Blog: Next New

One thing I would to see in the new media that doesn't currently exist is a more direct integration of virtual reality into all ready currently existing new media. Right now I believe there are limited applications for VR and the potential is so much more. Currently companies like HTC, Oculus and Valve have been trying to integrate virtual reality with gaming but the widespread appeal has died down since the initial hype from the mid to early 2010's.

My idea is to incorporate virtual reality with things like online townhall debates where communities of users from sites like Facebook or Reddit can have their own interactions with politicians virtually. Put on a headset and be placed into a room where you can interact with your neighbors more directly. Another use could be a step up from Virtual Worlds with a more direct involvement by the users in things like online art and music collaboration.

Right now people share files and music in order to collaborate but what if it was possible to put on a headset and virtually appear in the same room as a musician from Tokyo, another from London and manipulate virtual instruments. The potential for VR is endless and it has to be used for more than just gaming.

Blog: Wiki So Far

The class wiki can be a pretty daunting project to interact with. So many people have contributed so much information, it can be a little difficult to understand where I can make meaningful contributions. I decided to focus on the wiki page for Facebook and see what my updated information and research done for my term paper can upgrade the wiki page.

I edited the information to reflect that not only was the Trump campaign known to have used the information, but politicians such as Ted Cruz also used the data. This is important because it helps paint a better picture of larger widespread use of the Cambridge Analytica data breach.

I also updated the follow up to the events. Now that the scandal has passed a few months, what where the aftereffects, the changes made by the company if any and an update to the FTC investigation.

I also updated an article based on something I do on my own free time. The Twitch.tv wiki page did not have a section on Dota 2, a video game I used to play when I had free time. I added some numbers and why it should be a good addition to the page.

Wikis Updated:
http://newmedia.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Twitch.tv#Top_Twitch_Games
http://newmedia.shoutwiki.com/wiki/New_Media_in_Social_Networking#Cambridge_Analytica_Facebook_Scandal

Blog: P2P

Peer to peer sharing is one of the best things that has come about thanks to the internet and new media. The peer to peer sharing is predicated on file sharing which is the act of sharing data or access to programs with people on a network. Peer to peer takes that to a more personal level. Rather than having an independent company collecting the data and distributing it to users, one person acts as the source or server in the network and shares it with other users. This is a decentralized approach to file sharing where a network of users saves and shares the data and is predicated entirely on popularity and the willingness of people to share.

Probably the most famous examples of peer to peer file sharing has to be torrenting. Torrenting is a file distribution system where an initial user has the digital content, whether that be music or video or text and they share it with everyone who has access to the network. The next person downloads it from the original owner and subsequently a web gets formed. If there are 10 people actively sharing a file, a new person downloading would get 10% from each person adjusted for things like latency. Another example of peer to peer file sharing is a more specific torrenting platform, Soulseek. Users on soulseek can share music with one another. The usual taboo is piracy and avoiding the cost of the media people are consuming but there are more uses. In countries where the political environment is very oppressive, a decentralized peer to peer sharing network lets people access news and media that is unfairly denied by their government. Another use is that users who are seeking old, rare and outdated files can use file sharing when the official companies stop supporting their products.

Companies have engaged into a battle back and forth with people who want to share their data and companies who want to restrict what can and cannot be distributed. In the wikipedia article there is a tool described that companies use and that is called DRM. DRM or digital rights management is a tool used by companies that restricts access to digital media to the original owner. While their actions to protect their intellectual property, the implementation is horrendous. Many times, people who try to run programs with DRM enabled have to get permission from companies and support in order to get it working properly. If the digital content is outdated with a defunct company, the information is dead without any support.

Blog: Privacy

Privacy is a huge concern with regards to new media. My term paper goes far more in depth with specific examples by Facebook, but user data and how companies handle it is a significantly under looked aspect of our lives. A significant majority of our actions online are being tracked by the very websites we are using. The platforms we use then can do a wide range of things with that information. In the case of Facebook, they gave their data to researchers who in turned manipulated 87 million users by sending propaganda and political advertisements in order to sway their vote.

A worrying aspect of privacy and confidentiality is that most major companies only disclose leaks or misuse of user data when documents are leaked or reporters do wide ranging exposes. This means that we as users must care more for our privacy and data because trusting companies is the wrong move. Methods we can use is only trusting sites that don't collect so much data. We can read the permissions we allow applications and the information hidden in terms of service to understand exactly what is being collected. Another option is using a virtual private network or VPN that hides user activity from ISP's and gives a freedom to users.

