Our Class Wiki

Upon browsing the wiki from this class I was surprised at how much information was on there already. After google searching new media and mmorpg the first listed search was the wiki site.  I have some experience with games and I will probably include information about how economies in mmorpg’s differ. There are a few articles that I would like to use about people spending money on in-game items and property as an investment. This is a business side of mmorpg that was not included in the wikis.  Since I am also taking an ethics course this semester, I already know some information about how privacy issues can be a problem with new media. To help with privacy issues I may include some information on proxy’s as a way to secure users from being traced.

Next New Media

It was only the past couple of years that the business world has incorporated Facebook and Twitter among other forms of new media into their business practices. Technology from new media is considered innovations in the US even today. At an international viewpoint, what we know as “new” in the USA may not apply in other countries. It may not exist or it may come in a different form. For example, what we know as twitter in the US does not exist in China. Microsoft had recently produced a service called MSN Juku for Chinese users. Though it is currently in beta, it has the potential to be a direct competitor to twitter. The incentive for Juku users comes in the extra feature that includes games with real prizes. Though this is not necessarily a new type of “new media” for Americans, it is interesting to follow up on how China will use or change this existing technology.

Privacy and Confidentiality

As popularity of new media continues to grow it is inevitable that there will be issues relating with privacy. One of the benefits of new media is communication and the opportunity to network with others. Networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter request that their users include photos, birth dates, names, and other potentially incriminating information. Though there is an option for users to protect their information this option to a certain extent, limits their ability to network. There is also the risk that there will be cracks or leaks to the network site. As we all know websites can be hacked, some easier than others. It was only a few years ago that most of these networking websites had loopholes that allowed others to extract information. This included private profiles that the majority of users thought were safe. Users continued to put information on websites that can be leeched out by spammers, phishers, or those that wanted it for identity theft reasons.

Advice to Baruch

A simple way to improve Baruch would be to have  professors record their class sessions then post them online. This can be done through youtube or any other video hosting website. Some professors upload their notes on a daily basis and this would only be an extension of what they normally do. If a student does not understand a certain part of the lesson, it would be available for them to review online. Any questions can be sent as a private message which gets fowarded to their emails.

Sacc can also use youtube to create tutorial videos that can help struggling students. Since most material covered on topics such as math and science remains the same each semester, the videos would only need to be added once. Once they build an extensive database to help Baruch students it can be used as a reference during the tutoring sessions or before the students come in.

Twitter Discussion

 How does a twitter discussion compare to the Bb Discussion Board? To an in-class discussion?

I can see that it would become difficult to navigate the tweets if it was open to the public or if there were many followers. For this assignments I only saw a few tweets, but if there were hundreds of people contributing to the discussion, the randomness would be a bit overwhelming. Each line does not have a complete thought and leaves the readers wanting more. If it was a discussion board or if it was in class the discussions would be more compelling and thoughtout contributions and responses. I found myself writing fragments in a attempt to include more in my sentence. In a class discussion the delivery is sometimes just as important as what is said.

Reality and Virtual Worlds

What are different ways these virtual worlds can be used?

Virtual worlds can be used for social interaction, business expansion, or to acquire something they cannot in real life. For David Savil a virtual world known as second life became his way of fitting into society.  Diagnosed asperser’s syndrome keeps him from picking up on social cues, starting conversations with strangers, or behaving naturally in social situations. In second life, a person’s feelings are simplified with text. Expressions replicate the actually response of the person, whether it be happiness, angry, or sadness. This may seem dull for those that are familiar with these expressions, but it allows those such Savil to slowly develop and familiarize himself with these social cues.

For business interest it can serve as a training program. According to Josh Bersin, the CEO of Bersin and Associates in the article IBM learning programs get a second life, he says that, “it might be attractive to young employees.” Since the next generation of workers has at one time or another played videos games in their life, it makes sense to have the employees learn from a source they are familiar with. If they view it as a game rather than a job, it may lead to a more productive work force.  .

What are the pros and cons? Be specific.

As a pro, it can be used as training  businesses and a learning program for those with asperser’s syndrome. The cons seem to be the dependency virtual worlds create. Though a person with asperser’s syndrome may benefit from having social interactions with others online, it can be seen as a con if they do not practice what they learn. Since interaction in the virtual world is easier, there is no incentive received for those with the disorder to integrate what they learn into real life. Also a business training program based on video gaming technology may not fit every employees needs. I cannot imagine paying attention to an employer if he appears as an elf or imaginary character. Even with an avatar of a business person, it is difficult to digest that others may receive more from a training program due to familiarity rather than qualification. I do not believe that familiarity with video games should be a job qualifier.

