Next New Thing

A new type of media would be a social media platform used solely for classroom or school-wide activities.  Sure students and educators can use available social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to communicate, but I feel like the mix of academics with social life often leads to distractions and unfinished work.  This new type of social media would provide students and educators ways to communicate privately as well as share different types of media with one another.  Collaborative work would be done more easily, free of distractions.  School events can also be communicated using this media and input can be shared within the group.  This would make scheduling and preparation a lot more convenient.

WIKI So Far

In contributing to our class wiki, I have added a 13-line paragraph in the "New Media in Sports" section.  My paragraph was about fantasy basketball and since I have experience in this topic, I decided to share what I know and also research more about it.
I also shared a 14-line paragraph about Twitter in the "New Media in Advertising" section.  Since I've done my research paper on Twitter, I had information to share about this topic.

P2P

File sharing is the practice of transmitting files from one computer to another over a network or the Internet.  P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing allows users to access media files using a P2P software program that searches for other connected computers on a P2P network to locate the desired content.  An example of P2P file sharing protocol includes BitTorrent, which shares film, video, music & audio, television, and computer applications.  Other examples include DistriBrute, Tribler, Pando, and Peercasting.  P2P sharing can also lead to pirating of films that have been released only recently in theaters.  According to Stelter and Stone's NYT article, "Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios," "The Dark Knight" movie had been put online by anonymous pirates for millions of Internet users to view.

Advice

Baruch College could really benefit from different uses of new media.  Social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn could be used more regularly as a method of communication among peers as well as staff.  Peers could discuss their classes with each other so they become more involved and engaged in their classes.  Staff could also help each other by determining the most efficient way of teaching lessons to their students.  New media can also be used to update students about school events, facility open hours, and other news.

Privacy & Confidentiality

The rise of the new media age results in the sudden loss of privacy and confidentiality.  It seems as if we traded our privacy for convenience and commercial profit from the technology of our media.  Records are computerized by our government as well as by private companies.  Although this does prevent criminals from certain liberties, many people are stripped of their privacy.  Other invasive methods of the new media age include personal information on social media, credit card use, bar coding, and services that show our location.  With all of these factors publicizing our private lives, confidentiality and privacy are being compromised.

Creativity and New Media

To create this image, I first used an app called Framin' which allowed me to frame multiple pictures together.  I inserted one picture on the top half and one on the bottom.  This app allows me to upload the new image I created onto Instagram, which I did.  Then, I used the "Mayfair" filter on Instagram to change the lighting of the image.  I also added a caption to go along with my picture.  In the caption, I used emoticons and hashtags to supplement the text.  Finally, I posted the image and it automatically appears on my followers' home page.

Creativity

New media fosters creativity by allowing consumers to come up with new ideas.  Many start-up companies allow the consumers of their newly-made product to come up with ideas for their products while they wait on the side to oversee mass appeal.  For example, after realizing that their photo-sharing feature was more popular than their game, the founders of Flickr scrapped the game and created Flickr the way it is now.  According to Claire Miller's NYT article, "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers," the founders of Twitter incorporated many of its features through consumer ideas and feedback.  Examples include the hashtag "#" symbol to mark conversation topics and the "@" symbol to refer to other users.  The sharing and suggestion of ideas have been more popular through the use of new media, thereby allowing more creativity.