HW Creativity

New media definitely gives people many ways to be creative. A popular example is the creation of parodies and mashups. This method of creativity allows people to reiterate popular songs or create a music video, or videos in general, that would match and be shown with the songs they choose to create a parody of. The use of different clips from tv shows or other videos is called a mashup. In the article Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why? by Brooks Barnes is an example of how and why these mashups are made. Barnes talks specifically about the use of Disney characters and snippets as well as Disney's corporation response to these mashups. The snippets from Disney movies and tv shows mashed together to make it seem like the characters are singing along to songs that are a whole different genre than Disney songs is humorous. For this reason people create these videos. The entertainment these videos provide is loved by many people which can be concluded by the amount of views these mashups and parodies get.

Creativity and New Media

 For my imagination, I created a model-looking version if myself on IMVU, which stands for Instant Messaging Virtual Universe. If you haven't heard of it, it's very similar to second life. You make your own avatar and roam around the virtual worlds which is composed of many different rooms such as your penthouse, in which you start off in. I have created my avatar to my liking. I first went to the IMVU website online and followed the steps in creating my avatar. I was able to choose my hair color, hair style, eye color, clothing, shoes, and accessories. After I finished, I was redirected to the desktop page of IMVU which shows many options that you can choose to do as you can see. On IMVU, you can shop for clothing and upgrades on rooms, and even purchase marriage packages which allows you to "marry" other IMVU users. You can join live rooms which users host and it is basically scenarios the hosts makes up or chooses to allow other to join and be able to chat in. It's very fun and allows for your creativity to be displayed in the virtual world which seems realistic although it is not.
 
 

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment where many users can create personal avatars and virtually interact with other in different scenarios. One way virtual worlds can be used is for work. In the article Going to the virtual office in Second Life by Mark Tutton, he talks about how companies began using virtual worlds to hold conferences due to the 2008 recession causing cuts in travel budgets. Some pros that were mentioned in the article by a user said virtual worlds saved travel time and because of the engaging environment, more ideas came through. Other tools in virtual worlds also let users collaborate on projects online. On the other hand, some cons are that "...people mess up because they think that what works in a face-to-face environment also works in a virtual environment" said Surinder Kahai. Another con is that virtual teams can't take advantage of the kind of impromptu "water cooler" conservations that occur in a real workplace when, for example, a colleague has forgotten to communicate some things in the meetings. Aside from work use, virtual worlds can also be used for regular socialization with friends or strangers. The article I've Been in That Club Just Not in Real Life by Dave Itzkoff talks about how virtual worlds can also be used to imitate neighborhoods and places such as restaurants and clubs where users can experience it online. Some pros of using virtual worlds for this purpose was that "There were no imperious bouncers or foul odors to contend with, and no fluids of any kind expectorated on my shoes" said Dave. By using virtual worlds to experience outside environments you don't have to undergo the uncomfortable things that come along with it such as over populated areas. Aside from the pros, there are also cons which include not getting the full experience of being in actual location in which you are virtually in. It is not the same being in Katz Delicatessen online and being there in person. Virtual worlds also can't completely copy an environment or neighborhood fully so you might not feel like you are there in person decreasing your experience in virtual worlds. Using virtual worlds foster much creativity by allowing people to choose where they want to be whenever they want just through a computer. By allowing users to create personal avatars, they are given more of an opportunity to be creativity on how they want other users to view them physically. I think the future of virtual worlds will look more and more realistic as well as the inclusion of more tools that allow users to do more than just talk and walk around.

Blog about Twitter

Twitter discussions and blackboard discussions are very different in the way they are accessed as well as the way the content it includes and is displayed. Twitter discussions are a touch of an app away that appear right away on your screen. These discussions are less used for educational purposes than blackboard discussions are. Trends, political topics, comedic content, and other topics besides school related subjects are talked about amongst people. On a similar note, threads exist both on twitter and blackboard just displayed different. Specific topics aren't separated into sections like it is on blackboard making discussions more open on twitter than on blackboard. In-class discussions are a little more harder to keep up on blackboard than on twitter because it's more work to access a discussion. You have to click a few things before actually getting to the discussion. On twitter, you simply search it up and it appears. Twitter, overall, is a more efficient, less complicated way to access information and discussions, for example.

