Creativity and New Media

Last summer Pokémon Go was released as an augmented reality game for mobile devices, where users can interact with others and experience 'life' as a trainer in the world of Pokémon.  This app created a movement of users and it seemed like everyone was walking around with their phones out capturing Pokémon.  Being one of the last people to download the game, this is how I spent my weekend with a few friends after creating a new account:

 My Avatar 

 Catching Pokémon on the street

 

Creativity

New media promotes creativity because it allows anyone with a computer and internet access to share their ideas and creations with a world-wide audience. It provides a much larger scope of viewers than those met on a real-life basis. 

To promote creativity, media companies are allowing some creators freedom when using their content (mash-ups), such as the Disney Company or Nickelodeon.  Dan Martinsen, a Nickelodeon spokesman said, “Our audiences can creatively mash video from our content as much and as often as they like” (as cited in Brooks, 2007).  Within reason, if companies become less uptight and stop threatening users with claims of copyright infringement, allowing them to use their media, it can support creativity.

Online sites and platforms are also using feedback and users’ ideas to improve their operations and gain a sense of which features are working and which are not.  According to Miller’s NYT article, “Technology companies have been the most active in relying on others to innovate for them. This is in large part because the Internet lets people exchange ideas easily and rapidly with large groups, and computing tools let people design new products cheaply”(2009). 

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Barnes, Brooks. (2007) Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters.  But Why. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24crank.html

Miller Cain, Claire. (2009) Twitter Serves Up Ideas from Its Followers. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

(http://gigaom.com/2013/06/23/second-life-turns-10-what-it-did-wrong-and-why-it-will-have-its-own-second-life/)

Virtual worlds are computer environments where a user (represented by an avatar) can interact with others digitally.  Two prime examples of virtual worlds are Second Life and The Sims—both are essentially interactive video games. 

Virtual worlds are used for entertainment, creativity (needed to develop these imaginative, virtual environments) and offers a sense of community/social connection to its users.  Jacki Morie, a virtual world designer, asserts, “You can use virtual worlds in education, in delivery services, or as an advanced form of telehealthcare that offers so much more than videoconferencing”(Mehta 2013). According to Tutton, “The ability to collaborate effectively using virtual tools may now become an increasingly important skill as technology offers more options than, say, video conferencing”(2009).   

Adversely, in some cases, users can lose their sense of reality and the “virtual” can be perceived as real or a perfect representation compared to the real world.

Recently, virtual worlds (virtual reality) are being replaced with augmented reality (AR) which has more of a real world context. Virtual reality (virtual worlds) has a video game connotation, whereas AR has the potential for commercial success, i.e. Google glass devices.  In the future, these wearable devices can be integrated into different fields, like medical and business professions.

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Mehta, Diane. (2013). After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds get a Reboot. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/#76d96fc6735a

Tutton, Mark. (2009). Going to the virtual office in Second Life. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/

Blog about Twitter

Twitter creates a different kind of conversation than one would have in the classroom or during a Blackboard discussion.  In academic settings, many times the conversation is forced by the professor, steering the class in a particular direction or a topic/theme.  Students feel obligated to respond and comment even if they have nothing valuable to say, as a means to improve their participation grade or a requirement for students to post online responses. 

Conversations on Twitter are more fluid, with users only tweeting about what interests them or finding people that they want to connect with because they value their opinion.  Instead of just listening to the perspectives of students in a classroom setting, you can use Twitter to go right to the source of information from experts, politicians, eyewitnesses and news breaking stories from major publications.  It’s a quick way to stay informed and connected to only those that are of interest to the individual user.   

Social Networking Sites

Blizzard like conditions in NYC and a day off from work are perfect excuses to not leave the house and peruse the interwebs. 

Below are my opinions and impressions of 4 social media sites.  Just to preface, I am a casual social media user and spend most of my time viewing others' posts rather than participating myself.

Facebook: I was hard pressed to transition from MySpace to FB and waited until the last possible moment to do so.  I was in college when FB came out and I thought it was way too smart for me to enjoy it.  Now that I've had it for 8 years or so, I only use it to read articles about NYC current events and look at 900 pics of babies posted by acquaintances from H.S.  Site works well in keeping users connected with family and friends that are located remotely.  Even better for staying pseudo connected to people from the past, that you don't actually care about beyond being friends with them on FB.

Twitter:  Never felt the need to create an account before and use it only to read tweets about the news and comments from others without signing up.  Great for news breaking stories and responses.  Digging the fact that a user can only post 140 characters.  Nobody's got time to read an overly lengthy post.

