Blog v Wiki

Over the past few decades, the growth of media with blogs and wikis have greatly shaped how we go about our day-to-day lives. The internet has changed the way we communicate, interact, work, consume goods and services, and spend leisure time. To succeed in the various aspects of our lives, the importance of convergence can't be ignored. While blogs and wikis can be very beneficial in today's networked world, understanding which one to use requires some consideration. The key difference between them is that blogs mainly focus on communication, whereas wikis are based on collaboration and community, in addition to communication. 

In the workplace, for example, uniting the networks of different departments can make it easier to work on tasks and generate good ideas, as it creates cohesiveness among the various teams. A CIO article points out that with diverse organizations, such as businesses, schools, and government agencies, wikis improve information-sharing, also known as Web 2.0, by making it easier to gather and disperse the knowledge, as well as helping employees improve their processes(Locher, 2008). Wikis are very powerful, but simple to use tools. They have been able to provide so much use for people and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

Similarly, blogs are a way to add and spread content online. But, they have additionally given a voice to the "everyday" person, as a means to share their thoughts. While blogs allow for limited collaboration, it is amazing how people will find a way to come together to accomplish a common goal. In the instance of the Bay Ridge Talk blog, one person posted about suspicious activity going on in their neighborhood, encouraging others to comment on the situation and add helpful information. A New York Times article explained how "peering turned to blogging, and blogging turned to action", as an investigation began and lead to arrests(Wilson, 2008). This shows how blogs can be just as powerful as wikis, just used in different contexts.

Eva Nashtatik: The effect of Social Media on Self-Image

I chose to do my project on the effect of social media on self-image. In the last decade, social media has become an integral part of our society and the way we interact with others. Although it is meant to help unite people from all across the world, it somehow makes us feel more alone. My goal is to dive deeper into this paradox and help understand the world of social media more. I am able to recognize some of it's positive effects, like allowing us to easily communicate with those who live in other parts of the world. But, social media has become a means of comparing ourselves to someone else's life. Personally, over time, I have become less active on social media because I've noticed myself becoming too focused on "likes". I began to feel like if I didn't get a certain amount of likes or comments, then I would feel like my content wasn't good enough. In addition, social media is only a snapshot of people's most perfect moments. People tend to only post the highlights of their lives. Young users, however, who compare themselves to these "instagrammers", will view themselves negatively if their lives don't look like those in the pictures. When in reality, these "instagrammers" are paid to sell content through photos that can grasp a user's attention and entice them to buy the product. With this project, I hope to learn about what we can do to allow people to have a more positive experience on social media. I plan to discuss in more detail the various effects social media has on our confidence and self-worth by using examples from different platforms.