Social Networking Sites

As a daily social networking site user, all platforms are unique in their own although provide similar services. Four sites that are popular today are facebook, twitter, instagram and snapchat.  Starting with facebook, when you first log in, you see a feed with facebook stories that your "friends" post followed by posts that they post on the feed that automatically appear on your news feed page. These include pictures, videos, and writing posts. Facebook also suggests post based on previous videos you have clicked on. Memories are shared as well as trending news or posts pop up on your feed. Other tabs include facebook watch, notifications, marketplace and facebook groups. Facebook has more of an older crowd nowadays compared to other social networking sites. Similarly, when you first open up twitter, tweets and tweets retweeted as wells as replies to tweets made by the people you follow show on your feed. The content on twitter differs from that on facebook in the way that twitter users are more open and, I think, humorous. I think it's because majority of twitter users are of younger age. Tabs on twitter include a search page where you can search for specific topics you want to read about, notifications tab, and direct messages tab where you can communicate with other tweeters. Instagram, on the other hand, focuses more on the use of pictures. All instagram posts are images. People can like and comment on people's post while sharing, in visual representation, what they want instagram users to know. Scrolling on Instagram becomes non-stop because there are an infinite amount of posts. Instagram also has stories where people can post videos and pictures only people who click on it will be able to view. Instagram also introduced instagram live where people can go live and broadcast real-time video of themselves or whatever on the app. A big thing on instagram is followers. People can follow you and you can follow them back making every post of theirs appear on your feed automatically. Last but not least, snapchat is quite different from all these sites. Snapchat is mostly used to send "snaps" which are pictures or videos that go away after the person(s) you sent it to opens it. Snapchat is also like texting because you can also communicate with other through words. Snapchat's big thing is also snapchat stories. All the people you have friended on snapchat and have accepted you post pictures or videos that they want everyone who has added them to see. There are filters you can use that are also popular on snapchat. Snapchat users, majority, are younger than users of other sites.

Blog Social networking

Social networking has become a big part of society today. It is used for communication around the world or across the room, dating, job hunting, and many other things. On example how these technologies can be used is for job hunting, which has become a common way nowadays to find individuals who may fit the position an employer is looking for or, from another perspective, an individual looking for a job. In the article Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting, Maureen Crawford-Hentz, a recruiter for Osram Sylvania, says how easy and efficient it was to find a person who fit the requirements for the position she was looking to fill. "Typing keywords into a search engine, Crawford can scrape the entire network to dig out high-quality candidates that she can't find elsewhere." This is a great example of how social networking has made it easier to recruit because you can apply filters, for example, on a website used to look for future employees, to aid in the search for the right individual to join a company.Along with  the many ways social networking can be used, it is also beneficial to society. Social networking, one way, allows for easier and more worldwide networking. Not only can you meet people in your area but also people in other countries that you would have never imagined being able to communicate with. These connections make for great relationships that can benefit you in the future. Aside from the many benefits social networking brings to society, it also has negative affects. One example is a platform for scammers to commit more fraud and steal from people through the web. In NBC'S article on Multi-million dollar scam being used on Facebook, an example is given on how scammers try to lure facebook users on marketplace to buy a vehicle, in this example, by using a known website used to sell and buy such as e-bay. These scammers send fake invoices to the customer's emails and from there attempt to entice them to make online transactions to disguised accounts. These crooks try to convince costumer's that it is safe to make these purchases by disguising as popular websites and emails that will make the costumer believe it is actually the company they are buying from. In the future, the evolvement if social networking I believe will bring even more benefits but also have negative impacts on society. With many daily activities being transformed to the digital world such as the metro-card less subway is making daily living more efficient. On the negative perspective, social networking makes us more vulnerable to crime and less face-to-face interaction.