The Next New Thing

     It is hard to predict what will be the next new thing in the world of the new media but I think it will definitely have to do with getting out world even more connected, collaborative and faster paced. As a simple example, maybe the next thing will be a some sort of combination of facebook and P2P file sharing. The idea that people not only will be able to instantly connect to each other, review profiles and post pictures or videos but also share various types of files and documents, which will significantly speed up information exchange.

Our Class- Wiki So Far

   My topics for Wiki are the following: How Business is using Social Networks and Marketing and Advertising using new Media. Both topics go hand-in-hand because new media became indispensable part of most businesses and completely changed how they do marketing and advertising, which basically drives the revenue. My research consists of periodicals and business articles.

P2P File Sharing

       File sharing is basically sharing of digital files stored on one computer with another computer. P2P File Sharing stands for "peer-to-peer" file sharing that allows "peers", which are computers on the joint network, to transfer digital files using P2P software. It simply links people who need files with people who have them. Due to the nature of the software, P2P file sharing has been surrounded by controversy since its beginning in 1999 according to Wikipedia. The main concern is copyright issues and piracy. It is claimed that filed sharing significantly impacts entertainment industry. According to The New York Times article "Should Online Scofflaws Be Denied Web Access?", "the growing problem of piracy.... accounts for the loss of $20 billion a year in sales". Also there is risk of leaking personal information on-line that is associated with file sharing.  Nevertheless, I believe the P2P file sharing will continue to grow because it allows for fast and cheap way of transferring information which is the key in our  dynamic society. 

Privacy and Confidentiality

The issues of privacy and confidentiality have definitely escalated with the development and growth of new media. I have addressed that issue regarding Twitter in my term paper, but it concerns not only Twitter but any other social media tool. Social Networks allow our society to be more dynamic, linked and collaborative. As the result some people have hard time separating between personal and professional lives and therefore lots of private information becomes available to everyone. We have heard plenty of examples when lots of private information accidentally ended up on utube or Facebook which can potentially lead to loosing a job, relationship or dignity. Another issue that comes with new media tools is higher chances of security breach or identity theft, which arises from reliance on technology.

New Media to improve college..

I truly believe that new media should be heavily used by educational facilities. First of all, it can be a great tool to advertise and recruit student to college/university. Also, old media is slower, less compelling and more expensive than many emerging new media tools, therefore utilizing on-line books and on-line lectures (like we have in the class) can significantly cut down on costs. Additionally, I highly suggest using wikis to share information and improve the efficiency of the group projects. Finally, tools like Twitter can be utilized to post important announcements and students will be able to see them immediately on any electronic device.

About My Term Research Paper

My topic was the analysis of Twitter. I was looking at the positive and negative effects of Twitter on our society. I used databases from the Newman Library as well as google articles. I have learned that Twitter is more than simply a web 2.0 application- it is the micro blog, social messaging system, marketing source and the news update and these are just to name a few. I was surprised how deeply Twitter penetrated our lives and how widely it is used by different businesses and sources.

Creativity

I think the two words “New Media” and “creativity” should go together.  I believe various sources of new media stimulate creative expressions among individuals and businesses. New Media sources largely appeal to consumers and allow for fast information transfer and sharing which in turn boost innovations. Therefore, we see a growth of utilizing new media tools in advertizing and new product development.  For example, Twitter itself, uses comments and ideas from its users as a way to design and come up with new products:

“Twitter’s smart enough, or lucky enough, to say, ‘Gee, let’s not try to compete with our users in designing this stuff, let’s outsource design to them,’ ” said Eric von Hippel.  Technology companies for example, have also recognized new media sources as a pool of creativity and “have been the most active in relying on others to innovate for them. This is in large part because the Internet lets people exchange ideas easily and rapidly with large groups, and computing tools let people design new products cheaply”

I believe that New Media sources spark innovation and learning, and trigger out-of-the-box thinking, and these tools should be heavily incorporated in work and school activities.