Next New

This is a tough one to answer because I feel like as of now everything has already been created but we all know that it's never the case. After giving this some serious thought I realized that people wanted to be able to check up on the lives of their friends so Facebook was created. Then people started to love the idea of pictures on social media so then Instagram was created. Afterwards people started to love the idea of sending other people short stories and pictures that would disappear and then SnapChat was created. So my next media idea would be a social media platform focused around comments and discussion. When someone comments on one specific thing on any of their existing social media platforms, the new media platform would copy and paste that comment in a post on the platform with users who are currently speaking about the same thing. This way you can always communicate with someone about any topic from anywhere in the world. I think this platform would be great because it would allow its users to always have someone to talk to about whats on their mind.

Privacy

Even though the creation of new media has allowed mankind to advance in ways never thought possible, there still remains loopholes that cause problems. Social media for example has allowed us to willingly let everyone and anyone in our lives. From the moment that we allow random strangers to follow us to the moment that we post a picture with our location publicly attach to it, we are asking for no privacy. They know that this lack if privacy isn't good for us but they don't care, they make billions of dollars a year on our "lack of privacy". This data that we willingly allow social media sites to collect from us is then turned around to help them sell advertising to big companies. This is how we ended up seeing ads for a product that we searched for on a completely different social media platform. This no privacy world that we love to be apart of also sets us up for failure. Given everybody in this world makes mistakes every once in a while. MOST of us become better people after each mistake we make as we tend to look back and learn from them. Now how does a stupid Facebook post that you made (and regret making) years ago effect your chances of success at landing a job; new media. The lack of privacy on new media channels allows our hopeful employers to search back in time and trace our online identities as far back as our lack of privacy began. Year after year, the epidemic is only getting worse as new generations are born. Among various studies data was found to support the theory that those who are younger care less and less about their privacy. Even in the workplace as studies found out that Millennials tend to care less about prohibited new media usage at work. Its not that younger generations don't want privacy anymore, its that the information that we consider valuable has changed over the course of time.

Advice

If i had the opportunity to be hired by Baruch for the purpose of implementing New media I would change a lot of things. First thing first, I would implement a cloud connection among all professors teaching the same course. I've always felt that some professors are better than other, and students would be better of learning from different professors than just one. If Baruch had a system set up where students had access to the same lessons but from different professors, then students would actually understand material much easier. This would eventually lead to higher GPA'S and higher graduation rates. Another new media channel that i would implement into the school is a blog for students. Through the blog students would be able to get help finding clubs, events, peer to peer tutoring, and so much more. Baruch is a school with thousands of kids, and that means thousands of different answers to thousands of different questions. With a blog, Baruch could harvest that mind power and provide students with a way to make college life less stressful and more fun. One last thing, that I would change would be to create a platform where students could advertise their businesses and services (marketplace). So many students in Baruch have side hustles and giving them a platform to cater to their peers would be beneficial to both sides.

Creativity and New Media

This is a screenshot of one of my favorite games called GTA V where you live vicariously through three different characters (you choose which). The game allows you to pick one character and decide what type of house they live in, what type of car they drive, and so much more. Games these days foster creativity by allowing me to be creative with the cars I design (shown below), the way I dress, and the life i want my character to live.

HW Creativity

New media is just old media made accessible to everyone over digital technologies like our phones and computers. With so many options of digital media available its easy for new media to foster creativity across various platforms. A New Yorker, article written in 2003 gives us the perfect example. In the article, the writer talks about a DJ who created a mash ups between two completely different songs by breaking them down and putting certain aspects of each together. This is a perfect example how new media has opened the doors for creativity, before new media this was not possible because everyone didn't have access to media from anywhere in the world the way we do now. 

Even big companies are producing creativity because of new media. Look at no other than the social platform of Twitter. Through their own platform (which is a form of new media) Twitter has consistently produced creative features based on the patterns and behaviors that people show on its new media platform. Essentially Twitter is "relying on others habits and behaviors to innovate for them."(Miller, 2009) In essence, the uprising of new media has allowed people to communicate and have access to thing they didn't which in return allows them to innovate.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

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

Cite at least 2 of the assigned readings.

Virtual worlds are changing the way we interact with others. They can be used in so many ways that ultimately benefit the development of mankind. Today in modern times, virtual reality is being used across many industries including education, medicine, and corporate America. In education, virtual world are being used to do things like virtual classrooms to help you learn about places that are anywhere in the world and virtual campuses to allow you to visit schools before your in the same state. Most important virtual worlds are helping lonely and shy people with finding their voice. in a interview with Forbes, a virtual world designer stated that "virtual worlds, allow people to be truly, together-connected by these bodily representations of themselves called avatars". These virtual worlds provide a face place were people can express themselves in a realistic way. Although virtual worlds can be a good thing they need to be carefully monitored because they can be just as bad. For example in schools, its easy for students who should be using virtual worlds to interact and learn, to go ahead and use it as a source of entertainment similar to television. Another con can be the fact that some people may get addicted to virtual worlds and completely isolate themselves in the real world.

When it comes to the effect of virtual worlds on creativity theres no where else to look at than in autism centers. Virtual worlds have allowed autistic kids a way to describe what their are feeling and communicate with others which is something that is monumental to do because of their disability. for example one virtual world user said that he was able to use chat rooms and soon realized that people use symbols to express themselves such as the smiley face. (Saidi) I think the future of virtual worlds is exceedingly bright. virtual worlds are a powerful tool that can allow us to change the world one industry at a time. For example, in the future i see virtual worlds being used in the education system to bring education all over the world.

• Mehta, Diane. “After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 May 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/#79e951ff735
• “IReport: 'Naughty Auties' Battle Autism with Virtual Interaction.” CNN, Cable News Network, www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html#cnnSTCText.

Blog about Twitter

Twitter is one of the main social networks of the world. It has created a platform where people can chime in on any subject of the world and contribute their part from anywhere. Blackboard on the other hand is the social network that allows students of the same university communicate with each other and professors. Blackboard discussions take place under the discussion tab while under twitter discussions happen under tweets. Although both are great because they allow you to communicate over long distance nothing beats in person discussions. With in person discussions, you can be more emotionally involved and the discussions can be more informative because theres no cap as to how many words you can write.