Friday, October 19, 2012
Social Networking
Both large corporations and small business can benefit from utilizing social networking in their business models. They can interact with their customers by receiving feedback, introduce new products in a cheaper way than traditional advertising campaigns, and target their customers more easily. Also, politicians can also use social networks like Facebook and Twitter as the article, "How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power," talks about, to boost their campaigns, raise money, and let a wide audience know why they should vote for him. In personal usage, social networks allow people to keep in touch with their friends and family, share ideas and photos, and even to avoid certain people as well. Instead of obtaining news from traditional media outlets, social networking works at a much faster but is less specific in terms of content because there are character or word restrictions. This aspect encourages Twitter users, for example, to use shortened URLs instead of full length ones to share articles and images.
One of the dark sides of social networking, in reference to the article, "Dictionary word of the year: 'Unfriend'," by Doug Gross, is that interaction between friends (or who used to be friends) becomes electronic and artificial. Misunderstandings may occur based on a Facebook status or a relationship status change. Friendships can be completely ruined because of the ambiguity that social networking offers. One of the most pressing problems of social networking is the idea of privacy and if it is possible to retain at all. I think a good rule of thumb to follow is to not post anything online that you wouldn't want the world to see because everything published online belongs to the public domain.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Blogs vs. Wikis
Compare and contrast blogs and wikis. Comment on the importance of convergence in today's networked world. How can blogs be used for collaboration? Can you think of a new use for a wiki that has not been done yet?
Blogs are useful for forming a community and getting feedback about a certain topic. They allow the blogger to express whatever it is they want to in terms of daily occurrences, opinions, current events, and countless other subjects that are of interest. Blogs can also be a relevant tool for all kinds of businesses. The article "Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write a Blunt and Unfiltered Blog," from the New York Times, focuses on the company's blog that permits merchants to review products. Another use of blogs is to bring a group of people together who live in the same neighborhood or area who have similar goals to collaborate on how to improve their community ("Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid" by Michael Wilson).
A wiki is usually a webpage or a set of webpages that inform people of factual information on a topic. Most wikis are open-source and can be edited by anybody. The ones that restrict access may belong to governmental agencies and other organizations that wish to share information in a closed environment, as in the example of Diplopedia, which is available to State Department employees.
Convergence is important in today's network world because all sorts of information is available and is dynamic. All the content on the Internet is susceptible to development and change. People from all around the world can communicate with each other, collaborate on the same blogs and wikis, and in turn, the Internet becomes a significant realm, or even universe, of knowledge. The Internet is its own global culture; everyone who has access to it can also make a difference by contributing to it.
It's challenging to think of a use for a wiki that doesn't already exist. Wikipedia by itself covers such a broad (understatement) range of topics but I will update this post if I do think of an example.
Blogs are useful for forming a community and getting feedback about a certain topic. They allow the blogger to express whatever it is they want to in terms of daily occurrences, opinions, current events, and countless other subjects that are of interest. Blogs can also be a relevant tool for all kinds of businesses. The article "Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write a Blunt and Unfiltered Blog," from the New York Times, focuses on the company's blog that permits merchants to review products. Another use of blogs is to bring a group of people together who live in the same neighborhood or area who have similar goals to collaborate on how to improve their community ("Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid" by Michael Wilson).
A wiki is usually a webpage or a set of webpages that inform people of factual information on a topic. Most wikis are open-source and can be edited by anybody. The ones that restrict access may belong to governmental agencies and other organizations that wish to share information in a closed environment, as in the example of Diplopedia, which is available to State Department employees.
Convergence is important in today's network world because all sorts of information is available and is dynamic. All the content on the Internet is susceptible to development and change. People from all around the world can communicate with each other, collaborate on the same blogs and wikis, and in turn, the Internet becomes a significant realm, or even universe, of knowledge. The Internet is its own global culture; everyone who has access to it can also make a difference by contributing to it.
It's challenging to think of a use for a wiki that doesn't already exist. Wikipedia by itself covers such a broad (understatement) range of topics but I will update this post if I do think of an example.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
What Is New Media?
What kinds of technologies are part of the new media? How important is the Internet to the new media? Why and how are the new media replacing and / or enhancing the old media?
Examples of technologies that are part of new media include: smartphones, tablets, E-readers, user-generated content (Youtube, blogs, Wikipedia, and Instagram), and social networks (Twitter and Facebook). The Internet is crucial to new media because most, if not all, these new technologies depend on an internet connection to operate. The World Wide Web allows countless ideas and content (videos, publications, opinion pieces, images, etc.) to circulate around the world in a digital "cloud", which are accessible to anyone who may interested in looking for them. I would say that the Internet is the driving force of new media and, without it, the Digital Age would come to a standstill.
One reason new media are replacing old media is because devices such as tablets, smartphones, and E-Readers are capable of so much more than just delivering news. There are thousands of apps that can be downloaded, each of them serving their specific function, and adds convenience and productivity into the person who uses the device. Also, publishing news onto a website is cheaper and more easily updated than printing news by using a printing press. News companies can report breaking news via an article or even a headline on their websites. Many Facebook and Twitter users get their local or national news from status updates on the social networks, and may not even need to consult a more "credible" source sometimes.
In Andrew Savikas's article, "Don't Fear New Technologies," the author writes that "It's ironic that we're so bad at dealing with change, because it's something we face constantly--though arguably never before at the current rate." In essence, we have to embrace new media in order to keep up with the times. It is inevitable that technology will improve, maybe at a quicker pace than we can handle.
Examples of technologies that are part of new media include: smartphones, tablets, E-readers, user-generated content (Youtube, blogs, Wikipedia, and Instagram), and social networks (Twitter and Facebook). The Internet is crucial to new media because most, if not all, these new technologies depend on an internet connection to operate. The World Wide Web allows countless ideas and content (videos, publications, opinion pieces, images, etc.) to circulate around the world in a digital "cloud", which are accessible to anyone who may interested in looking for them. I would say that the Internet is the driving force of new media and, without it, the Digital Age would come to a standstill.
One reason new media are replacing old media is because devices such as tablets, smartphones, and E-Readers are capable of so much more than just delivering news. There are thousands of apps that can be downloaded, each of them serving their specific function, and adds convenience and productivity into the person who uses the device. Also, publishing news onto a website is cheaper and more easily updated than printing news by using a printing press. News companies can report breaking news via an article or even a headline on their websites. Many Facebook and Twitter users get their local or national news from status updates on the social networks, and may not even need to consult a more "credible" source sometimes.
In Andrew Savikas's article, "Don't Fear New Technologies," the author writes that "It's ironic that we're so bad at dealing with change, because it's something we face constantly--though arguably never before at the current rate." In essence, we have to embrace new media in order to keep up with the times. It is inevitable that technology will improve, maybe at a quicker pace than we can handle.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Project Description
My research topic is about Twitter and its positive and negative effects on society. Twitter's popularity has risen in the past few years. For my project, I plan to analyze the different ways (sociologically, politically, and economically) that this form of new media impacts social interaction and make conclusions based on my research into how Twitter has been used to accomplish different goals. I will also look into the way Twitter users are segmented demographically and if certain means of using Twitter are more effective than others. Hopefully, my topic will be narrowed down a bit more before I commence my research.
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