Monday, October 28, 2019
Creativity and New Media
Using new media tools, such as Instagram, have given me a platform to share my life with friends and family. But more importantly, it is a blog that I've had since I was in 8th grade. Since 2012, I have been posting pictures and creating a highlight-reel of my life. It is nice to have the ability to look back at my older, now archived posts, and reflect on those moments. The various tools on Instagram have inspired me to be more creative with what I do with my account. Over the past year, I have started saving my Insta-stories to my page and grouping them based on categories. Below, you can see the dancing emoji used to represent times I've had fun with friends, the strong arm emoji for the different workout classes I have tried, and an Israeli flag for when I went to Israel over the summer. I hope to continue to use my instagram as a time-capsule for all the memorable times of my life.
Creativity
In today's world, media has become widely digitized, meaning that everyone has access to books, music, photos, etc. People have been able to learn new things from reading books, viewing blogs, listening to music, and following social media accounts, all online. Over time, this has become an easily accessible way to get inspiration and create something.
Media fosters creativity as it gives anyone and everyone the opportunity to become a content creator. It is usually free and very simple to set up any kind of social media account or blog. Once one creates some kind of platform, they can begin sharing their thoughts. In today's society, we don't need to work at an office anymore. The ability to work from wherever one pleases, given that they bring their computer or smartphone with them, encourages the flow of ideas. Some people have even been able to turn their hobbies into jobs, simply from the development of new media.
A NY Times article discusses this concept, explaining that "the Internet lets people exchange ideas easily and rapidly with large groups, and computing tools let people design new products cheaply."(Miller, 2009) This has been helpful for many companies looking to find new ideas from their consumers. Namely, technology companies rely on others to innovate for them. Companies will look at Twitter to see what users are saying, and take that into consideration when looking to make progress with their brands.
Media fosters creativity as it gives anyone and everyone the opportunity to become a content creator. It is usually free and very simple to set up any kind of social media account or blog. Once one creates some kind of platform, they can begin sharing their thoughts. In today's society, we don't need to work at an office anymore. The ability to work from wherever one pleases, given that they bring their computer or smartphone with them, encourages the flow of ideas. Some people have even been able to turn their hobbies into jobs, simply from the development of new media.
A NY Times article discusses this concept, explaining that "the Internet lets people exchange ideas easily and rapidly with large groups, and computing tools let people design new products cheaply."(Miller, 2009) This has been helpful for many companies looking to find new ideas from their consumers. Namely, technology companies rely on others to innovate for them. Companies will look at Twitter to see what users are saying, and take that into consideration when looking to make progress with their brands.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds
The development of virtual worlds has changed society, both positively and negatively affecting how we live. The main advantage to this technology is that since it mimics the real world, it allows for growth in many areas such as gaming, prototypes, military training, medical training, psychological therapy, astronaut training, etc. With the help of virtual reality, advancements in these fields have been made. Another area that is influenced by VR is the classroom setting, namely how it lets students apply what they learn from textbooks to life, as well as experience places and people that they might have not had the chance to otherwise. Ellis Thomas, a social studies teacher, takes his students on a virtual tour, such as that of Versailles when covering King Louis XIV. He explained that it is "pretty cool" because it is cheaper than a class trip would be to France. However, the disadvantage of this technology is that it is challenging to create a realistic virtual environment that accurately reflects our actual world. The article explains that VR is "not something you would teach with every day, it's kind of a supplement."(Earle, 2018) In addition, including and matching all the details takes a lot of time for developers. They might struggle with lag time, missing basic laws of physics, lack of acuity, and tracking systems.
Similarly, virtual reality can be a helpful tool in the workplace setting. A CNN article explains that VR technology is more effective and increases collaboration, as it offers more options than something like video conferencing. This is useful as the engaging environment fosters creativity and encourages "more ideas to come through" to the employees.(Tutton, 2009) A problem with this can be that virtual teams might have differing cultures and would need to make an effort to connect more. Another concern is that human interaction is still important for the workplace setting, so the VR program attempts to recreate those types of experiences.