How do virtual worlds foster creativity?

It allows those to become someone they are not in real life. A person may have what it takes to be a business owner, but not enough money to support a business in real life. Since games like second life and planeshift allow people to sell items online, it can be seen as a small business. A person can pursue their dream job of opening a business without the fear of losing everything they own if that business fails.
What do you think the future of virtual worlds will look like?

I have seen that other students write about virtual worlds and its future in education. However, this idea is not the same as an online course. Virtual worlds are based on video games and entertainment. Along with this stigma, we also use games as a simplistic method to teach adolescence before actual schooling. Learning should be fun, but using actual games for business or education purposes is crossing boundaries between entertainment and work.

Works Cited

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html#cnnSTCText

http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/24/61/08.html

Social Networking

What are some ways (corporate and otherwise) that these technologies can be used?

As more social network websites gain popularity, it’s potential to become a useful technology for corporations steadily grow. According to Frank Langfitt, social networking technology can now allow a boost in job recruiting. In his article he stresses the powerful network tool known as LinkedIn. Though I have never personally used it before I decided to register to get a better understanding of how it works and also the incentive of connecting with one out of the one hundred and thirty thousand recruiters on the website. Upon linking my email account LinkedIn created a list of all the people that I have ever communicated with in the past. Right by there names it showed their profession and a bit of information about them. I was pleasantly surprised with this since I did not expect such a long list of contacts to appear. According to Langfitt, this is the potential of LinkedIn. A new user starts off with under a hundred contacts and continues growing. The first few hundred become the first few thousand, which eventually lead to the hundredth thousands and the ultimate goal would be in the millions. All of this takes time, but is potentially an opportunity to network with the right people and land that perfect job or for recruiters to hire the right person.

What are the benefits of these technologies to society?

Social networking technology has allowed us to communication with each almost instantaneously. With new applications on our phones that allow people to check there twitter and Facebook wherever they are, it is easier to stay update with the activities of our family and friends. In New York times article, Judith Donath, an associate professor at MIT noted that, “As society becomes increasingly dynamic, with access to information playing a growing role, having many diverse connections will be key.” It is easier to understand the benefits of social networking technology if contrasted to how people use to network. Rather than spending money and time on the trips to see a person in face it is much quicker and cheaper to follow that person on twitter or message them on Facebook. For example, if a person that normally blogs or tweets everyday. The followers would automatically know something is wrong. A few years ago, the only people that knew you were alive were those that you saw on a daily basis.

Be specific. Is there a “dark side”?

Anytime there is new technology there is always a dark side. In Donath’s analysis of myspace, she noted that its usefulness comes at a price. With social networking sites such as myspace and Facebook, it is easy to develop large social circles, but at the cost of weaker ties. People are well networked, but actually less familiar with each other. The face-to-face interaction is reduced to a minimum if any at all. An example is when a person makes a twitter. When they tweet messages, it does not necessarily define them or what they believe in. In a study done by Pearl Analytics, forty percent of twitter messages were “pointless babble”, with a sample being “I am eating a sandwich now”. A detail such as this is really unnecessarily and does not really help people connect. Though Twitter remains one of the most influential and powerful sites, at times it can be redundant.

Works Cited

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.80c182849ca932a32a5eda49e4fe1b02.3b1&show_article=1

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/

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

Impression Social Networking Sites

I have distanced myself from social networking sites for a long time. Mainly because of its addicitiveness. Why potentially start something that can become a bad habit.  My first experience back in the nineties with social networking was not actually created for that purpose. I started using a site known as geocities.com, which actually required some knowledge of scripting unlike most of the newer social networking sites. With simpler interfaces that only require a few clicks on options, even the computer illiterate can make a page. Eventually I progressed to xanga, which had greater appeal for the younger teens.

