Saturday, October 29, 2016

Creativity And New Media

I created a SecondLife avatar. I chose this avatar due to the theme of Halloween. SecondLife was different in experience. At first, I thought it was basic because you could move around and view different things. They got me hooked when I was able to fly! I CAN FLY!!! I was exploring SecondLife more and somehow ended up in Dublin. I was teleported there and was amazed at the depiction of Dublin, because it was night and that portrayed the theme of reality with fiction. I was curious as to what more SecondLife has to offer and ended up finding a maze. I decided to be brave and enter the maze and find the statue of victory inside the maze. It took me a while but, I got it! And Happy Halloween!!!


Just casually swinging on a swing on a Saturday morning!
The curious thought of entering the maze!
The joyous moment of glory and success of finding the statue hidden in the maze!

Creativity

New media generates a great load of creativity. This is due to its ability to change and adapt to change in a small amount of time. The changes can be made within a certain time frame which can last for a couple of seconds or last a lifetime. This is the greatest benefit for new media products. This is where big companies fall short, because they have a specific memorandum. The flexibility to change becomes beneficial for a small startup business because they can approach an idea or product from a technological standpoint which can be updated whenever there is a need. The article also pointed out that companies gains its ideas from consumers rather than developing their own thoughts. I found this shocking because they are known as the producers, or directors, or whatever their respective position is in the business world. The companies take in ideas of that of the consumers and modify it to all different markets they serve. This is where new media shines. The platform of internet and consumers  complaining or reviewing the product can be done with a click of a button. It also helps the company save some money in doing consumer satisfaction report, because they don't have to go out door to door and ask the consumer's opinion about the product. This is done by the access of the internet.

reference:
  1. 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

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual reality is becoming the new norm as people portray multiple characters within themselves. The social networking sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. display a great example of  people having multiple identities. Virtual reality is another platform where a person can be who they would like to be seen as. "For more than two years the channel has been building a collection of Second Life-style virtual reality Web sites with the goal of competing with popular two-dimensional social networks like MySpace and Facebook. It’s a bet that the future of online interaction won’t be built on flat, static Web pages but rather in traversable 3-D spaces." Virtual reality is just another place to interact with the outside world from a different standpoint. 

Virtual reality has some pros and cons which can be pointed out in a heartbeat. One benefit is that you can use it for interactive purposes in different viable settings. For example, "A virtual depiction of the Rayburn House Office Building meeting room was projected on television screens on the wall, so that real-world attendees could look at the small virtual crowd that logged on for the event." This type of interaction can help save time and money of travel for business heads. One negative of virtual reality is that it affects our everyday behavior. This is proven with a study done by Gunwoo Yoon. The study shows that even 5 minutes of virtual experience can influence your behavior and thinking. The study made people play virtual based video games and they were given different avatars: hero, villain, or circle (neutral). "Then, in a presumably unrelated study, they participated in a blind taste test. They were asked to taste and then give either chocolate or chilli sauce to a future participant." The results provided were shocking to me. People who portrayed the character of hero poured more chocolate in comparison to the amount of chili sauce. On the other hand, people who were villains chose to pick chill sauce more often for the future participants. These are just some positives and negatives in regards to virtual reality.

Virtual reality can help foster creativity because whole idea of virtual reality is that it is imaginative. One can dream of doing something and can make it happen in the second life. It encourages people to dream and think outside the box. It boosts your brain to take actions of a very different level which can be helpful for the future of this world. 

In the future, Virtual reality is a huge step into the new media platform. The idea of second life has been lingering around for years, but needs a reboot for a steady platform to make it an essential part of everyday life. Samsung has created a virtual reality set which starts off a trend to play video game in an imaginative form. This is the beginning and I believe that many changes into the virtual reality are going to be valued at a high stake.


References:




Thursday, October 13, 2016

Blog About Twitter

I find Twitter very complicating and complex. The one positive about Twitter is the 140 characters. Its limited, concise and to the point. There is no need for extra explanation; just say it and be over with it. In comparison to a blackboard discussion, Twitter is limited. BlackBoard discussion can be very long at times and Twitter limitations come in handy! I find BlackBoard discussion to be formatted very simply. College introduced me to BlackBoard and the discussion were welcoming because it was easy to operate. Comparatively, I have tweeted a couple of things and still find it confusing. 
In regards to in-class discussion, I find it to be the most convenient. In-class discussion are verbal and can be dealt with in the present. It gives everyone an opportunity to voice their opinion in the presence of all. Comparing BlackBoard discussion and Twitter discussion to an In-class discussion, the most obvious point would be about the time of presentation. It is happening in the moment; while on the other hand, the discussions online can take place at the person's availability.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook: Launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Severin, Andrew McCollumDustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. Facebook is the leading social networking site in the world with over 1.7 billion unique active monthly users. It is a platform to connect individuals worldwide. Facebook is the norm for generation z that is growing up today. If you don't have a Facebook means that you don't have an identity. Facebook is conceptualized as a worldwide directory. The idea of "friending" is essential to Facebook. With the acceptance of the person's friend request, one is able to post on the person's wall, look at the person's post, chat personally, create a group, etc. I have a Facebook account which I primarily use to connect with people back home, India.

