The Next New Thing

It is difficult to come up with something that does not exist when so many great things we never imagined do exist. Everything that I could think of would become too much of a privacy issue. However, I think Facebook could possibly have some room to make new innovations. My idea is for Facebook. If facebook could develop something like a cyber world where you could form something like a chat room and use webcams to communicate. Facebook currently only really allows you to find people you know somehow whether it be through a friend or network. If they created chat rooms based on certain topics then people could meet others that they would otherwise not meet. Using a webcam makes it more personal. The only other idea that I could think of would be to create an Application to Vote for elections. Im sure this would not be an easy task because it needs to be secured that it is one person and the right person voting. I can see this working where you need to enter your social security and even some sort of a fingerprint. I think voting was made easier then more people would vote.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

I have not contributed to the class Wiki, but I am signed up for New Media in Financial Markets. Every aspect of our culture has been influenced by New Media, and Financial Markets are definitely not left out. People are able to get information regarding their stocks and investments right to the phone. In addition, news programs such as CNN have twitters where they tweet recent activities. Investopedia is just like Wikipedia, but only for financial information. Also, there are countless blogs that can be found about people’s interests in the financial markets, their predictions, and criticisms. All of these features are fairly new to our society and should not be taken for granted.

P2P File Sharing

File sharing has become a growing concern in the Internet world. File sharing is basically the act of sharing or giving access to files in forms of software, pictures, videos, music, documents, etc. File sharing can be done through web based hyperlinks, P2P, or through networks. P2P file sharing is the most practical form of file sharing that is accessible to all of us in our homes. It is how people for example download illegal music. It is file sharing through software applications, where it does not require a client-server network design. In the article, “The BitTorrent Effect” by Clive Thompson he gives a good example of a P2P program called BiTorrent. This site enables users to download huge amounts of data that normally would take hours in just a few minutes. Orinally it was developed for people to trade Linux software online. However, it has transformed into a site that have over 20 million users who use it to download television shows, movies, and software.

Privacy & Confidentiality

Privacy and Confidentiality are huge issues that arise through new technology. It is extremely important not to disclose any information that can be used for a potential hacker to steal your identity or even for people to stalk you. In my terrm paper I talked a little bit about this issue using Facebook. Just by knowing your location, age, and not much other information a savy hacker can figure out your Social Security Number. After that, it is downhill. It is so important to protect yourself from this, and keep all your information on Facebook private. Do not disclose anything that could make you a target, and only add people that you know on Facebook.

Advice to Baruch College

My Advice to Baruch College on implementing new media would be the use of twitter and YouTube. Twitter can be an easy and simple way for teachers to make announcements. For instance, a teacher could have a twitter that was strictly for professional use and tweet to different sections about updates. I think this would be beneficial to the students as well because we often check twitter rather than our E-mails if they are not connected to our phones.
I think YouTube can also be used by teachers to record their classes and post them using YouTube. This would be great for students who missed a class or want to clarify certain information. I think it would be extremely beneficial to students that English is not their first language. I see many students now that record the class on their phones because they often cannot keep up with note taking. This could be a really big help.

About my Term Research Paper

I did my term research project on the positive and negative effects of Facebook. I chose this topic because I have been an active user of Facebook since almost its beginning. Being such an active member, I have seen the way Facebook has evolved over the years and it is quite interesting to me. I did my research using the Database provided by the Baruch Library mostly EbscoHost as well as internet sources such as Forbes, CNN, etc. I did learn things I did not know about Facebook such as the extent of Facebook bullying has come to, and the future plans for Facebook’s layout. I ultimately came to the conclusion that Facebook is here to stay and the postive outweighs the negative for most people.

I have joined Sims Social on Facebook, which is similar to the Second Life that we learned about. Here, First I was able to create my character. I could choose their appearance as well as their personality. I get to know my surroundings at first as they guide me to do different things to keep my "sim" happy. Next, they invite me to a Halloween Party! I can add friends that are also playing and interact with them. I can build a house and relationships and basically have a whole life on this game.