I found that the difference between friendster, myspace, and facebook was mainly based on age. Myspace seemed to have a gap between age groups in their users. It was either younger teens or thirty years and older.  The college audiences tend to use facebook in comparison to myspace. Myspace has music, background, and underground and popular artists. It is a good place for unknown artists to begin their networking and people to represent themselves as culturally aware and colorful.  Where as facebook seemed to be a networking site for normal college students to connect. Facebook users would want to get in contact with students that have the same classes or share the same interests. It was business-like, essentially facebook was the same site as myspace without the color, artists, and music. To be replaced with pokes, farmville, and groups that only had one goal; more users. I have to admit, I have never even heard of friendster until this assignment. I looked it up and it was created before myspace and perhaps that was why it isn’t as popular now in comparison. It seems that especially amoung the young users every few years there needs to be a change. This is how facebook really gained popularity. If the comparison was basedon functionality, facebook really does not have an advantage over myspace. The distincitive option that friendster has is css customizable profile and a option to blog, but then again myspace had this same option. Eventually facebook had its own blog, but it was friendster that began the idea.

 

Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and wikis are similar in many aspects. They are both part of new media and they both allow users to receive updated information. Both allow opinions to be voiced and comments from users to be posted. With blogs and wikis, the users are given freedom to share unfiltered information. Whether it should be understood as facts or opinions is to be deciphered by the reader. Blogs for instance, normally give the name and biography of the author. If a person that just started a blog without a background on the topic they are writing about, more than likely they would not be getting hits. A poster is only as credible as his past experiences, even if what he writes about is only his opinions.  In contrast, Wikipedia allows all users to post on a single piece. If there is any part of the piece that has errors it can be fixed by another user since it is an open source. At afar, blogs may seem like the better option because the reader knows who the source is. While Wikipedia tends to gets noted as an undesirable and not credible source. This is not necessarily true, since for business uses, companies can control Wikis. Erza Goodnoe in her piece, how to use Wikis in business noted that, “In the corporate environment, Wikis are best implemented behind a firewall for a wholly internal user base.” He says Wikis can be used by business’ if implemented correctly. If there is a firewall protecting the users and the wikipedia, the workers have the opportunity to work together on a project without physically seeing each other. Money and time is saved because coordinating and collaboration is all done completely on the wikipedia. What is needed for the project to succeed can be listed and edited later if necesarry. The benefit of this  is not something blogs have because only the voice of the blogger is focused on.

Google’s reading our emails, tracking our searches; feds and cops can look up our blogs to see what is going on in our lives. What we write online is important and sometimes people forget how networked the world has become. This can be seen in Michael Wilson’s article, Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug raid. After some complaints about fighting and hints on the location, the blog and comments helped cops pinpoint the drug activity at a neighboring crack house. Though it was an unconventional method to catching a criminal, it goes to show that what we write on our blogs and wikis may have importance when converged with the right people.

Blogs help voice the opinions of novice writers and professionals alike. In many ways this can help expose new talent and views to more experienced ones. This happens often with musicians that have reached fame and are in search of a new sound. It can also help with the collaboration of similar minded people. If several individuals with similar views collaborate it becomes a community or a group that can potentially work on projects together.

Wikipedia can potentially be a database for students to contribute their notes. Similar to the way blackboard holds notes for a specific class. Each student can edit the notes or fill in what they have missed from class. Since not every class is online students are bound to miss out something in their notes. It can be a tool that students may one day benefit from if there is a high enough contribution.

Works Cited

http://www.informationweek.com/news/globalcio/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=167600331

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/nyregion/26bayridge.html

Old and New Media

To understand how new media is different from old media; we must first examine some examples from both sides. Old media consist of books, journalism, music, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, telephone, film. As we entered the twenty first century these old methods and technologies would eventually become outdated. To be replaced by e-books, wikipedia, online sources for music such as Itunes, Pandora, and Youtube, online streaming of podcasts, shows, skype, voip, and forums for unfiltered news. The internet is at the foundation of new media because it allows the regular person to become interactive and feel a sense of community online. Youtube and Pandora are two examples of how music has been part of the change in old to new. A listener of music in old media was dependant on either the radio or friends to find songs that they may enjoy. For most people buying new cd’s it was either a hit or miss on whether they would enjoy it. With community based sites such as Pandora and Youtube the listeners are recommended similar songs and videos upon listening to something they may already like. In addition to this feature, the listener has two more options. They can click on the profile of the uploader to find similar materials or they can view the comments written by fellow listeners. By having the opinions of others, a community begins to form. Users can make play-lists to share and be critiqued by others. New media is distinguishable by its community creating characteristic, along with interactivity. It allows the users to expand the experience of bonding that never existed during the twentieth century.