CLASS WIKI - SO FAR

I was originally an editor on the Social Networking topic so added pictures and logos to certain sections but at the same time, I collaborated by adding information to other topics' sections.
*I added the section "Google Introduces Android" under Marketing and Advertising using New Media.
*Added something about LinkedIn under the How Business Is Using Social Networking section and I linked it to someone else's post about LinkedIn's description.
*Added the section "New Media in TV", concerning TiVO, under New Media in Entertainment.

SOMEONE ELSE'S TERM PROJECT COMMENTS

I chose to comment on Pedro's term presentation which was about P2P file sharing. I believed he clearly discussed important points about P2P file sharing. He explain what Utorrent and demonoin.com was which I personally didn't even know about even though I do download files from other programs and websites. He also discussed the different network generations such as napster which is a server client program, and Gnutella which doesn't use a central server. He also spoke about Limewire and how people prefer downloading music from programs like that because they can listen to samples and preview what they are getting, even though they are going against the copyright laws. However, I believe P2P file sharing in the music industry is a good thing specially for new artists who want to be known.
He discussed the Piratebay case, which I didn't know if and it was about this website was shut down for days due to copyright infringement and how its creators were sentenced to jail and fined for it, even though the site went back online and was not shut again.
What I remember the most from his presentation, that he asked when was the last night someone bought a CD, and I believe a lot of us just said that we download music instead.

MY TERM PROJECT PRESENTATION

My term project's title was "Facebook: Social Networking or Social Threat?". It basically covered the benefits of using a social networking site, in this case, Facebook. People benefit from it because they can keep in touch with old friends and make new ones. It's also considered a helpful way for people with low self-steem or people who have communication problems to make new friends. Nowadays, not only students have joined but also employers and people from different communities. However, according to a study made by some students from Pace University, 80% of students use Facebook.
I also discussed the many uses of this site, which studies state that most of its users use it to view photos, as procrastination and to check up on girlfriends/boyfriends.
The most significant negative aspects of this online site include the dangers of stalking, sexual harassment, spreading of fake rumours, spam, and computer viruses. Moreover, university and employers' surveillance is also becoming an important thing to consider when using these sites because administrators are starting to use it as well and students have gotten in trouble for different reasons. Examples include:
• Fisher College - a student was expelled after posting a critique of a campus police officer on Facebook
• Trinity University - A graduating senior lost a job offer to work for Disney after her info on her Facebook account contradicted her interview answers
• The Facebook postings of 3 Alabama college students accused of burning down churches will be used as evidence in their upcoming charges.
Furthermore, I discussed the privacy issues and the Terms of Use of the site, which in summary state that the information that every users posts on the site, will belong to them even if the user decides to cancel the account. This means, that information might be shared with third parties.

For these reasons, my conclusions are that we all need to be careful on the kind of information that we post online and always read the Terms of Use.

THE NEXT NEW THING

Being late due to NYC transportation is very common. For that reason, I would love to have a new media form that allows me to know at what exact time each train is going to arrive at my station, or at a specific station, sent directly to my cell phone... This would be a great tool or feature that could help everyone to plan ahead or take a cab if the train is taking forever to arrive to a certain station due to any inconvenience such as sick passenger, train traffic, or anything else. I would assume that this new media form could be introduced by merging MTA communication tools and some sort of Google feature or Cell phone service provider feature, in order to determine where a certain train is and how long is it going to take it to get to the next train stop. Of course, I guess I would have to pay for this service in order to select the station and time periods I would want to receive alerts for but I'm sure it will save me a lot of trouble on a daily basis.

ADVICE TO BARUCH COLLEGE

I am pretty satisfied by the new media forms currently used by Baruch College. However, I would like to suggest that all Departments/Professors change their required textbooks to textbooks that have an online interactive version as well and if possible online support. I think this is a great idea since it will be easier for the students who don't want to carry a heavy textbook and for the ones who doesn't want to pay a high price for a textbook that will only be used for a semester. This will also be very helpful for the students who need help on a specific subject by having books that offer online tutorials since SACC doesn't offer tutoring for every single class.

OLD vs. NEW

The most significant way of distinguishing new media from old media is by being able to identify if convergence, communication, collaboration, creativity, and community are part of it. Old media like newspapers, and TV were controlled by their private owner company. And even though those media forms turned into online versions of newspapers and Tivo, users are able to comment on the different articles published or on the TV show being watched. Nowadays, pretty much every time we are online, we are using different forms of new media such as blogs (which I'm using right now), wikis, social networking, P2P file sharing, among others. We are able to identify the 5 Cs of new media in these media forms mostly because they all depend on their users' collaborations, and every opinion and contribution counts.
New Media also differs from old media though the speed that the information is sent and received. New media forms allows faster sharing of information. Old media forms turned into new media forms by having books available in online versions, journalism is seen through blog posts, radio can be heard through podcasts, telephone/email/internet thorough mobile devices such as Blackberry phones, photography sharing through Flickr, and now even socializing through Facebook and other social networking websites.

MODELING REALITY WITH VIRTUAL WORLDS

Virtual worlds are considered as a representation of the reality but simpler. It involves creativity, time and space for the most part. People get involve in their "second lives" while being part of different communities, living in different places, meeting other people, and doing other things which sometimes they can't do in real life. Virtual worlds can be used to simulate situations that some people are afraid or won't dare to try. The benefits involved with this technology are that it can help people overcome their fear for social interaction and it could help them to become more open to new situations and experiencing new things on their "second life" which might eventually lead them to try them on real life after experiencing them on a virtual world. I support the points discussed on our asssigned reading and think that it would be great if it was proven that virtual worlds can help people with autism and that these techonologies serve as something good to society such as giving people with autism the opportunity to communicate and socially interact in these way. I actually think that this would be a good therapy for them. iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction by Nicole Saidi, CNN, March 28, 2008. available from: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html#cnnSTCText, “Autism, more precisely the autism spectrum, is a range of brain disorders that can cause difficulties in social interaction, communication and behavior…. Bignell, known in-world as Milton Broome, said Second Life is an uncharted but promising area for new applied psychological research. Virtual reality can be used to simulate new environments for people on the autistic spectrum, he said. "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 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."