Twitter: Created in March of 2006 and launched in July of 2006 by Jack DorseyEvan WilliamsBiz Stone, and Noah Glass. Twitter has more than 310 million active monthly users. It is a platform for news powered by the people. I like to think of it as an internet democracy. Twitter's idea is different from Facebook because of the "follower" and "following" list. The post on twitter is known as a "tweet." The tweets are limited to 140 characters, which I find to be very limited for any opinion base because it doesn't give you space for an explanation. I have been away from the idea of tweeting. Twitter didn't really spark an interest in my social networking world. 

Instagram: Launched on October 6, 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Facebook bought it out for $1 Billion in cash and stocks. Instagram has over 400 million active monthly users. It is platform for photo and video sharing with the similar concept of Twitter's "follower" and "following" list. The idea is to share the moments of life with the list of people who follow you for whatever the reason may be. Instagram gives you the platform to share a photograph and caption the details behind the picture. The caption can be left blank or consist of a quote special to the photograph, or a conversation in regards to the picture, or from a sarcastic point of view. I have an Instagram account that I use on a regular basis to keep up with people from my frequent past such as high school friends and college friends. I was very fond of Instagram before Snapchat came along.

Snapchat: Launched in September of 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown. Snapchat is an app used for image and video sharing. It is a platform for visual conversation that can be lasted for the maximum of 10 seconds. Those 10 seconds can consist of just one still picture or a video. The personal conversations are self destructed within the given time frame of 10 seconds; while on the other hand, if the image is shared to your story, then it lasts 24 hours. The story is shared to all friends rather than conversation to a particular person. I admire the concept of Snapchat. I find it much more easy to hold a conversation on Snapchat than any other social media ground because of its ability to visualize the emotion and setting. In comparison to Instagram, Snapchat is unfiltered and more realistic.


Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Social Networking

Change is a part of life. We encounter change everyday. Some changes have no effect on us, while some changes can alter our lifestyle. One certain type of change that has impacted every single creature on this planet is the technology. Technology has been evolving rapidly. Some forms of technology include medical technology, information technology, assistive technology, instructional technology, product technology, process technology, etc. 

Nowadays, technology is considered to be a part of every aspect of life. Humans are depended on technology because we feel that technology is created to make things easier. Technology has helped us achieve many great things in the world. The use of technology has allowed us to understand the world with a meaning behind what happens and why it happens. For example, NASA has been able to discover the different planets. We are able to connect with the world even when we are thousands of miles away from each other with a click of a button. 

We have come a long way with the changes that have been created through the use of technology. Some changes  have benefitted us, while other changes have degraded us as humans. The "dark side" of technology is that we are immensely depended on technology. Another dissatisfaction is that it reduces human value. 

As times evolved with the technology, we are well connected with each other, but we are not attached with the emotions as we would have been when technology wasn't a big part of life. "[W]hether the quality of their interactions is being diminished without the intimacy and emotional give and take of regular, extended face-to-face time." Coming from personal, I remember when I was growing up, I didn't have a cellphone and I would go and play outside. As times have gone by, I have noticed that kids these days don't go out and play as I used to. I see the kids with their smartphones and they play games on that. I feel that technology has negatively affected the creativity side of individuals in this new generation of technological world.

Technology is rapidly changing. We see that in the industry of smartphones. Every year, a new upgrade is introduced which is made to personalize the feeling of satisfaction to a certain individual. The technologies have been evolving and will be evolving as time progresses. But people will always rely back to the old school method which is compatible to their needs. The meaning of old school can vary based on the generation. "Using Linkedin, Steckerl says he can scout a group of job candidates in just half an hour. But if he wants to develop a relationship with any of them, he says there is no substitute for a much older social networking tool: the telephone."


Refereces:
  1. 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
  2. Antisocial Networking? by Hilary Stout, New York Times, May 2, 2010, p. ST1. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/fashion/02BEST.html