One of the main new media channels that fosters my creativity is Pinterest. When I was younger and traditional media dominated new media, I used to cut out images and quotes from fashion magazines and create collages for inspiration. These collages consisted of outfits, role models and other images that would remind me what makes living worth it. I would use these collages for binder covers, as posters around my room, and make them with my friends as gifts for mutual friends.
Now, Pinterest gives me a similar outlet in my life. When I see something inspirational on the Internet, I pin it to one of my Pinterest boards. These boards are now a collection of things that I love and challenge me to chase after my dreams. I've also used it to collaborate on two separate weddings in the last year with other bridesmaids, pinning ideas for wedding decor, music playlists and dress ideas (these boards are private at the brides' discretion).
If you'd like to see my Pinterest, you can find it here.
I hope it fills you with joy and reminds you to chase after your dreams.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Creativity
One of new media's strengths compared to traditional media channels is collaboration. There is much more collaboration of ideas thanks to the accessibility of new media to common citizens, whereas in traditional media, there is a clear consumer of content and producer of content. The exchange of ideas only flows from producers to consumers, usually in exchange for the monetary value of having access to the media.
This kind of collaboration takes creativity to a new dimension. According to the New York Times article, "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers," Claire Cain Miller points out that the Internet allows a large group of people to exchange ideas easily and quickly, and computing tools give people the power to translate their ideas into a tangible form cheaply. For Twitter, this allows the consumers of the product (users of Twitter) to crowdsource ideas of how Twitter can be used, and the producers of the product (Twitter itself) to respond and put the ideas into action. For other types of content, new media allows increased collaboration between a diverse group of people.
Citations
Miller, Claire Cain. "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers." The New York Times. 25 October 2009. Web. Accessed 31 March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html?_r=0
This kind of collaboration takes creativity to a new dimension. According to the New York Times article, "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers," Claire Cain Miller points out that the Internet allows a large group of people to exchange ideas easily and quickly, and computing tools give people the power to translate their ideas into a tangible form cheaply. For Twitter, this allows the consumers of the product (users of Twitter) to crowdsource ideas of how Twitter can be used, and the producers of the product (Twitter itself) to respond and put the ideas into action. For other types of content, new media allows increased collaboration between a diverse group of people.
Citations
Miller, Claire Cain. "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers." The New York Times. 25 October 2009. Web. Accessed 31 March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html?_r=0
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Virtual Worlds
Virtual worlds may be used for a wide range of purposes. One example of this is IBM in their training programs. According to Ed Frauenheim's article, "IBM Learning Programs Get a 'Second Life'," IBM has rolled out employee orientation through virtual worlds. Especially because many younger employees grew up playing video games, a 3D simulation of the office is engaging to this generation and does not seem burdensome. This causes employees to be flexible and creative in their thinking, and take risks they normally would not in person. Globally, employees will have access to mentors all over the world and work with people across the world, seemingly face-to-face. This provides a sense of proximity and fosters relationships. One downside may be that employees do not feel the impact of the consequences of their actions.
Another use of virtual worlds is entertainment. In the article, "No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You," Ruth La Ferla comments on the resistance of virtual economies to real life recessions. Many users curtailed their spending habits in real life while ramping up their purchases on virtual reality games. People may get creative and explore what they want their lives to look like without the constraints of money. If their financial situations improve, they will already have an idea of what a rewarding way to spend their money is versus bad investments. Some pros are that during recessions, people take out their urges to live lavishly in a virtual simulation game rather than go into debt in real life. As reflected in the article, there are several anecdotes of people who trimmed down on their spending in real life while increasing spending virtually. However, one con is that people may get carried away and invest their dreams in a virtual reality site and may not see their efforts paid off in real life.
The future of virtual worlds may take cues from social media, having more of a community aspect to it. In the IBM example, people are already able to interact with other real-life people, increasing the draw of virtual reality. Perhaps in the future, as companies become increasingly global, virtual training programs will become virtual offices in which employees walk over to desks in the London office from New York for a meeting or chat.
