The Next New Thing

Something straight from science fiction--affordable and safe neuraltechnology. People would be able to enter virtual worlds together and feel, literally feel, they are actually there.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

I have not added content yet, but I am planning to look for a page related to video games and work on that. I have done research about video games history, the industry, and eSports.

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is uploading something onto the internet for others to download.

P2P file sharing, or peer-to-peer file sharing is multiple people uploading the same file for others to download. The uploaders are known as seeders. These seeders hold different pieces of the file and those download receive a certain amount of data upload from each seeder.

Some examples of P2P file sharing include: installers for programs, music, and myriad other files hosted on torrent sites.

The NY Times article brings up a point about piracy. Piracy is the illegal sharing of content online through P2P file sharing sites, torrent sites. There has been some issue in regards to pirates and big corporations do not want their properties being "stolen." There is a mostly negative stigma around P2P file sharing this way, however, there are some positives. Some people speculate that piracy can actually help grow the consumer base of something being pirated.

Privacy and Confidentiality

There is a divide of people who care vehemently about their privacy being violated and those who just don't care. Surprisingly, those people who defend privacy likely don't even do things to protect themselves such as changing their password regularly. A compromised person may spread a compromised email, or social media account to one's workplace and cause troublesome damages.

Online harassment is also a topic of discussion when talking about internet privacy. Youths online are not always as safe as parents would like them to be. People are afraid of predators online that are trying to put harm to children. There are also cyber-bully peers that take advantage of those who don't speak up. Bullying, however, doesn't happen solely on the web and the "Safety-Public" article asserts that we shouldn't blame the internet.

Advice to the College

Club activity can increase with the use of new media. Using social media, a club can be promoted by having a weekly "Club of the Week," curated by students. The club could attract potential members throughout the week both online and on campus.

Professors can become more transparent with the use of new media. Professors can create a blog for what they expect from future students. This blog would have comments from verified past students. The professor and students can work together to make each page appealing.

Creativity

I believe people who are creative want to share their vision with the world. New media allows for this in a way that old media cannot. New media can definitely spread the ideas that creatives are trying to convey. Artists can share their art through art gallery sites such as DeviantArt; musicians can upload their music on streaming sites such as SoundCloud; amateur cinematographers can upload their video essays on YouTube. In the article about creators and their audience,  we see that the internet offers creatives wider coverage to express themselves, connecting them with people they may not have otherwise met, an audience. Having an audience and interacting with them becomes integral in many forms of new media.

Creativity and New Media

A video about bicycling in Brooklyn I made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcZnFfRzLZY

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds bring users to a place where they can be free to do whatever they can. Some uses for virtual worlds include: a way to interact with others for casual socializing or business meetings, a way to escape reality for homebound patients that can't experience the outside as others do, or a way to flex creativity through games such as Minecraft and Second Life.

The reasons to use virtual realities can be considers pros. In the article about the people with autism, we see that virtual worlds can help them cope with their lack of social abilities. A con, on the other hand, may be that real face-to-face human connection would be still be lacking. Virtual worlds are just putting a band-aid on the problem in the case of the autistic.

In Minecraft, worlds are built by the users, often block by block. When you consider the connection Minecraft has to Lego blocks, it's obvious that creativity is alive in this virtual world.  A person would share their marvelous build in Minecraft the same way a child would share his latest Lego creation to a parent. Some people just want to share what they've made with the world, and in virtual worlds, it is encouraged.

 In the Forbes article about "virtual world reboots," businesses are beginning to incorporate virtual worlds into practice. I believe virtual worlds will become increasingly popular especially with the rise of VR (virtual reality) in the technology industry.

Blog About Twitter

Discussions on BlackBoard definitely require a bit more thought put into it. BlackBoard is used mostly academically. Students don't want to come off as unintelligent to other classmates, and more importantly the professor. On Twitter, people often just spit out whatever is on the top of their mind. I think some people don't even reread their tweets or think twice about posting something that can damage their reputation on the web. An in-class discussion is a mix of both BlackBoard and Twitter. During these discussions people often say what's on their mind. Students that are more articulate can contribute and further a discussion.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook:
a relationship-oriented form of social media. Facebook contains everything from short text updates, pictures, and videos. Friends, friends of friends, and family all can post regular updates that are shared with you. If you are feeling extra social, you can set your profile to public for the world to see. There are many different features on Facebook including fan pages which can connect a community.

Twitter:
a short form opinion outlet of social media. Like Facebook, you can use it between your friends and family, but encourages public sharing. The web will see your thoughts if your profile is not set to private. Similar to fan pages on Facebook, famous public figures use this as a safe medium to communicate with fans.

YouTube:
a video form of social media that connects people through its use of comments and its large reach through peer sharing. Comments can be a source of discussion, but most times they are meaningless. YouTube relies heavily on user shared content and spread, so Facebook and Twitter have a mutual benefit with this website. Content creators also use this platform to make a living creating interesting, funny, or informative videos. Recently, there have been some complaints about YouTube's policies which hurt content creators.

Instagram:
a picture sharing form of social media. Content is predominantly pictures. Most times, captions are provided alongside images to give some context. Like YouTube, comments are a main form of discussion.

Social Networking

One of the more obvious ways social networking is used is for marketing. We see more and more ads targeting users, and will continue to as long as the rate of returns remains higher than average. Social networking is also great for simply networking, keeping in touch with your friends and family.

This distant communication has created a sort of divide between people. In the article, "Antisocial Networking?," the divide is highlighted through studies showing the new communication methods used as a result of social networking. The effects of this communication is a seemingly detached one.

Social networking can reveal personal things about those who use it. Some of these may be secrets that are deeply personal. The article, "How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power," tells us how Obama injected a bit of his own personal flair into his presidency. Americans were brought closer to what was once a much more distant position.

Blogs vs. Wikis

Blogs and wikis are two similar types of new media. Blogs are often a more personal means of sharing by individuals through singular posts, while wikis are a collected, participatory effort of sharing.

Wikis are not exclusively collaborative. Blogs can share links to other blogs through a blog list or links to sources throughout the internet. Bloggers may mutually benefit from shared interactions between readers or other bloggers. This kind of communication can further advance the 'networked world' through more and more sharing. In the article, "Walmart Tastemakers Write Unfiltered Blog," we see that blogging can reveal a part of the world that we normally would never have seen. An interesting fact that the article brought up was the fact that people can tell whether or not a blog is being genuine. People were more receptive to the several controversial hot takes the bloggers wrote about.

Most uses for wikis are online already. I find it difficult to think up one that hasn't been done before. There's even a wiki page FOR wikis. The Wikipedia article for wikis shows that wikis have been used for city planning projects, patent applications, and a dictionary.

What is the IMPACT of new media on the video games industry?

(i.e. games development, and marketing)

Video games have grown up alongside the boom of new media. What's interesting is that nowadays games rely heavily on new media for exposure. YouTube and its several Let's Players, Twitch.tv and its livestreamers, and viral video marketing all contribute to a game's success. This relationship between video games and new media creates a dynamic conversation with the consumer. I will examine this relationship through various new media.