Considering that the development of virtual worlds has been able to affect various segments of our society, I believe that this industry will only continue to grow. As we can see from these articles, that are almost a decade apart, people are adapting VR into new areas as innovative technologies are increasing.
Similarly, virtual reality can be a helpful tool in the workplace setting. A CNN article explains that VR technology is more effective and increases collaboration, as it offers more options than something like video conferencing. This is useful as the engaging environment fosters creativity and encourages "more ideas to come through" to the employees.(Tutton, 2009) A problem with this can be that virtual teams might have differing cultures and would need to make an effort to connect more. Another concern is that human interaction is still important for the workplace setting, so the VR program attempts to recreate those types of experiences.
Considering that the development of virtual worlds has been able to affect various segments of our society, I believe that this industry will only continue to grow. As we can see from these articles, that are almost a decade apart, people are adapting VR into new areas as innovative technologies are increasing.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Blog about Twitter
A Twitter discussion is different from a Blackboard discussion in a few ways. Namely, Twitter limits your responses to a certain number of characters. This restricts a user in how much they can say. With Blackboard, one has more freedom to express themselves, in terms of length. However, blackboard discussions tend to be more respectful of differing opinions, as it is still a school platform. On Twitter, people tend not to really care with being "proper", meaning there's more freedom in those terms.
Twitter discussions also differ from in-person discussions. In-person users have to respond in real-time and consider other factors that are not apparent for those done on twitter, such as facial expressions or the surrounding environment. This plays a role in deciding what we feel comfortable saying. For example, sometimes people are more likely to say something when they are behind a screen than they would if it were in real life. While there can be negatives to this, it can also allow people the freedom to post something online that they might feel too shy to say in-person. Therefore, the situations in which the conversations are held affect the nature of the discussions.
Twitter discussions also differ from in-person discussions. In-person users have to respond in real-time and consider other factors that are not apparent for those done on twitter, such as facial expressions or the surrounding environment. This plays a role in deciding what we feel comfortable saying. For example, sometimes people are more likely to say something when they are behind a screen than they would if it were in real life. While there can be negatives to this, it can also allow people the freedom to post something online that they might feel too shy to say in-person. Therefore, the situations in which the conversations are held affect the nature of the discussions.
Social Networking Sites
While social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn have a lot in common, they are used quite differently. Namely, Facebook is used for finding and connecting with people. For example, college classmates might add one another as friends to keep in touch with each other. This is the way I find myself using this platform. Meanwhile, people use LinkedIn for professional networking purposes, like applying to jobs or recruiting potential employees. Recently, I have applied to a few jobs using their "easy apply" function, and am just waiting to hopefully hear back from recruiters. On the other hand, Twitter's main function is allowing users to share their opinions on current events, especially about Trump's presidency. While I haven't really used Twitter in the past, I'm excited to be learning more about it through our CIS class. The main form of social networking I find myself on is Instagram. I think it is the addicting nature of the app, in that, I am constantly refreshing my feed to see the new trend or new post from the Kardashian empire.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Social Networking
Social networking technologies can be used in many ways. In the corporate world, for example, professional recruiters have found job candidates on MySpace and FaceBook (Langfitt, 2006). Similarly, LinkedIn has shown to be a game-changer for the workforce, as it allows employers to find qualified workers (Langfitt, 2006). In addition to aiding job searches, these technologies provide benefits to society. Namely, it helps us network with people who we might not have the chance to with in person. The readily available sharing of knowledge online can bring attention to various causes and help unite people.
However, there is also a "dark side" to social media. A NY Times article addresses the concerns over cyber-bullying and sexting, but more importantly, the way technology is affecting the "closeness properties of friendship"(Stout,2010). The fear is that so much time spent looking at a screen and not developing relationships in person will inhibit one from developing empathy, understanding emotional nuances, and reading social cues (Stout,2010).
In my opinion, social networking technologies might evolve to be a more prevalent feature in our future. People use social media as full time jobs now and have created a whole world out of it. While we use in now so frequently in various aspects, I believe it will only continue to grow.
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