Sources:
Frauenheim, Ed. "IBM Learning Programs Get a 'Second Life'." Workforce. 17 December 2006. http://www.workforce.com/articles/ibm-learning-programs-get-a-8216-second-life-8217
La Ferla, Ruth. "No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You." The New York Times. 21 October 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/fashion/22Avatar.html?_r=0
Another use of virtual worlds is entertainment. In the article, "No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You," Ruth La Ferla comments on the resistance of virtual economies to real life recessions. Many users curtailed their spending habits in real life while ramping up their purchases on virtual reality games. People may get creative and explore what they want their lives to look like without the constraints of money. If their financial situations improve, they will already have an idea of what a rewarding way to spend their money is versus bad investments. Some pros are that during recessions, people take out their urges to live lavishly in a virtual simulation game rather than go into debt in real life. As reflected in the article, there are several anecdotes of people who trimmed down on their spending in real life while increasing spending virtually. However, one con is that people may get carried away and invest their dreams in a virtual reality site and may not see their efforts paid off in real life.
The future of virtual worlds may take cues from social media, having more of a community aspect to it. In the IBM example, people are already able to interact with other real-life people, increasing the draw of virtual reality. Perhaps in the future, as companies become increasingly global, virtual training programs will become virtual offices in which employees walk over to desks in the London office from New York for a meeting or chat.
Sources:
Frauenheim, Ed. "IBM Learning Programs Get a 'Second Life'." Workforce. 17 December 2006. http://www.workforce.com/articles/ibm-learning-programs-get-a-8216-second-life-8217
La Ferla, Ruth. "No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You." The New York Times. 21 October 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/fashion/22Avatar.html?_r=0
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Social Networking Sites
Many social networking sites exist, sometimes for different purposes. I often use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. The homepage of any social networking site will tell you the most about what the social network offers. Facebook's News Feed contains various media through which my friends share all aspects of their life--a new photo album of spring break, a check-in at Luke's Lobster, an angry status update about class registration woes, event promotions, article links (so many article links! From developing crises in the Wall Street Journal to 33 photos of corgis on Buzzfeed) and more. My notifications on Facebook are all from friends I talk to regularly that know what is relevant to me.
On the other hand, Twitter is one continuous feed of the same media--snippets of text. Twitter is easy to digest in a different way, because upon viewing I can decide whether something is interesting and pursue further (through clicking on hashtags, links, or viewing the profiles of those who responded to the Tweet) or keep moving. Twitter acts as a modern-day RSS feed for people to quickly scroll through ideas and interests that matter to them. However, most of my friends are not on Twitter. Personal live Tweets feel much more personal on Twitter than on Facebook because big life milestones on Facebook are more comfortably shared with acquaintances than small moments and observations. All notifications are direct interactions rather than simple alerts.
Pinterest is an inspiration board for images. The homepage for Pinterest is a smattering of images that link to different articles or tutorials. Similar to Twitter, the more you actively choose what to subscribe to, the more tailored it is to your interests. I found very little explicit opinions shared on Pinterest, and what's popular is not easily seen. But most of the content is relevant to what I like--including recipes, fashion and home décor. I rarely upload original content on Pinterest as I am not a content creator (unlike on Facebook and Twitter, which are for personal use), but frequently share things that interest me.
I gave up YouTube for Lent so I could not visit it, but that is because I am too familiar with the homepage. YouTube gives equal real estate for subscribed content and trending content, so it is easy for people to discover new things. I believe things go viral more easily on YouTube because your subscriptions do not take over the entire site. Discovery is more central to YouTube than the other sites. Similar to Pinterest, I am not a content creator so I do not upload original content to YouTube very often, but I consume it in mass quantities (or did--hopefully Lent will help me take my focus off the site!).
On the other hand, Twitter is one continuous feed of the same media--snippets of text. Twitter is easy to digest in a different way, because upon viewing I can decide whether something is interesting and pursue further (through clicking on hashtags, links, or viewing the profiles of those who responded to the Tweet) or keep moving. Twitter acts as a modern-day RSS feed for people to quickly scroll through ideas and interests that matter to them. However, most of my friends are not on Twitter. Personal live Tweets feel much more personal on Twitter than on Facebook because big life milestones on Facebook are more comfortably shared with acquaintances than small moments and observations. All notifications are direct interactions rather than simple alerts.
Pinterest is an inspiration board for images. The homepage for Pinterest is a smattering of images that link to different articles or tutorials. Similar to Twitter, the more you actively choose what to subscribe to, the more tailored it is to your interests. I found very little explicit opinions shared on Pinterest, and what's popular is not easily seen. But most of the content is relevant to what I like--including recipes, fashion and home décor. I rarely upload original content on Pinterest as I am not a content creator (unlike on Facebook and Twitter, which are for personal use), but frequently share things that interest me.
