About My Project

The topic of my presentation is "Social Networking: Is it better or worse than the real thing?," which primarily focuses on the pros and cons that social networking is known for. For the most part, I focused on the criticisms and the dangers of social networks such as Facebook and Myspace, because that is what I was leaning towards for the conclusion. I had examples, such as the youtube video, where a teenage girl had undergone sexual intercourse with a 30 year old man who had already been imprisoned for raping 8-9 year old prior to this Myspace incident. I also talked about the case known as the Sandler v. Calcagni, which I also contributed in my wiki page. I have concluded the entire presentation by finishing with a statement that face-to-face interaction is much better than interacting online since people can pretend they're someone else in the web and also, there's not much experience into connecting with others online. With real interaction comes experience and it indeed makes it more personal, which establishes a stronger connection with others. Plus, interacting with others face to face allows an individual to prevent from communicating with strangers with bad motives and prevent harmful situations from occurring.

About Someone Else's Term Project

Michael Rand's term project presentation about how Web 2.0 has peeved its way to politics and made it possible to be beneficial for the government. The best example of this is Obama's use of new media and help him become our current president. Due to the use of several Web 2.0 utilities to promote himself, Obama comes out of nowhere and reached the top two to compete for the title of presidency. Before an underdog, and now a very phenomenal leader just because of his use of new media, which made such a huge impact on his campaign for presidency.

During the presentation, Rand did not only use a ppt file but also showed the class certain sites, where we can find more information about his topic if interested. He also involved the class to a sort of discussion/debate about the pros and cons of new media in politics by dividing the class into half and handing them out articles to read in order to set up the discussing between everybody. It definitely helped put together his presentation and made everyone understand what he is trying to impart to us.

What also struck me during his presentation was that new media has been used in Iran before Obama made use of it in his campaign for presidency. In Iran, Web 2.0 is considered somewhat of an empowerment tool that individualizes the people and help them feel a sense of community with their contributions with the use of new media and also have made Web 2.0 more personal and transparent. I thought that was pretty interesting since Iran is underdeveloped compared to the States. That was indeed a counter-intuitive, but still a fun fact.

Rand was also very flexible with his use of new media, bouncing back and forth his powerpoint to a website to a video until it reaches his involvement of the students in the class. It definitely showed his originality in presenting his topic.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

Within the New Media Wiki, I have signed up as a contributor and editor of "New Media and Privacy Issues." I have added some interesting information while I was doing research for my term project. Finding that this source of information is both beneficial to enhancing my presentation and the wiki, I added it up without hesitating. The source of information is regarding privacy and confidentiality issues in new media, which is more prominent in social networking sites. What I added is a case that discusses and explores how information revelation in social networking profiles is not considered as defamation or invasion of privacy if spread since it is already revealed by the user on his or her profile. In the case, the plaintiff did not win the case because of the court-ruling. I made sure to add the source of the article so that anyone who is interested in reading it can access it. Also, I added some useful photographs into the web page to better illustrate how privacy and information revelation can exist together in some form of glasshouse (where one can feel at the borders of his/her home and at the same time being seen by others). It has been very advantageous for me to have contributed to this page because not only has it given me the opportunity to actually contribute to a wiki but also it has helped me with my term project for the semester and has helped me learn of various fun facts. I also edited some parts of the web page because there were various grammatical errors and I made sure I didn't erase whatever has been written on that page section so no information could be deleted, and whoever it is who contributed could go back and build up that section.

The Next New Thing

Because there have been so many undergone innovations and creations that have been executed by computer geniuses or companies, there isn't a lot of other ideas that can be though out. Because there is always new ideas, there are still hopes for new concepts to develop into the next fad or the "next new thing." One that does not exist yet that can be this next new thing is a mobile or/and mp3-based innovation. The feature that must be added in these devices is a navigation satellite system that would allow an individual to find his/her way around an unfamiliar place or when trying to explore unknown areas for adventure or just to find a certain store, restaurant, or possible hang-out hotspots. This many will love, because people are in love with adventure and finding new things and places. As someone who likes to figure out where a store or restaurant or a hangout spot is, this device will surely help me find my way around instead of trying to search for it for many hours, which will ruin the mood once the place is found. Because phone do have a gps function to them, this new gps application is an improved version, in which it can be used either via car and miles or via walking and steps so that information will not be mixed up and stir confusion. Of course, an option will pop up once the application is opened into the mainframe of the mobile or mp3 device. With this new device, traveling will be much more easier and enjoyable because it allows for exploration. Anywhere one goes, no one will be lost, because everyone will be able to find their way. One can travel even without a tour guide!!!

Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy and confidentiality are huge issues of new media today. These issues are usually interconnected with social networking sites than any other forms of new media. As such, Myspace and Facebook are targeted social networks with privacy and confidentiality concerns. People usually disclose and expose unnecessary information to the general public that of which can backfire against them. Because individuals have been carelessly revealing such information as their phone numbers, addresses, sibling names, birthdays, and many more, this revelation may lead to identity theft and harm the individual or their loved ones. Also, the exposure of certain information may lead to stalking, sexual harassment, and other types of potential attacks that can invade their privacy. Because new media is taking our identities and privacy to a new level, the community must be aware of the privacy settings and options that are available for them in order to manage their profile so that it remains exclusive only to their friends, families, and the people they know. There are other options to block others from seeing anything from your profile as well (including profile pictures) and the disabling of messaging and commenting on your profile page. In this way, information remains secured and confidential, and privacy is kept safe.

Advice to Baruch College

Baruch College by itself is doing a pretty good job at using new media. Even campus events are advertised through Facebook, posters hung all over campus, e-mails sent to students, and other many ways to get it across as many students as possible. The college also has its own calendar to inform its students what the crucial dates are: due dates to drop and withdraw from a class or when the school is closed. Because internet is crucial in our everyday lives, students' unofficial transcripts are available for viewing to keep track of the grades, the updates in each of the classes enrolled in, and the courses needed to take through Esims, Blackboard, and DegreeWorks (in order to graduate). Although all these sites are applied to help us in informing us about updates and the necessary courses we need to take, there are a bunch of changes that need to be addressed. Blackboard has been improved: "Yes." but it still needs to be further enhanced to be more user-friendly by reducing its complexities. Also, for the New Media class, students are able to use a wiki, which is so much easier to use and very organized. Maybe, the school should make a wiki website with classes in each field to better serve the students with the information they need for the course (ie: syllabus for each professor teaching the course). This will aid the students to view the syllabus for each class that they are interested in taking and are anticipating to register for the next semester, informing them what the professors' teaching methods are and what is expected of them. In this way, this will better prepare the students for the upcoming semesters ahead of them, helping them organize their schedules and make it a bit more coordinated.

My New Media Class So Far

What kinds of technologies are part of new media?

New Media involves many different array of technology that mostly involves the internet. With access to the internet, many applications has made it possible to expand media and create new uses of the web. As such, these web applications made it more convenient to the general public to communicate and interact with others with just a single hit of a button in an internet interface or network connection anywhere at anytime. Because new media has evolved so much, our tools of communication has revolutionized to a myriad of different forms. These include blogs, wikis, social networking sites, voip, virtual worlds, etc.

How important is the Internet to the new media?

The Internet is a very essential ground for new media, because the web helps facilitate new media throughout the globe. With internet access, many forms of new media can amass a multitude number of information and enable the user to take advantage of many applications available at the web interface. Because internet is regarded as such an important factor in developing new innovations, it can be considered the soul of new media.

Why and how are the new media replacing and/or enhancing the old media?

New media is not replacing any old media as believed by many. Instead, it is augmenting and enhancing old media with up-to-date technologies. New media is only the polished version of old media to properly suit the new generation. The only changes between the two are that new media has more to offer, easy to use, convenient, promote interaction and communication with others, globalized, and efficient, but the main purpose and the backbone of new media are the same as old media. This is applicable in the television and newspaper industries, which are suffering from business problems and inefficient amounts of revenue. This is due to the the revolution of new media in which news are very much available through the internet, where where they could reach a larger audience than before.

According to Old Media Hits the Skids as New Models Roil Market, "Newspapers also struggled mightily in 2007, in ways that hinted at underlying problems in the business. The New York Times canceled its Times Select online tool because not enough viewers were willing to pay for content.

The Times may be about to face a street fight from the new owner of The Wall Street Journal. In another sign of the chaos overtaking the print world, the Bancroft family sold its controlling interest in Dow Jones & Co. for $5.6 billion to media baron Rupert Murdoch, causing a hue and cry among observers who worry that the owner of Fox News and the New York Post will dumb down the Journal.

Some of the city's most well-respected magazine brands got into in trouble as the year wore on. The world's largest magazine company, Time Inc., saw ad pages decline at Time, Fortune, MoneyBusiness 2.0 and finally killed the last title. Critics said Time Inc. had been too slow in developing a Web presence for its magazines." and

Old Media Hits the Skids by Joyce Hanson Crain's New York Business, Dec 22, 2007. available at http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007465255421