Blog: Advice

Baruch has huge potential in utilizing new media and expanding the methods they already use. The first thing I would is overhaul the Baruch blogs system. I have had a few classes that attempted to utilize the Baruch Blogs website but the experience was not the greatest. To improve, I would suggest a better search engine optimization so that people can find blogs by students adjusted by semester, major, what year they are in. It can be a really useful tool for new incoming students and students who are going into a new year can read the experiences students have. Another missed opportunity would be to have blogs done voluntarily by graduated students and alumni who can offer real world advice and add to the in class learning.

Another new media overhaul I would suggest is a major change to the Baruch twitter. Right now it is not used to it's full potential. I would incorporate emergency system with twitter so that if there are school closure or potential dangers, the Baruch twitter can send out warnings to students. This would increase the follower numbers and would be far more useful to students. Another area that the twitter can be used for is to advertise for new and interesting classes that students might ordinarily overlook.

Creativity and New Media

            Second Life was a very interesting implementation of new media for me. For my creativity in new media example, I decided to create an avatar and see why it can be such a useful virtual world. My experience did not start off to a great one, on my regular computer the viewer would only show me a black screen. I had to borrow a friends laptop. Once you actually get in the virtual world, I can see why so many people enjoy using it. Immediately entering a new world, you have this small tutorial where you can get comfortable with the controls. In the bottom corner of the screen there is a chat box that shows the people online in your current world. I tried having a few conversations, but outside a few hellos and disconnects, that didn't bear much fruit. I can see why this application is so useful in a corporate setting. Seeing some of the worlds that are very vibrant and bright, it would make communication fun compared to more unappealing conference rooms.

HW Creativity

            The New Yorker article “1+1+1=1” was a very enjoyable read and for me, it was a walk down memory lane. The article is a perfect example of how new media fosters creativity, in this case with music and mashups. A mashup is a song where the vocals from one song is interlaced with the music of another. The real creativity comes from the types of artists that are sampled, the article mentions combinations such as Christina Aguilera and The Strokes, Madonna and the Sex Pistols and particularly important for me, Jay-Z and Linkin Park. The album Collision Course is an apt title because the styles of Jay-Z and Linkin Park are very different, Jay-Z’s music is more gangster rap while Linkin Park is more nu metal or rap metal. As a kid I was a fan of both musical acts and had heard on the internet so many people talking about their collaboration as well as listening to their works on both traditional radio and internet radio. Collision Course was the first piece of music I ever bought. It sounds like an bygone era but I saved up my birthday money and went with my dad and sister to the mall and bought it from Sam Goody’s.

            Now that new media is more integral in our lives, artists can more easily share tracks and create more music. Sites like “The Remix” were created so that people can share music the music they have created and grow an audience. It removes the traditional barriers that people had from creating music, all you need is a track and software to produce things you like.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

            Virtual worlds has been an interesting concept for a very long time. Even in the realm of science fiction, it has been a common trope where characters put on a headset and are suddenly in a completely different location and can interact with many people. Since the 2000’s technology has been very focused on the social aspect of our lives and virtual worlds have become reality. An interesting example of a virtual world has to be Second Life. Starting out as a game where people can live vicariously through their avatars, many companies have adopted the game and incorporated it into their corporate culture. Companies like IBM, the US military use Second Life to hold conferences and test new technologies with workers who are from many different places. While there are many different telecommunication options that also do the same thing, Second Life’s design is one where users can still have casual human contact and are not completely isolated. A major drawback is one faced by many multinational corporations. Users who are not face-to-face can accidentally incorporate their own organizational and national cultures that may not be understood or accepted by the people they are communicating with.

            A major problem that arises with virtual worlds are people’s identification with their avatars and the carry over effect into the real world. Researchers at the University of Illinois conducted a study where people were given good, bad and neutral people to play. Later, they were told to give spicy chilli or sweet chocolate to unsuspecting people. The people playing evil characters by far gave more spicy chili while the good conversely gave way more chocolate. This study highlights that what we do in virtual worlds can impact our thinking in reality. This is potentially a serious issue because virtual worlds tend to have no restrictions and barriers, a world with limited rules. If people ignore the rules in real life because of virtual conditioning, it can cause serious problems.

Works Cited:

Tutton, Mark. “Going to the virtual office in Second Life.” CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html 9 Nov 2009

EurekAlert. “Virtual world may impact real-world behavior.” Health 24 https://www.health24.com/Mental-Health/News/Virtual-world-may-impact-real-world-behaviour-20140210 10 Feb 2014

Blog about Twitter

            It was an interesting experience having a discussion with my classmates over Twitter. Even though many of the accounts were new, I felt like I got to know my classmates a little better and it was easy to view their old tweets and see their pictures. Those things really gave me a solid understanding on who I was responding to. Blackboard discussions are good for certain things, posting longer responses, but the text options can be hard to use and it’s much harder to check for responses. Twitter has an easy feature to see new tweets as they are coming on and they are far more optimized than blackboard to check on your phone.

