Creativity and New Media

I have done or been in a few YouTube videos before.  I am also a regular user of Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and a few more forms of new media.  However, I used this opportunity to create a Second Life account.  I have heard about second life, but have never experienced or seen it in action. 

I created my avatar, but it doesn’t really look like me.  Maybe later I will customize it further and change my look.  Upon starting, you go through a welcome and instructional screen. 

I decided the stress of my job and busy week in college warranted a visit to a nice relaxing place.  I went to London Hyde Park in London and it was actually relaxing.  I loved the scenery and the music was awesome.

I also met a few other Second Life users, some of whom were dancing.  I would have joined them, but I need some practice since they were very good.  One dancer even collapsed after some rigorous moves. 

I am developing an appreciation for second life and the nature of the great work that was put into the environment to make it look as real as possible.  Since I’m in London, I will take a trip to the city center tonight.  

Creativity

Web 2.0 is built on the contributions of people.  We are web 2.0.  The very nature of Web 2.0 fosters and stirs the creative instincts and abilities of people.  Whether it’s a YouTube video, an avatar, or even the ability to fit a full message or idea in 140 characters or less, the creative mind is at work.

I think YouTube is the form of new media that allows for some of the most creative works.  People who would have never done videos or video editing if there were not a platform like YouTube make most YouTube submissions. Some of the more creative video submission types are “mashups” and remixes.  One of the most viewed mashup is the Soulja Boy and Winnie The Pooh video.  In this video, Winnie and his friends  are edited to dance to Soulja Boy’s “Crank That”.  There can be a copyright issue involved, but Brook Barnes of The New York Times states “Nickelodeon- part of Viacom, sees the humorous videos as fair use of its copyrighted content”.  This is a great example of a big company letting YouTube users use its content to make creative works. 

We were blessed with the talents of Rebecca Black (ahem), and her wonderful video (ahem).  This is a goldmine for those who like to create mashups and remixes.  There are already dozens of mashups, lets see how many more will soon pop up.  

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are computer-based environments in which users live and experience events through an avatar. This type of new media is greatly used and explored in many video games like World of War craft. Second life is also a popular version of a virtual world. Apart from games, virtual world can also be used in research into many ideas, policies and products where a lot of information on consumer and human behavior can be attained.

Virtual worlds can be very beneficial if used in the right ways. It can allow policy makers to test policies and their impacts in a way that brings it close to the way natural sciences are tested. These uses can be extended to businesses and even provide health care providers with another way of training health care practitioners. In the article "Avatar II: The Hospital" Dr Greci says that "virtual worlds enable a much more immersive experience and it doesn't interrupt a hospital's regular business". Virtual collaboration is now a tool that many businesses use and it is becoming more common. In the CNN article “Going to the virtual office in Second life”, Mark Tutton states, “The ability to collaborate effectively using virtual tools may now become an increasingly important skill as technology offers more options than, say, video conferencing.

Gamers can gain numerous hours exploration and wonder in a world that they can only experience through a virtual world platform. Problems arise when a user gets addicted to the virtual world and forgets or ignores the real world that surrounds him. Virtual world can become an addiction and a threat to social skills.

Online games that are based on virtual worlds are a great example of how it can promote creativity among its users. To go beyond normal life and into a created world with different ideas and situations requires creativity and continually encourages further creative actions as time goes on.

Virtual worlds will continue well into the future. It is not hard to think that these worlds will be more widely incorporated in the commerce and business world. Product demonstrations, vacation locations and attractions are some of the ways that this new media can be put to use and evolved.

Blog About Twitter

I signed up for Twitter for a few reasons but mainly to try it out and see what all the buzz was about.  I thought it would be a great way to follow some of my favorite people like certain tech journalists and celebrities.  Twitter also became a part of my online computer information systems class where an exploration and discussion with my classmates on Twitter was required.

Twitter is great for following your favorite people.  However, when it comes to having a discussion on twitter there are some advantages and disadvantages.  There are also some differences between the discussion on Twitter and the Blackboard Discussion board that many CUNY students use. 

One of the main things that someone will notice when having a discussion on Twitter is the rapid replies that come in your group of followers.  This is not the case with Blackboard.  Unlike Blackboard, users of Twitter are not confined to their computers, but have access to the service from many mobile phones.  A twitter feed is easier to make into a habit of constantly refreshing and replying to messages.  This is not the case in blackboard. 

Many users of Twitter often complain about the 140-character limit on posts.   On Blackboard, there is not a limit that I know of.  This allows for more detailed answers and responses.  Twitter does have some third party services like Twitlonger which allows for longer posts, but it is not in the culture of twitter to send very long messages.  One great tool that can be used in Twitter for discussions in the ability to provide links to web pages that pertain to the topic at hand and that might be of interest to your followers.

Twitter is a great tool and if used properly can host a discussion, but I feel that many students will miss the more cultured Blackboard Discussion board. 

Social Networking Sites

Social networking has become one of the most popular forms of new media.  The amount of people who communicate and have profiles on these sites in general continues to show steady growth.  There are many social networks with many similar and unique features.  Facebook has become the most successful and populous of these sites but other social networking sites have great features. 

