CREATIVITY AND NEW MEDIA

Like I mentioned on my previous post how because of the new media technology anyone with the access to the computer can create something and share with the world in matter of minutes. Today in this post I want to share something that I created that received a lot of popularity. One summer I was bored and decided to create something and post on YouTube just for fun. Since I like sports and cars I decided to do some research on what some of my favorite basketball players drive and I though why not make a video on cars used by those players. With the help of Windows Movie Maker and some animation I created my very first video titled "Celebrity Cars and Exotic Custom Cars". The video contains images of celebrity and players with their cars. The video received more views than I had even imagined. The video today has more than 200,000 views and has been shared in many websites of similar interest. What's interesting is that I didn't even expect that many people to watch my video but because of the technology and YouTube my video was available for anyone in the world to see. I received so many messages of people asking to post my video on their site and also received emails regarding making "part 2". However because I'm a full time student and work part time, it is hard to take time to make another video. Since it takes time to research, put the video together, and edit. In the future if I have any free time I would love to make more videos for YouTube.

YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/guUXryqrktg

CREATIVITY

As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, new media has impacted our lives greatly. It has made it better and efficient. New media has improved and revolutionized the way we communicate, consume media, and our productivity. One such example is given on The New York article by Sasha Frere-Jones where several "DJ's" have remixed or "mashed" the songs together to create a mix. However because of the technology they don't need a distributor or recording studio. “You don’t need a distributor, because your distribution is the Internet. You don’t need a record label, because it’s your bedroom, and you don’t need a recording studio, because that’s your computer. You do it all yourself.” So, technology has also made possible for anyone to distribute and produce music, or any other type of art. All they need is a computer and access to the internet to distribute it to the whole world.

Sources:The New York
Image:  edesigntuts

VIRTUAL WORLDS

Virtual worlds can be used in many ways. Some ways there are being used are for the purpose of education. According to the article "Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, lots of professors and medical schools are using virtual simulation as a training tool for nurses. Virtual hospitals and clinics are created for the training. In addition to training virtual simulation is being used in business. As stated in the article on CNN by Mark Tutton, businesses are using 3d virtual world, Second Life to create virtual meetings in their own private networks. Article mentions while it is great to communicate and attend meeting remotely it’s not the same as being “in-person” meeting or conversations between coworkers. Still for most companies and people virtual world adds that attraction and socializing affect that sometime is missing from working remotely. In virtual setting such as Second Life users can socialize with others, run around and basically can do anything that can be done in real life or for some people it’s better than real life. To conclude virtualization has come a long way and it has many uses in schools, universities, business, and personal life. Virtual reality is going to get better, soon we will be able to look at 3d objects on our browsers without needing any applications and current devices like virtual reality glasses that we can now buy to use with our smartphones are going to only get better and smarter.  

Source:Going to the virtual office in Second Life

            Avatar II: The Hospital

BLOG ABOUT TWITTER

Discussion on Twitter versus the discussion on Blackboard and in-class is very different. In my opinion Twitter doesn't allow for you to get your point across. On Twitter you have to be short and to the point and you wont't get enough characters to voice your details. Twitter with the characters limit can be a problem for some people. Blackboard discussions unlike the Twitter allow you to type and discuss in details and is less confusing when replying to someone unlike Twitter where sometimes replying can be confusing. Both of these discussions in my opinion cannot replace in-class discussions. In class you get to make eye contact and body language which helps to get your point across. Especially for people for whom English is not their first language, it is much easier to communicate face to face rather than online digitally. In addition if the discussion is personal and emotional being in-class or face to face is very important and more effective. Also with the lack of privacy on twitter I would much rather have a discussion on Blackboard or in-class.

Source: Twitter.com

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Social networking sites are great to use if you know how to use them properly. There are now great number of social networking sites available but the main one's I use often are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Each of these serve their purpose differently, at least for me. Facebook is my go to site to share something that's on my mind or something I came across that I feel must be shared, I go to Facebook. It's also a great site to keep in touch with friends and family. Especially now since we are able to make calls on Facebook with anyone in the world. In addition I use Facebook at my work too as a tool to answer and ask question to my coworkers. In my opinion Facebook is a great communication tool. Twitter on the other hand I use mostly for getting news and updates from different sources. Twitter is a great tool for getting breaking news and checking out what is "trending" daily in the world. Instagram is used mostly for photos I share and see photos my friends and people I like post. Instagram in my opinion has also replaced vine by adding video capabilities. The only networking site that keeps my personal life separate from business is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great tool for me and others to reach some of my cor-workers, professors or the people I have professionally dealt with. LinkedIn is also a great tool to look for jobs or for the employers to look for candidates.

Social Networking

Social Networking has both it’s positives and negatives. Social media has changed the way we communicate and share ideas with not only each other but the whole world. Sites like Facebook and twitter have revolutionized our communication. Some positives are you can now communicate with your relatives and friends no matter where they are, and you can share any thoughts, ideas, and memories with them with the help of these social media networks. These tools have not only helped in our personal life but also our business. According to the article on NPR, recruiters are using these tools to look for the candidates that match their needs. One of the recruiter says "Social networking technology is absolutely the best thing to happen to recruiting — ever". Using and creation of these tools might be positive step toward the technology and the way we communicate but it also has it downfalls. 

Social networking tools also have a negative impact in our lives. For instance nothing is private anymore. Anything you say or do on these social media sites can be accessed by anyone publicly. Even if something is made private with the use of privacy setting on these new tools hacker or scammers can find a way to gather your information. In the article by Better Business Bureau “New Wave of PhishingScams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam”, the author mentions how scammers are finding ways to gain or install spyware on personal devices. In addition if you don’t choose a strong password for these tools, there is a chance of getting your account hacked. Although these tools have brought a great way to communicate in this digital age, it has also brought some fears if not used with caution. 

Sources: Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting
                New Wave of PhishingScams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam
                     Image
               

New Wave of Phishing Scams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/blog/2013/01/new-wave-of-phishing-scams-uses-facebook-info-for-personalized-spam/#sthash.w80VfwHp.dpuf

New Wave of Phishing Scams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/blog/2013/01/new-wave-of-phishing-scams-uses-facebook-info-for-personalized-spam/#sthash.w80VfwHp.dpuf

Blog v Wiki

In today's digital world it has become a part of our life to share our stories and experiences online. The availability and advance in new media technology tools such as blogs and wikis have made it possible for anyone to share anything online. 

Blogs and wikis are both similar and different. Some similarities between the two are that both are used for collaborating online. Both of these tools allows users to communicate with other people and share their ideas and experiences. What makes them different is that blogs are more of  one person writing them and others commenting and replying to someone's post. Blog is your own personal diary in a way where you can share anything you feel like with everyone. Whereas wikis are more of a collaborative tool where more than one person can add content to the same page and you sort of work in groups to achieve something. Wikis because of their flexibility also allows the user to create multiple pages and link pages within the wikis to different sources. Wiki are also more secure and used in workplaces a lot to share and collaborate between employers. The article "How to Use Wikis For Business" lists all the ways the companies can take advantage of wikis. 

Now anyone can start with blogs of wikis withe the help of sites such as Blogger and WordPress makes it easy for people to get started with blogging and it gives users a friendly way to design and customize the blogs to their liking. There are sites such as Wikispaces and Wikidot also available for you to get started with wikis for free.

From my personal experience of working at the community college I have seen professors in classes use these tools for the students to collaborate and learn. From seeing students work on wikis in ESL classes to students using blogs to share their work in art class. 

Sources: How To Use Wikis For Business
              Wikipedia: No longer the Wild West?

Image source:3.bp.blogspot.com/