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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.