CREATIVITY

New media fosters creativity in society in many ways such as providing new outlets for people to create, produce, share, and publish content on. Since the introduction of new social networking platforms and social media outlets, users can publicly express their thoughts and opinions in order to reach companies.

According to a NY Times article, "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers" by Claire Cain Miller, companies are using Twitter as a tool to generate conversation with customers and getting to know them. As a result of utilizing Twitter, the companies were able to understand what needed to be changed or implemented in order to gain a better appeal. The articles goes in-depth about how the consumers are often the people who come up with new innovative ideas for future products and the companies are the ones observing how much appeal the ideas gather.

With the help of these new types of media and social networks, customers are able to provide feedback and interact with companies. The companies are then using the customer feedback to better their customer service and generate new ideas. In the end, it is beneficial to the customer and company.

Creativity and New Media

For this assignment, I downloaded Second Life and selected an avatar. It was difficult to change my avatar to represent myself so this was the best I could find. It took me a while to find the options to change the customization of my avatar but I settled for this because the avatar was a good representation of me. In the image, my avatar is very calm and posed casually, which in my opinion is the way I am.

New media allows individuals to be creative as possible and change/edit anything they don't like, which is different from real life. By creating these avatars in the virtual world, many people are able to either create an avatar that represents them or disguise themselves as someone else or someone they want to be. Some people find an escape in these virtual worlds and feel that they can remain anonymous behind these avatars. However, for the most part, these avatars create a sense of belonging or connection for users when they're playing games and such. In the end, users become more engaged in the game and feel like they're actually in the virtual realm.

I also downloaded the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood mobile app and created an avatar. I personalized my avatar to represent myself as much as possible, however, my options were very limited. There were very few options to customize an avatar including the hair, eyes, nose, lips, and clothes. The game was set-up so that you would buy (with real cash) or earn (money in the game) as you progress and "work" in the game. The animations or facial expressions that my avatar shows in the game is also limited, with the very few poses such as the one shown in the image. Overall, I found this game pretty engaging for many reasons such as:

• There were goals to complete (the more goals you complete, the more money you earn and more popular you get as a celebrity)
• The clothes and all the glamorous things are an escape from real life.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used in many ways and everyday, there's some new invention or way to escape our world to visit a virtual world. Virtual worlds help us escape the real world but it also causes a misconception and in reality, may end up taking more from us. According to a CNN article, "Going to the virtual office in Second Life" by Mark Tutton, he explains how businesses can have meetings or conferences in a virtual world instead of physically being there. The article also states that the "second life" allows for avatars to be created for the employees of the company. Overall, this is beneficial in a sense where businesses can emulate a real world conference by using the avatars to represent each individual, give the company a more interactive and engaging approach versus traditional styles of having a conference. This can also be cost-effective for companies.

On the other hand, the health24 article "Virtual world may impact real-world behaviour" talks about how detrimental a virtual world might be for society. People become very engaged in these virtual worlds, maybe even a little too much. Since humans tend to imitate a character or avatar as they connect with them (role-play as a certain character in a video game - hero and/or villain), it may affect their social behavior. This can lead to people becoming too dependent on virtual worlds, which is harmful to a person's behavior in the real world.

The pros and cons of virtual worlds may include:

Pros:

• Offer experience that doesn't require actually physically being there (medical training simulation or military training simulation)
• Can be used in various fields and not just in business environments (i.e. scientific studies)
• Provide basis for new technology and has a lot of potential for future uses/purposes
• Allow remote connectivity and ease of communication

Cons:

• May be costly (technology advances causes prices and demand to go up) 
• Can cause too much disconnect from reality or the real world 
• May affect social behavior 
• Cause society to be too dependent on technology 

I believe that virtual worlds are a great new technological advancement that can be used for way more than video games and business-related purposes. Virtual worlds foster creativity in the sense where people are free to experiment and try things out. Whether it’s videoconferencing or gaming, the idea that people can interact with one another without physically being in the same room can alter the traditional “9-to-5” lifestyle and perhaps allow it to become more freelance/less stressful. When people are able to collaborate on projects together remotely, it gives them time and space to collect their thoughts and come up with a solution in their own comfortable environment (as opposed to being confined in a cubicle).

I feel that in time, people will be able to work remotely and there will be many restrictions/policies strictly for remote activity (virtual environments/worlds) because of the kinds of interactions that can go on. There can be crime or frauds discussed over virtual environments, and there will eventually be a need to regulate online activity in those worlds — just like what we have in the real world.

Blog about Twitter

A Twitter discussion is slightly different than a BlackBoard discussion or an in-class discussion. A Twitter discussion is opened to the public as well as our followers and restricts users with a max of 140 characters. It was somewhat harder to squeeze all that I wanted to say in 140 characters. Another difference is that Twitter can generate a discussion with users all over the world in a matter of seconds.

As for a BlackBoard discussion, students can create posts, view posts, and reply/comment on posts but this is limited to those who are in the class. BlackBoard itself is for the use of current college students and professors and its main purpose is to communicate and share files that are necessary to complete assignments throughout the course.

Similar to Twitter, in-class discussions are also in real time but it isn't as convenient considering in-class means that you are taking time out of your day to be in class. Twitter is at the tips of your fingers while you can be away or doing something else. Another thing is that your Twitter discussion is open to many individuals while the in-class discussion is limited to only the people in the classroom. Lastly, in-class discussions are organized with a proctor (or professor) who is moderating the conversation.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. LinkedIn.

Facebook is a social networking site that allows individuals to connect with their friends, family, and acquaintances constantly and instantly. This can be done through wall posts, messages, games, group pages, event pages, and also the ability to seamlessly share links, videos, and much more on their news-feeds. Most users of Facebook are constantly checking their timeline updates from friends to see what's going on and get into discussions through posts and comments. It is a great way to stay connected with those who matter to you.