Instagram:  Extremely easy to use.  Much faster to post pictures and comment/direct msg friends than FB.  Site attracts a younger audience than FB which is appealing.  Users can seamlessly move from profile to profile to view pictures without lengthy bios or status posts clogging up the feed like FB.  Beneficial to businesses and companies as a way to draw in a younger consumer. Would use more frequently if I had the spare time.  

LinkedIn: Created an account last year and I'm getting back into it now.  Very organized and easy to find past and current colleagues and alumni.  Enjoy the fact that a user's profile is basically an online resume for employers to view.  Haven't figured out how to look at profiles anonymously and think the # of profile views feature is unnecessary.  A solid professional site to keep in touch with business contacts.    

Social Networking

Social media is a digital connection that inspires users to create, contribute and network with others globally.  These digital platforms continue to transform based on the needs of its users.

Types of uses for social media networking:

• to establish relationships with new people and reconnect with long lost friends
• for entertainment, gaming and the sharing of media (music, film) like Youtube
• for brands and companies to communicate with consumers, offer promotions and launch new products
• for maintaining a digital rolodex of professional contacts like LinkedIn

According to the article, Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting, "Linkedin also help job hunters market themselves online by setting up profiles, listing work history and specific skills"(Langfitt, 2006) 

Is there a dark side to social media?

Sure, when virtually communicating with another user or with a particular site, there is always a risk factor involved, depending on how much personal information you share.  

In the article, Who Cares About Facebook? Students Do, researchers Boyd and Hargittai note, “Over all, our data show that far from being nonchalant and unconcerned about privacy matters, the majority of young adult users of Facebook are engaged with managing their privacy settings on the site at least to some extent”(as cited in Parry, 2010). Given the fact that younger users are more experienced with navigating social media, they are aware of the different privacy settings that apply to their profiles, to protect themselves from identity theft or security issues.  

What are the benefits to society and where do I see the evolution of social media? 

Click on these videos from YouTube, as this platform paves the way for users to express themselves and network in ways they never could before.

                          (Warning: contains explicit language)

 

Created by filmmakers, Max Joseph and Casey Neistat (YouTube, 2017)

In a nutshell, this video gives advice to a millennial like you wish your high school guidance counselor did.  The message, "Do What You Can't" can inspire anyone that has a dream, to create what they think they CAN'T(by traditional standards) and use media platforms where they CAN, such as YouTube.

In honor of women on International Women's Day: March 8th, 2017

                                     #HerVoiceIsMyVoice

In my opinion, THIS is the evolution of social media..

 

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Langfitt, Frank. (2006). Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting.  Retrieved from

 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6522523&sc=emaf

  

Parry, Marc. (2010). Who Cares About Facebook Privacy? Students Do.  Retrived from http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/who-cares-about-facebook-privacy-students-do/25877

Blogs & Wikis: Hello Innovation

The digital age has opened the floodgates for users to share their knowledge, personal experiences and unique perspectives with others globally.

By posting a status update to Facebook, a tweet, a vlog on YouTube, a Tumblr post or even a contribution to Wikipedia, members are using the different platforms of digital communication, that are seemingly endless, for self-expression and the sharing of ideas.

These different forms of media communication create communities, a network amongst users and viewers and the chance to connect with a broader audience beyond their immediate family and friends. The opportunity to connect with others, that they may have never met before this technology, is the reason why digital communication is exploding with popularity. 

Blogs and Wikis, in particular, are an example of these platforms.  Both provide an exchange of information, yet serve different functions for its users.

Most users can recognize the difference between these two medias:  

Blog = a personal experience or knowledge posted by an individual user for the masses that can not be edited by others. Commentary may or may not be added and based on the discretion of the primary user.

Wiki = a collaborative experience with users to edit and create information for the masses. Wikis are also utilized for business and academic purposes. 

According to the article, More on How to Build Your Wikipedia,  Locher believes wikis in the corporate world are, "making it easier to gather and share information as well as record discussions about a subject, wikis (familiar as the software behind online encyclopedia Wikipedia) can help people improve their processes and get projects done faster" (2008).

Pertaining to blogs, How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere?, Gill asserts, "Bloggers write about topics that matter to them; their audience may be large or small. Some blogs are single person operations (one to many); others have a community of authors (many to many). They foster community and conversation by allowing readers to comment on postings,
thus becoming an author in turn, or by providing an e-mail address to dialog directly with the blogger" (2004).

Both Blogs and Wikis serve a purpose in this digital world of communication. Which do you prefer?

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Gill, Kathy G. (2004). How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere?. Retrieved from
http://www.uvm.edu/pdodds/files/papers/others/everything/gill2004a.pdf

Locher, Margaret. (2008). More on How to Build Your Own Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/2436789/time-management-productivity/more-on-how-to-build-your-own-wikipedia.html