration may be hindered.      
Given the increasing popularity and benefits of virtual worlds I think that the issues it faces now will be addressed so as to make them better.  I think the future of virtual worlds will be very profitable.  IBM already sells its virtual world platform, Sametime 3D.  In my opinion virtual interaction will become more personal through actual conversations and not chats.  Maybe there will even be in incorporation of video conferencing to some degree via the use of avatars so that users become more comfortable; this may help users from feeling a lack of human contact.

Social Networking Sites

When I hear the term social networking sites I am immediately inclined to think of all of them as serving the same purpose- as a medium and facilitator for communicating with others.  Yet, each social networking site is not made equal; each has developed its own particularities that set it apart from the rest. 

The article "Who's Driving Twitter's Popularity? Not Teens" very accurately defines Twitter to what I think it is.  It states that Twitter is best for broadcasting ideas or questions and answers to the outside world rather than staying in touch with acquaintances.  I signed up for Twitter because this class required me to and instantly I began receiving emails with news of what is being tweeted that might be of interest to me and what is popular. Now, these suggestions come from what others are following, which can and can’t be of any interest to me.  Despite this, I noted that what dominates is "a network where content is mostly public" whereas a social network "is optimized for friend communication."  Moreover, Twitter lets you search keywords that turn up whatever is of your interest, whether it be a job posting, a company anything really.  Thus, one can join by tweeting or follow.  In addition, the concept of retweeting solidifies the notion that Twitter is more for broadcasting and marketing.  The mere fact that communication happens at such a large scale and reach is made that much more possible through retweets.

Unlike Twitter, Facebook is of a different makeup.  I think that Facebook is better at keeping in touch with friends and acquaintances because it is more private.  When I say private I mean it in comparison to Twitter.  Facebook is structured completely differently, one doesn't follow, one has friends/family.  Moreover, although many people and corporations have Facebook pages it does not have the same functionality that Twitter does.  Each medium can accomplish different things due to its structure.  I feel that Facebook is more "rooted", maybe a bit limited, and not as quick as Twitter.  However, this is how it was designed to be- somewhat more meaningful and not passing.

On the other hand, when I visited MySpace, something which I had not done for years, I was reminded why I stopped using it.  My profile remains the same as when I first joined, empty and without a profile picture.  I find that MySpace simply lags and didn't achieve what Facebook was able to excel at- optimizing friend communication.  Now, the idea behind MySpace is somewhat similar to that of Facebook, in fact, I don't know what the difference really is.  One has a profile, which is actually more customizable than that of Facebook, who has a consistent unified "look".  In addition, on a MySpace page one can have more information about oneself visible.  Despite all this, I find it uninteresting and a poorer means of communicating with others.

I was inclined to create a hi5 account a few years ago and revisited it today.  Just as with my MySpace visit, I felt compelled to log off.  Hi5 is another social networking site more similar to Facebook than MySpace is.  I had never heard of it until I traveled back home and found out that in order to keep up with my family back there I had to get one.  To my fortune, they have all "upgraded" to Facebook, but Twitter still is a completely uncharted territory for them.  Hi5 is like a mash up of My Space and Facebook, but it too lacks the ease of use and doesn't function well as a facilitator of communication.  Yet, when I logged in I was noted one aspect that made me think that hi5 was an early indicator of what Twitter is now.  This site encourages public exchange and communication; it also makes completely random out of nowhere suggestions like MySpace does.  I believe this is because it sought to truly create a network amongst people.

Each of these sites has a different structure and given it is better at it than others.  Although they are all social networking sites I feel that in a sense, just like a corporation has a corporate culture, so to do these sites.  Moreover, as we have seen via Twitter, short hands have developed on their own given the nature of how things occur in that website.