Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds have been utilized much more over the past years, and will continue to thrive as a prospering technology and media. Virtual worlds have been created to practically model reality, or come as close to it. They have helped with training programs, such as in the military or hospitals, arouse gaming experiences, such as racing, and many other useful applications. In Stephanie Simon's article, Avatar II: The Hospital, we see that virtual world benefits many students pursing a field in nursing. Not only do medical schools save some money by incorporating virtual things rather than physical, it also serves as learning experiences. Virtual worlds are indeed fostering creativity, programmers are challenged everyday to try and model reality to give the best experiences to users, and that itself is a incredibly difficult task, given internal and external forces that are always changing the environment.

On the other hand, Virtual worlds may not seem all beneficial. In the article, Virtual world may impact real world behaviour,  we see the negative complications it brings. The article explains how many users, essentially pretend to be someone who they are not, to test out different experiences and outcomes. Using the virtual world as a proxy for what can be done in reality, is a dangerous thought. In the article, people played either a superman or villain character, and were then after, asked to taste either chocolate or chili sauce and pour one of them for the next participant to taste. The participants who played villain, indeed poured more chili sauce for the next person to try. This here, given more extreme actions and thoughts, could be a very lethal weapon on a mass scale.

Blog About Twitter

I think a twitter discussion and blackboard discussion are some what similar in terms of getting the message to the user, but twitter being much more user friendly. Blackboard lacks many visual cues and graphic images, and is strictly used for educational purposes. You can speak more broadly and less formal on twitter, as any type of communication can be displayed. Its feasible to say that twitter is an extreme updated version of blackboard, with many more appealing features and need to use. When it comes to comparing a twitter discussion with an in class discussion, we are missing the physical setting incorporation. We cant see who we are communicating with in real with twitter, but in class, there is more room for engagement and we can notice all types of communication cues that are given by the speaker. If we could teleport and communicate with someone in person at anytime, we wouldn't have the need for social medias such as twitter and blackboard, but that is not the case.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Let's call them the big four of social media. They dominate the norms of communication in todays society amongst teenagers, and even many adults increasingly. Before, in middle school, I would use Facebook way more than the others. Snapchat wasn't even out then. Now, the tables have turned. My social media consumption primarily goes to Instagram and Snapchat, and I feel like the same goes for many other people that are in my age group. Instagram and snapchat provide better visuals than facebook and twitter, and is more user friendly on the go for mobile devices. Facebook is used more for memes, and twitter is used more for expressing feelings/emotions and experiences. Instagram and snapchat give a better real time update on other peoples lives, and keeps me more entertained. Not only that, but I think social media consumption may differ based on age groups. It will be interesting to see where my consumption will be in ten years, and what other social media platforms will exist!

Social Networking

Social networking, has dominated in our lives. In the corporate world, in our personal lives, we use some kind social networking on a day to day basis, and for some people, its impossible to live without. Facebook, twitter, instagram, and snapchat are just a couple of technologies used today in social networking, and will continue to vastly dominate the realm of media and communication. These technologies bring numerous benefits to our society. Whether we want to text, call, or even video chat with someone, its available at our fingertips. People we have not seen for days, months, even years, can be messaged through a few clicks. Entertainment can be taken wherever we go, and we can collaborate on new ideas and expand the realm of thought.

But are these social networking technologies always working in harmony with our lives? Not all the time. Indeed, there have been plenty of cases where victims have been bullied and people have been scammed, all on these networking platforms. In an article written by NBC2, "Multi-Million dollar scam being used on facebook", demonstrates just one case in which a victim is scammed of buying an automobile. "27000 complaints....costing victims over $54 million". Users are not, and have been, taking advantage of social networking and making it a place of fraudulent theft and scamming.

The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote an article, "They're Back and They're Bad, Campus Gossip Web-Sites", where several college students are being bullied and labeled disgusting terms, that no mother would want to hear about their daughter. Social networking is a tremendous technology enabling us to take advantage of every aspect of communication, but also has a dark side, where people are taken advantage of, privacy rights are diminished, and people are given false information. In the future, I believe many more benefits will come to play, as well as more ways it can be exploited for misuse. Newer platforms will arise along with different purposes, and we can just hope that users such as us, make the best use out of it.

References:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/theyre-backtheyre-bad-/48220
https://www.nbc-2.com/story/38062070/nbc2-investigators-multi-million-dollar-scam-being-used-on-facebook

Blog v Wiki

What in the world is a blog and wiki? Are they not the same thing? Although they may seem similar, they are indeed different in several aspects. In the article by Information Week, "How to use Wikis for Business", they note that wiki.org defines a wiki as "the simplest online database that could possibly work". Wikipedia is an example of a wiki, in which people can collaborate and edit each others pages, as a tool. A blog is different, in which the language used in its context is more informal and can range more from personal experiences and emotions, rather than more academic findings in wiki. In the article, "Yahoo Acquires Tumblr, Promises 'Not to Screw It Up'", we see that tumblr is essentially a social media platform to post blogs. Although Wiki is used much for collaboration, blogs can be used for that purpose to. We get to see and be exposed to peoples blogs and we can try to understanding what information they are trying to reach out to us.

In todays networked world, the idea of "convergence" is very important. As consumers of technology and new media, we are contributing to the fact that, over time, new technology and findings are bringing us, random people, closer to one another in ways we couldn't think was possible. This world is indeed a much smaller place than it was before, due to new media technologies.

References:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=167600331
http://mashable.com/2013/05/20/yahoo-officially-acquires-tumblr-promises-not-to-screw-it-up/#KbqSbd2bpSqn/

Just how Advanced is Virtual Reality?

My term project is going to be about virtual reality. In the past few years, the use of the term "Virtual Reality" have come across many discussions. Thanks to advancing in technology, the use of virtual reality is now expanding into many different sectors of private and public lifestyle. It is being used for military purposes, education, medical training, and most popularly, gaming and entertainment. Right at the heart of NYC, lies VR World NYC where it is open to the public to anyone who desires to see and witness the effects of VR firsthand, primarily in entertainment and gaming functions. For my project proposal, I am going to briefly describe the history of VR and what caused it to finally emerge in the 2010s, followed by its use and impacts in several fields. Also, VR has negative effects on human health as the "virtualized reality" seems to play games with the brain after it has been experienced. I will also dwell upon its effect on communication, digital media, and sociology.