I gave up YouTube for Lent so I could not visit it, but that is because I am too familiar with the homepage. YouTube gives equal real estate for subscribed content and trending content, so it is easy for people to discover new things. I believe things go viral more easily on YouTube because your subscriptions do not take over the entire site. Discovery is more central to YouTube than the other sites. Similar to Pinterest, I am not a content creator so I do not upload original content to YouTube very often, but I consume it in mass quantities (or did--hopefully Lent will help me take my focus off the site!).
Blog about Twitter
Twitter discussions are quite different from BlackBoard and in-class discussions. Twitter discussions are fast-paced as users expect a large volume of users to respond quickly, whereas BlackBoard's technology lends itself to slower response times. In addition, people may be enticed to respond on Twitter because of the short character limit--it is easy to quickly jot down a thought and then publish it, whereas BlackBoard's options for editing text and longer character limit (if any) cause users to want to put a little more thought into their posts before publishing. In-class discussions also vary from Twitter. Whereas multiple people can respond to the same original Tweet simultaneously, in-class discussions follow a linear format and only one person can respond at a time. This allows ideas to develop thoroughly, but might offer less diversity of opinion. Even though Tweets are in writing that people can re-read and take apart, the nature of Twitter allows people to express ideas quickly without filtering through too much of their stream of consciousness.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Social Networking
Social networking may be used in a variety of ways. In the workplace, social networking may be used as a way to engage consumers. Social networking can become a creative channel through which firms market to their customers and increase brand loyalty. For example, companies such as clothing brand Free People use Twitter and Pinterest to announce promotional discounts and add to their brand image. They may either interact with customers or post images and short snippets of text for their followers to read. Shake Shack is another company that uses Twitter and Instagram to generate interest by re-posting consumer submitted photos, share new locations and keep customers informed of new initiatives.
Consumers use social networking in their personal lives as well. A primary way social networking is used is to develop relationships both with people they know previously in "real life" and meet new people online. Social networks allow people to interact with others directly through personal messages, or mass-communicate new events in their lives through status updates. In the New York Times article "Being There," author Virginia Heffernan points out that status updates are similar to a "constantly updating Christmas card," that is, an outlet for others to follow people as they live their lives. This is different from real life, in which globalized cities often are not close-knit enough for news of weddings, new births and college graduations to disseminate quickly.
There are many benefits to social networking. In the article, "Is Myspace Good for Society? A Freakpnomics Quorom," Stephen J. Dubner talks about the social benefits. His team of researchers found that participation on Facebook was a precursor for a much higher amount of "social capital" compared to non-Facebook users in college. Social capital is the benefit people receive from being in relationship with each other. However, social networking is not all beneficial. Many people can be hurt from social networking, such as from cyber-bullying, divulging too much information, or replace real-life interaction with online channels, which is much less rich in interaction. These technologies may evolve to capitalize on the ad space, allowing companies to tailor advertising even more so to consumers than already. Social networking may be used in the classroom in the future to collaborate on projects, share study materials or other projects, similar to Blackboard with more collaboration.
Citations:
Heffernan, Virginia. "Being There." The New York Times. 10 February 2009. Web. Accessed 10 March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15wwln-medium-t.html
Duber, Stephen J. "Is Myspace Good for Society? A Freakpnomics Quorom." Freakonomics. 15 February 2008. Web. Accessed 10 March 2015. http://freakonomics.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/
Consumers use social networking in their personal lives as well. A primary way social networking is used is to develop relationships both with people they know previously in "real life" and meet new people online. Social networks allow people to interact with others directly through personal messages, or mass-communicate new events in their lives through status updates. In the New York Times article "Being There," author Virginia Heffernan points out that status updates are similar to a "constantly updating Christmas card," that is, an outlet for others to follow people as they live their lives. This is different from real life, in which globalized cities often are not close-knit enough for news of weddings, new births and college graduations to disseminate quickly.
There are many benefits to social networking. In the article, "Is Myspace Good for Society? A Freakpnomics Quorom," Stephen J. Dubner talks about the social benefits. His team of researchers found that participation on Facebook was a precursor for a much higher amount of "social capital" compared to non-Facebook users in college. Social capital is the benefit people receive from being in relationship with each other. However, social networking is not all beneficial. Many people can be hurt from social networking, such as from cyber-bullying, divulging too much information, or replace real-life interaction with online channels, which is much less rich in interaction. These technologies may evolve to capitalize on the ad space, allowing companies to tailor advertising even more so to consumers than already. Social networking may be used in the classroom in the future to collaborate on projects, share study materials or other projects, similar to Blackboard with more collaboration.