            Both these options are worse than an in-class discussion. To me, to have the most effective communication with the most ideal settings, few things beat a small class size with people face to face and everyone having a solid viewpoint of what we have to discuss.

Blog: Social networking sites

            Social networking has become an almost essential part of life. Most of our interactions have evolved to immediate communications with friends and family. For today’s blog post I decided to compare and contrast the experiences I have visiting various sites and how they are structured differently. The first, and one of the most popular sites is Facebook. Personally, I deleted my Facebook account close to 3 years ago. I found that I was devoting too much of my time in following other people’s lives. In a moment of introspection, I found myself having a tougher and tougher time being happy for people and I was envious of the lives people led on social media. Constant travel photos and new cars, clothing, pets hid the reality of people’s situations and I had to remove myself from that environment.

            Revisiting the site and most of my old impressions were pretty accurate. My feed was littered by people I had not spoken too in a very long time all commentating sage advice about the world while visiting foreign lands. It was striking and unsettling the nosiness the site created in me to find out what people I haven’t spoken to in years were up to. Compared to Facebook, I have a much better opinion of Twitter. Though there are certainly similar forms of envy, most of my twitter follows are based on sports, politicians and comedians who post entertaining and useful information. In the limited characters, Twitter gives me a brief glimpse into what’s going on in the world I am interested in.

            Another site I frequent is Reddit. Compared to twitter, it is far more involved experience, where I can have larger discussions with people. It is an experience very far removed from Facebook because the users have a level of anonymity where there words and ideas matter more than who they are. Additionally it is a site where you can follow and interact with people who have similar interests no matter how niche they are. I first found the site when I wanted to build my own computer and buy the parts individually. On Reddit, I found a community who were willing to offer advice and answer questions provided I put in the work to research things. The last social media site I want to blog about is called DeviantArt. I am not an artist but I do enjoy the works other people create. On DeviantArt people present what they have created and there are small communities of people who follow certain styles. I personally follow some pretty funny comics and I found the site when I was in middle school looking for wallpapers. It really is a creative-oriented site and what matters more than anything there is the art.

BLOG: Blog v Wiki

A wiki is an information sharing tool used by people to collaborate and discuss with one another. They are a common place staple of the internet today with the most famous wiki being Wikipedia. The emergence of Wikipedia has shown companies a very effective tool in creating a departmental tool where team members can be aware about the state of projects and contribute towards identifying and fixing problems that might go unnoticed. The ease with which companies have adopted wiki's is due to key factors such as their relative ease of use without needing extensive prior knowledge.

There are some drawbacks to wiki's however. One significant issue that can arise is highlighted by the cio.com article, "More on How to Build Your Own Wikipedia" is limiting wiki to each department. A problem that larger wiki's have created is the push back of against moderation, distortion of the original wiki's purpose as well as the need for careful curation and removal of outdated information.

On the other end of the spectrum are blogs. In many ways blogs are the modern day equivalients of journals and diaries that individuals can share with anyone. While a wiki serves a purpose, providing information to people who visit, blogs create a more personal environment where creators can share their experiences and view points. A way to highlight the needs for individuality and a personal identity is the issue of Yahoo and Tumblr. Bought for $990 million, tumblr has its user growth stagnate and plateau. There are a few reasons why this might be the case, growing competition from sites like Buzzfeed but a compelling one is the loss of personal identity. Being so publicly bought by Yahoo, many users being against the corporate take over of the site and subsequently Tumblr has lost the appeal it once had.

Works Cited:
Bercovici, Jeff "Yahoo's Next Problem: Tumblr's Traffic Isn't Growing" https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2014/01/21/yahoos-next-problem-tumblrs-traffic-isnt-growing/#280ececd5621

Locher Margaret "More on How to Build Your Own Wikipedia" https://www.cio.com/article/2436789/more-on-how-to-build-your-own-wikipedia.html

The Quest to Monetizing New Media: Loss of Privacy for Revenue.

A really interesting issue that has arisen alongside new media becoming more commonplace is monetization. The old media model of monetizing was pretty simple and straightforward. Products such as newspapers, TV shows as well as certain radio formats like XM and Sirius used subscription models where people would pay monthly. Another method for generating revenue are advertisers buying space and targeting customers. The issues that arose with new media is that in many ways those revenue generating models for the media producers have been severely limited and in many ways incompatible.

My paper elaborates on how new media has adapted to this situation coinciding with the loss of privacy their users experienced. A major event that I will be researching is the Cambridge Analytica scandal where Facebook was found to have sold private data to firms so that advertisements could be personally targeted towards users. This manipulation of handling of user data and how it all arises from the issue of monetizing new media was something that I was really interested about.