Next New

There are many different kinds of new media but there are always room for more. A new media I have in mind will help us on a professional level. Much like dating sites and apps, having one with professionals/recruiters and job seekers would be great. The site or app will match the professional and job seeker depending on the information they have given. They can only interact with each other if both parties agree. Also, professionals can only see those who meet their requirements. By having a match, they can chat or even do an online video interview. In order to filter out scams, each person who signs up for an account will need to provide private information of their identity.  

Wiki So Far

I have not contributed to our wiki page yet but I do have some ideas. I visited the environment category/ section and realized that there are not much information on that page. I feel strongly about the environmental issues and would like to add ways to promote environmental friendly campaigns on social media such as petitions. In addition, I want to add different successful non-profit organizations that promotes and helps the environment. I really hope to contributing to our wiki soon. 

P2P

File sharing is the practice of distributing digital media access electronically in a network such as videos, music, files, data etc. It allows a number of people to view the contents, copy it or download it. The most common file sharing is P2P, also known as Peer-to-Peer. P2P is a network that provides access to contents for anyone on that network. Most contents are a reproduction of applications. Some examples of P2P file sharing sites are PirateBay and BitTorrent.

BitTorrent is one of the most successful P2P file sharing programs. It lets users "upload and download enormous amounts of data, files that are hundreds or thousands of times bigger than a single MP3." In addition, "BitTorrent traffic accounts for more than one-third of all data sent across the internet" (Thompson). This is to show how incredible filing sharing is used. Users can receive free movies, songs and software easily by using P2P.

However, most P2P contents are copyrighted contents and it illegal to share to others, which then causes a privacy problem. Warner Brothers' "The Dark Knight" movie made an antipiracy campaign but still illegal copies were being shared and downloaded by more than millions of users (Stelter). Because the people who post such contents are anonymous, it is hard to do anything about it. In addition, YouTube, that provides live streaming, has encountered many legal disputes from copyrighted owners.

Overall, P2P is a great way find useful contents over the internet for free but the negative alternative is that it causes privacy problems.  

Work Cited

Stelter, Brian, and Brad Stone. "Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Major Hollywood Studios." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Feb. 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

Thompson, Clive. "The BitTorrent Effect ." Wired 13.01: The BitTorrent Effect. Wired, Jan. 2005. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

Privacy & Confidentiality

Privacy is an important subject regarding new media. Once something is posted online, it circulates online forever. It is also important to understand that what is posted online can be viewed by others. People tend to post personal information on social networking sites, giving strangers access to it. For instance, you may post up your birthday, work, school, current location, etc. These information can lead to online stalking in an extreme case. In addition, on Facebook, you may post up a photo of yourself or your family thinking that it is only viewed by friends. However, sometimes, friends of friends may see your posts. Most people do not read the privacy agreement before accepting it and may not be aware of how their information is being used. Privacy and confidentiality can raise many issues for new media sites.  

Advice

If I was hired by Baruch College to use new media to improve the college, I would increase student interaction. We have Blackboard as a way to interact with professors and students from the same section and class. However, we can make a community where only students from the same class but different section interact with each other. This can help increase the amount of people that can help each other with a certain subject. They would be able to discuss the subject/topic online and have video chats to study together. Moreover, an online social community for students would be great too. On this social site, there will be different sections listed for a different purpose such as upcoming events, specific subjects, and even posts on finding roommates for an apartment. All students can interact on this online community. This will bring students to be more involved in their school and make new friends.

Creativity and New Media

New media helps foster creativity. Second Life is a virtual world in which you live your life as your avatar. I created an avatar based on my imagination and creativity. In Second Life, I am able to tell my avatar to do anything I want. What I normally cannot do in real life, I am able to do in Second Life because my avatar does not limit me to my abilities. Below is a screenshot of my avatar in Second Life. I am a vampire that is flying in the sky. By using the new media tool, I am able to recreate myself virtually. 

Creativity

New ideas are fostered from existing ideas. When Twitter first started, they did not have lists or retweets. The idea came up only after monitoring users. Also, in 2007, they were reluctant to start the "#" symbol to mark conversations but it became popular and Twitter users adapted on a fast pace. Moreover, Flickr started as an online game and then suddenly changed to a photo sharing media because it has a higher demand based on their consumers. Social media of today let users exchange ideas very easily and let the companies see what they can improve on. Ideas generated on new media leads to an even greater idea from another person. Thus, new media fosters creativity because there is always someone who tries to improve on the current media.

Work Cited

Miller, Claire C. "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 25 Oct. 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.