Citations:
Heffernan, Virginia. "Being There." The New York Times. 10 February 2009. Web. Accessed 10 March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15wwln-medium-t.html
Duber, Stephen J. "Is Myspace Good for Society? A Freakpnomics Quorom." Freakonomics. 15 February 2008. Web. Accessed 10 March 2015. http://freakonomics.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/
Monday, March 2, 2015
Blogs vs. Wikis
Blogs and wikis are both new media outlets that allow non-professional journalists and researchers to contribute information to any topic. Both types of websites can be updated with additional content when new information is available. Blogs consist of regular, dated posts, while Wikis are a decentralized authority for information. Blogs are an example of the communication aspect of the 5 c's of new media. One user, or a team of user, may continually publish content to build an archive of knowledge. On the other hand, Wikis are an example of the collaboration aspect of the 5 c's. It is similar to a whiteboard for brainstorming ideas, in which the edit history is tracked, but not a part of, the main content body.
In both types of media, bloggers and contributors both have a responsibility placed upon them. In the New York Times article, "Stung by the Perfect Sting," author Maureen Dowd describes a blogger that was legally obligated to give up her identity when she defamed Australian model Liskula Cohen. While new media allows contributors more freedom and a less costly avenue to express their thoughts, they still are accountable to their writing, and certain types of work must still abide by the law. In addition, in the New York Times article "Wikipedia Will Limit Changes to Articles on People," Noam Cohen states that Wikipedia will begin to impose reviews before large changes can be made to articles about living people. The site recognizes its growing influence and the power of information, and is as an entity taking responsibility for its content so as to limit false information from spreading.
Convergence is important in today's networked world because the sharing of information from multiple sources allows the more meaningful content to be filtered through and passed around. Professionals no longer retain control over what information or viewpoint is important. Convergence offers a way for new media to evolve and better uses to be found. In blogging, collaboration can be important. Bloggers can collaborate to give different viewpoints and options on the same subjects. For example, many blog collaborations exist in the beauty industry to promote different product lines and provide a wider range of content. Wikis can evolve in the way they are used as well. Wikis can be a useful tool in constructing a biography, a tribute from the whole family to a relative as a gift, or to document a revolution.
Citations:
Cohen, Noam. "Wikipedia Will Limit Changes to Articles on People." The New York Times. 24th August 2009. Web. Accessed 2nd March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/technology/internet/25wikipedia.html?_r=1
Dowd, Maureen. "Stung by the Perfect Sting." The New York Times. 25th August 2009. Web. Accessed 2nd March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/opinion/26dowd.html?_r=0
In both types of media, bloggers and contributors both have a responsibility placed upon them. In the New York Times article, "Stung by the Perfect Sting," author Maureen Dowd describes a blogger that was legally obligated to give up her identity when she defamed Australian model Liskula Cohen. While new media allows contributors more freedom and a less costly avenue to express their thoughts, they still are accountable to their writing, and certain types of work must still abide by the law. In addition, in the New York Times article "Wikipedia Will Limit Changes to Articles on People," Noam Cohen states that Wikipedia will begin to impose reviews before large changes can be made to articles about living people. The site recognizes its growing influence and the power of information, and is as an entity taking responsibility for its content so as to limit false information from spreading.
Convergence is important in today's networked world because the sharing of information from multiple sources allows the more meaningful content to be filtered through and passed around. Professionals no longer retain control over what information or viewpoint is important. Convergence offers a way for new media to evolve and better uses to be found. In blogging, collaboration can be important. Bloggers can collaborate to give different viewpoints and options on the same subjects. For example, many blog collaborations exist in the beauty industry to promote different product lines and provide a wider range of content. Wikis can evolve in the way they are used as well. Wikis can be a useful tool in constructing a biography, a tribute from the whole family to a relative as a gift, or to document a revolution.
Citations:
Cohen, Noam. "Wikipedia Will Limit Changes to Articles on People." The New York Times. 24th August 2009. Web. Accessed 2nd March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/technology/internet/25wikipedia.html?_r=1
Dowd, Maureen. "Stung by the Perfect Sting." The New York Times. 25th August 2009. Web. Accessed 2nd March 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/opinion/26dowd.html?_r=0
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