Twitter is very convenient and much more simple than Facebook. Although Twitter has a 140 character count, it still enables individuals to get their message out. Depending on your privacy settings, your "followers," or people, can read your tweets. Twitter's user-interface is clean and simple and allows you to get instant updates from people you follow. There isn't much beyond writing updates, sharing links, picture, and videos. Twitter is also utilized to promote events and pretty much anything wit hashtags and trending tweets.

LinkedIn is very iconic for being a great professional social networking site that allows people to connect with one another and share their professional information. I personally do not use LinkedIn as often as my colleagues but it is a great platform to find potential jobs as well as candidates for a job. On their site, you can share links, articles, write recommendations, and also endorse people for skills. You can also upload your resume for professionals to review.

Instagram is similar to Twitter, however, it focuses on pictures and videos (15 second clips). Instagram is an app based social networking platform that recently adopted their website interface. However, you can only upload your images/videos through the app. The app provides editing tools and filters for users to perfect their photos before sharing it on their page and news-feed for friends to view. The application also offers hashtags and trending images/topics. It is pretty easy on the eyes and instant. It truly shows that "a picture is worth a thousand words."

All these social networking sites provide its users with easy ways to connect and share things with their friends and families. It's no wonder people are constantly checking their social networks. All in all, these are great tools for our social life and community.

Social Networking

Social Networking has been utilized in many different ways. The idea of social networks were to be helpful but it can also be harmful. In the professional world, it has become a useful tool for networking and maintaining relationships between other professionals. Most people use it for the simple purpose of communicating with one another because of its convenience. With all these positive benefits of using social networks, it can also be detrimental to society.

The benefits of social networking include:

1. Providing and offering job opportunities
2. Crowdfunding
3. Promoting or spreading awareness of news, events, or advertisement efficiently
4. Helping to improve relationships and maintaining relationship among friends and acquaintances
5. Allowing opportunities for open-discussions about various topics
6. Finding students for extracurricular activities and/or clubs

Along with these benefits, there is also a “dark side” to social networking such as:

1. Loss of user-privacy
2. Bad effects on productivity levels of employees and students
3. A rise of false and/or misleading information
4. More prone to viruses and hacking
5. People becoming less sociable face-to-face (more dependent on social networks)

Social networking is a great tool to utilize for purposes like company recruiting and job-seekers. For example, LinkedIn is a social media platform that enables users connect professionally. According to the article “Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting,” Frank Langfitt discusses about how companies have recruiters who use social networking to search for potential job candidates. Websites such as LinkedIn offer candidates’ information all in one place for recruiters to filter through.

Another example of a benefit of social networking is an ability to allow shy and introverted individuals to connect and express themselves with others. In the article “Antisocial Networking” by Hilary Stout, “some researchers believe that the impersonal nature of texting and online communication may make it easier for shy kids to connect with others.”

I believe that social networking definitely has a lot of perks that definitely outweigh the “dark side.” It has become an ongoing thing in the background of our lives. We have become very dependent and learned to utilize social networking in the most various ways. 

Blog v Wiki

What is the difference bettween a blog and a wiki? This is the same question I asked myself when I began using these two during the class. After becoming more comfortable with the two, I can understand their differences. A blog is a regularly updated web page that is typically operated by one or many individuals. The general style of a blog is informal or conversational. A blogger will post entries and users of the same community may post their own comments in a way to generate a discussion or voice their opinions. Blogs are usually updated moderately with about a post a day and the purpose of it is for communication.

A wiki, on the other hand, has multiple contributors meaning there is no sole contributor. The purpose of a wiki is to share knowledge and grows rapidly since there can be edits at any given time by a group or team. A wiki page has links to other wiki pages and can also start discussions among others through a forum or on the web page itself. Wiki is a prime example of collaborative work. Although a wiki is similar to a blog in the sense that users can have discussion forums or posts, a wiki's primary focus is the collaboration with information and frequent updating of information.

These two are similar in many ways such as the fact that they are user-generated and can incorporate different types of media such as videos, photos, audio clips, etc. while serving a similar idea of sharing information with the public. The importance of convergence in a world where information is being shared constantly are that wiki pages and blogs provide individuals to share effectively and efficiently. Most importantly, it allows users to learn from one another and share opinions in an environment where it is appreciated. According to "An Internal Wiki That's Not Classified" by Noam Cohen, information was shared to ambassador Ronald P. Spogli at an efficient way since he was on his way to a meeting. Within the touch of his Blackberry, he was able to read up biographies provided by a wiki page. The only downside was that he had to take a leap of faith since any one, at any point could've been making their own edits to the page.

Users work collaboratively in both blogs and wiki pages, just in different ways. In an article in Forbes called "Yahoo's Next Problem: Tumblr's Traffic Isn't Growing," it talks about how Tumblr is not only not growing, but it is plateauing. This is a concern for those who blog considering the community is reaching a halt and may even be decreasing. According to the article, it seems that Tumblr has reached it's peak and is only beginning to lose its users to viral content sites, who essentially share their users. The article raises the concern "could it be that casual Tumblr users-the kind who consume content but don't produce any of their own-are going to Buzzfeed instead" of Tumblr. This may be true since there seems to be a decline in interest to provide information but rather share what's already out there.

I personally believe that both blogs and wikis are helpful in the sense that they share information, however, wiki pages are not always ideal. One can argue that blogs are meant to be informal and conversational so not all the information is accurate but who can really tell if a wiki page hasn't been compromised with fabricated information? One way to make wiki more practical is to incorporate Reddit since it allows users to communicate and share issues of concern, interest, and more. Much of the users from Reddit are passionate enough to do the research and add credible sources of information to these wiki page forums.