Facebook’s rise as the most popular social network with over 500 million users is not surprising.  Its interface is very streamlined and simple.  Users are able to join networks based on location, schools, and businesses.  It hosts photos, which can now be uploaded at high quality.  Wall posts and comments are easy to manage. Facebook’s messaging system is the best of the social networks. Facebook’s search is speedy and useful.  Finding users and groups are really simple and fast.  Among other great features are the numerous applications that the platform supports and the integration of many websites, mobile applications and games.  However, it is easy to see how many people might get confused on how to go about setting their privacy and account setting to their liking.  There are many layers of settings that can leave a user confused.  The ever-growing number of applications that request access to your information compounds this problem.

MySpace is the social network that got replaced as the most popular by Facebook.  MySpace profiles are highly customizable with html codes that are readily available online. Recently, a more streamlined design to the site has been implemented.  A news feed similar to that of Facebook is now in the user’s home page.  MySpace is a great music discovery tool since its artist pages are great.  Music players embedded in page profiles also extend music discovery.

Hi5 is the first social network that I joined as a teenager.  The site looks a lot like MySpace.  Profiles can be customized with various patterns and there is messaging functionality.  However, there was a lot of spam coming through in my inbox.  The music player is great and is also a great music discovery tool.  Like MySpace and Facebook, privacy can be customized as to who can view your profile.  Hi5 seems to be really popular in South America, from where most of my friends joined. 

Twitter is a bit different from MySpace, Facebook and Hi5.  The site focuses on short messages sent out to the public.  Twitter is great for following celebrities and friends.  It can also act as a supplement or even a replacement for an RSS feed. News is not put out on twitter very quickly, and links to news and blogs can be included for further reading.

There are many social networks of various popularity and functionality.  Most share a lot of similar features, but there are always some distinguishing features among them.  I think Facebook will continue to dominate the social networking arena, but Twitter will also have strong gains in the number of active users.

Social Networking

Social networking has become a main part of the online activities of Internet users. Sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter now have a diverse user base and are not just limited to a particular age or local demographic.  There are numerous uses of these technologies to users with most of the advantages relating to keeping constant contact with friends, family and associates.  Social networking makes staying in contact simple and eliminates the problem of locale.  The internet and these social networking sites has enabled us to stay in contact with friends, make new associates and engage in forums with people of similar interests and lifestyles across the globe.

Businesses and corporations can also benefit from social networking.  Many corporations have their own profiles on social networking sites.  These profiles can provide another outlet for communication with customers and potential customers.  New products have another mode for exposure.  Some companies have used the huge database of user profiles such as those in LinkedIn to offer job interviews to highly qualified and potentially valuable talented individuals.  In the article Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting, a recruiter is quoted as saying “Social networking technology is absolutely the best thing to happen to recruiting — ever”.  In today’s competitive world, having the best and the brightest working for you can make all the difference in the direction your company goes. 

There are, however, a few drawbacks of this technology.  Privacy issues are a growing concern.  Users desire privacy of various degrees.  The ability to easily customize privacy settings is not yet perfect.  The enormous amounts of data that are being collected and stored are a great cause of concern.  Many users are concerned as to who has access to this data and how it is being used.  The changing landscape of how we communicate and how we value friends can also be a cause for concern.  William Reader, a professor of psychology, commented on the blog Freakonomics, "Anyone can post "u r cool", on someone's "wall" or "poke" them on Facebook, but genuine smiles and laughs are a much more reliable indicators of someone's suitability as a faithful friend". Traditional means such as face-to-face communication and interaction are suffering as a result of new high tech means.  Traditionalists will lament the lack of this interaction and the effect it could have on the next generation’s ability to properly communicate with each other.

The future of social networking might involve a more involved business sector, that may use the networks as a hiring gadget linking people of various skills to appropriate jobs in a more efficient and numerous manner.  Social networks with more efficient advertising placements are becoming a reality and they will continue to improve as we share more information.  This can be seen as mainly a good thing but the privacy issues will arise.  Hopefully the future holds some sort of fix to the way our privacy is handled and results in a more eased minded world of social network users. 

Blogs vs. Wikis

Two prominent members of the new media family, Blogs and wikis are very similar while different.  They are both great web 2.0 vehicles, which allow for the sharing of views and knowledge of numerous topics.  The differences between blogs and wikis mainly lie in their layouts, contents and contributors.

The layout of blogs resembles traditional newspaper and magazine articles.  The posts in the blog are listed in reverse chronological order and there access to archived blogs if needed.  There are many gadgets that can be attached to blogs such as a blogroll, which provide links to other related and interesting blogs.  One of the main items on a blog is the comment section, which follows each individual blog post. This is where the conversation and interaction from readers take place. Blogs are mainly a one-person contribution media, but the comments section opens an opportunity for collaboration of some sort. In her work, "How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere?" Kathy E. Gill describes blogging as the best example of “participatory journalism”.  Blogs are great for providing the latest news, reviews, opinions, personal reflections and search for feedback.

Wikis look like a more traditional information source.  The pages of a wiki are provided through links.  These links give way to both internal wiki pages and external links.  Wikis are great resource tools, and the layout is also great for manuals, online courses, and collaborative document writing.  The wiki is a great collaborative tool since it is created and edited by many users.  However, discussions and comments are better carried out on blogs.  This view is shared by Ezra Goodnoe of www.informationweek.com who wrote, “Wikis are structurally capable of handling conversation, but it is not their forte; instead, wikis excel at collaboration.”