Our Class Wiki- So Far

Our class wiki has been an interesting assignment. I do appreciate the concept of maintaining a wiki between the New Media students. I signed up for New Media in Entertainment and I've added information regarding new media and the ways they've been used by entertainers and for entertainment. For example, Twitter has a pretty decent celebrity population, who choose to update their non-celebrity followers with news regarding their lives. I try to add whatever new or interesting information I come across regarding New Media and Entertainment.

I see a lot of information in the other categories on the wiki that I find pretty interesting. I didn't know how new media applied to healthcare, transportation, politics, etc. Some of the information found in the categories have been informative and educating. The information on Obama's use of new media I found to be really cool because it's one of the reasons why I like him so much. He has really reached outside the box in his campaign efforts and I feel he really tries to connect to the people, which includes us younger folk.

SOMEONE ELSE'S TERM PROJECT PRESENTATION

Jackson's presentation on SecondLife was really enjoyable. He talked about how schools have used SecondLife which I thought was something Baruch should try doing (like the appointments between students and professors) because it is convenient and less formal. He talked about business use and pointed out that car companies can show their models and allow them to be customized which I thought was cool. You can have a virtual preview without having to leave your home. He showed IBM's islands/buildings, and several other things. I'm not a member of SecondLife, but his presentation has definitely raised my interest. The fact that you can "work," and earn Linden dollars, socialize with people from all over and take part in more serious causes, all in program is pretty incredible. His presentation was very interesting and entertaining and I thought he did a great job.

My Term Research Project

Annie and I presented our project last Thursday (the 7th). Our assignment was on online consumers and businesses. As I was researching I found material pertaining to merchants and being that we're at a business school, I thought it was good information to share. I thought the innovative ways they use, or the ways recommended for use (like blogs, podcasts, etc), were really cool because it looked like they were really trying to connect to their consumer base through all means. And because our topic was really pro/con based, I had to share the cons (like expenses) as well. I probably did talk about businesses a little too much but I was trying to incorporate both businesses and individuals, and I found it a little hard to pick and choose what to include. The consumer pros included things that a lot of us knew about, and maybe a few other unknowns. But it's good to shine light on things we take for granted once in a while. Unfortunately I did have to read from my notes because of my shyness. I knew my information but being up there makes me jumble my thoughts so I felt more "secure" by staring at my paper =\ Anyway, I thought our presentation was decent, but perhaps we should've incorporated more new media usage and/or more consumer focus.

THE NEXT NEW THING

The next new thing may be some sort of application or site in which people can link others to related interests. Users can use this new medium to locate the best deals for food, movies, clothes, etc. in specific areas. They can continue with the sharing of news, information, updates, and such. They can use the site to promote events or causes, allow people to meet and share ideas, etc. I feel word of mouth is an important aspect when it comes to new media, and something that can allow people to come together to discuss or relay information on many, if not all, categories (entertainment, dining, politics, etc) would truly catch on like wildfire.

Advice to Baruch College

Some suggestions I would make to improve Baruch College would be to definitely incorporate Second Life into our academic environment. It is truly an innovative way to hold classes, and even meetings. The online environment makes it more fun for students, spiking their interests. It also may be more convenient in that students wouldn't have to commute for their class. As for meetings, if students have a group project or if professors want to set up meetings with students outside of class, Second Life may be useful for those purposes as well.

Another suggestion that may be beneficial to Baruch would be to incorporate the Student newspaper in a blog or wiki form. News and information can be shared several times a day. Of course, that doesn't mean everyone in the student body will contribute but there can be sections where students can share information or such [like a wiki answer], sharing new trends, deals, etc.

The biggest different between new media and old media lies in the fact that new media is linked to technology. Old media items come in the form of books, newspapers, face to face interaction, letters, and mail, etc. There's usually only one party who provides information and everyone else more or less just accepts it. There are a limited amount of people who take part in information sharing and such. New media on the other hand uses technology to reach the masses. There are little to no geographic limitations in new media; people are able to connect for personal or business purposes without having to be face to face or in the same vicinity. People collaborate in sharing and editing information and sharing experiences. People are able to share photos, news, and trends within a day. And, people can use new media to meet new people and discover new things that would normally not be possible had these new doorways been open. To distinguish between old and new media, you should see if the information, item, activity, etc. is linked to technology in any way. And also see if it is accessible by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Does it also permit user input including modification or suggestions? These are the typical aspects of new media that old media tends to lack.

MODELING REALITY WITH VIRTUAL WORLDS

Virtual worlds, such as the popular Second Life, are a significant part of new media. They can be used just for entertainment (i.e.: video game), they can be used to meet new people, or another way of interacting with friends you already have. Virtual worlds can also be used to teach, that is, people with shared interests can have a meeting area in which actual lessons ranging from a variety of topics can be taught at a specified time. It can help people improve on their social skills, especially if they are shy or have trouble communicating. Virtual worlds can be used by business organizations to conduct meetings, which is particularly useful if you want to communicate with team members who are spread around the country or world. Businesses can also use virtual worlds to conduct orientations and training sessions. An example of this comes from the article. “IBM Learning Programs Get a ‘Second Life.” The article states, “New IBM employees separated by thousands of miles will be able to mingle, interact and share ideas in the virtual world before their first day on the job.” “They can learn real-life working skills such as signing up for benefits, developing code as part of a global team, and ramping up sales skills before they meet with IBM clients.”

Virtual world technology is beneficial to society in that it provides convenience, ease, innovation, and even help. If a school or business wants to host a class, or training, it would be convenient to just turn on your computer and be connected without having to travel. Since virtual worlds provide an innovative way to socialize or train/learn, they appeal to large groups of people because people are attracted to the unconventional methods used. And as for help, virtual worlds can make people with low self esteem feel better because they aren’t judged, they can help those with serious socializing problems learn to deal, they can give people who are unable to move or function completely the chance to do so via the virtual world, they can provide language assistance, and the list goes on. An example of one of the ways virtual worlds provide help is shown through the article, “iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction." It states, “For people with autism, we've found it's a very nice way of setting up situations they might come across in their everyday lives," Bignell [a psychology researcher] said. "For people who have social, emotional, communicational problems ... we can get them familiar with an environment before they actually try it out in real life."

The dark side of virtual worlds would have to be, when used for more serious or professional reasons, there’s a limit as to what can be done. Everything in the virtual world is simulated, which can hinder actual real life performance. You may learn to deal with certain situations but not everything can be truly learned through the virtual world.

I think virtual worlds will continue to grow while technology grows. As more and more of our society become technologically advanced, things like virtual worlds may become the norm. And it will lead to some new, unique technology being developed.