Creativity in New Media

So I wasn't sure what to do so this is what I came up with.

Creativity

New media fosters creativity in so many ways.  With technology moving faster than we can keep up it seems like the sky is the limit.  Youtube is one of the more special places on the web.  There are videos of everything you can possibly imagine.  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to combine hip hop and child cartoons? Me either, but good ol Youtube has got that too.  The New York Times article "Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of its Critters, but why?" shows Spongebob dancing with Soulja Boy's song in the background.  Some may think how its a disgrace to combine the two but it just shows how creative New Media is allowing us to be.  By the way they are tolerating it because its just generally entertaining.

Barnes, Brooks. "Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.

   <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24crank.html?_r=0>

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual Worlds grow everyday and just as fast as technology does.  There are so many vehicles out there that make this possible and accessible.  There have been games like The Sims or Roller Coaster Tycoon in which the child (or whoever is playing this game) get to manage and create every aspect of the amusement park or city.  This teaches children about all the different things that go into constructing such an entity.  Obviously these technologies have limitations just because it is meant for children but technology in its general sense does not have any limits.

Creativity is oozing out of the Virtual World.  this is the birthplace to a visual composition without limitations.  One can make a city, amusement park, a car, a shirt, whatever the user desires.  Imagine playing with legos but there was an unlimited supply and of all shapes, sizes, and colors.  Its every kids dream and its only a click away.  Diane Mehta speaks of the lego metaphor regarding the game MineCraft in "After a Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot."

The Virtual World has grown from gaming to teaching and learning for adults.  Stephanie Simon's "Avatar II: The Hospital" describes how nurses get certain types of training at a computer screen that they would never get a chance to in person.  If they did get this training in person it would of taken more time and had to pay actors to act out the session.  These training's are specific such as a disaster recovery session or quarantining a diseased patient.

Pros of virtual worlds are efficiency, effectiveness, safety, and imagination.  The cons are looking at a digital screen instead of a first hand experience.  People remember certain situations because of something small that happened or because of a strange item in the room.  Learning online can mask the individual experience with standardized boredom.



Simon, Stephanie. "Avatar II: The Hospital." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 13 Apr. 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204?KEYWORDS=avatar+ii+the+hospital&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204.html%3FKEYWORDS%3Davatar%2Bii%2Bthe%2Bhospital>.

Mehta, D. (2013, April 30). After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?Retrieved from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/

Twitter

Twitter is pretty good with discussions but not the best.  Through hashtags its all linked together with tweets around the world but I find many things get lost over the web.  On blackboard its easier to see the thread and the replies.  On twitter if you don't specifically reply and just compose a tweet it won't necessarily go directly under the replied tweet.  In class, in person, discussion's are the best.  To me nothing can compare to a face to face conversation as opposed to face to phone.  Twitter you can reply to people that you wouldn't even have a chance to speak to in person.  I can have a conversation with a music artist on the west coast while I'm on the computer in my bedroom.  The check on the profile pages lets the users know that is a verified account not a parody or fake.

Social Networking Sites

Myspace
This is the original.  Tom and your top friends ran your Myspace page along with a custom layout and music of your choosing.  It used to be a very popular and customizable site.  Now I see that it has a music niche.  Artists and celebrates can make posts and connect it with record labels or event venues.

Twitter
To me this is the most powerful site out there.  Companies, public figures, icons, celebrities, and the average Joe can speak their mind.  Hash tags connect the entire twitter universe on one specific topic.  When a popular topic is being spoken about it becomes a trending topic based on your location.

Facebook
If you want to develop a profile about yourself keeping your friends and family updated this is the site.  Uploading pictures, posting statuses and links make it a great way to share and view.  This sites niche is definitely messaging.  Countries throughout the world use Facebook to keep in contact.

Instagram
This is comparable to twitter except instead of posting words you post pictures.  Hashtags and celebrities still exist the same.  You can follow whichever account you want and gain followers (within privacy restrictions).

Social Networking

Social Networking is the way of the future.  A technologically driven generation whom knows nothing else.  Facebook is giving us the opportunity to share what is going on with our lives to family and friends that are countries away.  Twitter is giving us constant updates on anything popular going on in the area.  Instagram is giving us a visual on whatever we want to search for.  Linkedin is providing job opportunities for professionals across the country.  It almost seems like the possibilities are endless.  Now with one click of a button a person's life could change.

As great as all that is for the young adult they are not the only ones that have the ability to use social networking.  Teenagers, who are the root of all evil, have taken these platforms in a different direction.  In "They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites" by Jeffrey R. Young, cyber bullying is a topic of discussion.  High school teenagers taking shielded shots on a public forum that has no rules.  Between fake accounts and anonymous comments it is almost impossible to find out how or who are behind specific comments.

There are ways these kids can limit the harm to their own self esteem.  My master advice: GET OFFLINE.  Go outside, be active.  Maybe I'm old school but I never had a problem with cyber bullying.  If that advice isn't taken there are privacy settings that can be put into place.  The privacy settings can be intricate and specific but not always enough.  The Wire reported that Marc Zuckerberg failed in the attempt to make a family photo private on the very same social media site that he created.  If the man that made the monster has no control than I don't know who does.

Young, Jeffery R. "They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites." Chronicle, Web. 05 Oct. 2014

Greenfield, Rebecca. “Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn’t Private.” The Wire. N.p., 26 Dec. 2012.