Privacy & Confidentiality

Privacy is the right of an individual to hold information about themselves in secret and free from the knowledge of others. Confidentiality is the assurance that the release of information about a person which would constitute as an invasion of privacy will not be disclosed without consent except as allowed by law. Looking at facebook, a persons log in and password is confidential. Similarly, so is a persons credit card information. But once one logs into facebook, the information they choose to share with others is privacy. Whether or not one's wall or photos can be seen is privacy settings. If somone else were to get thier hands on a persons information, they could potentially damage a persons life. When people are sharing personal information about themselves, they should do so with much caution.

Advice to Baruch College

New Media can improve schools in many ways. It can be used to change and improve the Baruchs classes and infrastructure in many ways. Although alot of money would have to be spent to implement the technology, I believe that it would truly pay off in the long run for both the college and the students and staff. New Media can be used for classes to create classes that are used within a "Virtual World" online, or a second life. This way teachers and students can participate from anywhere, and can also record the classes for later reviewing. This can ultimately cut down on costs for the school in needing classrooms and all that goes in to keeping a building running. This is also easier for the students that have to commute a long way in order to get to school.
In an easier way, we can make more classes online. That way students can just log in from their home computer or even work computer and learn the lessons. Similarly, tutor sessions can be held online as well. That way, if someone has a quick question because they do not understand something, they can just ask someone and an answer from someone working at Baruch can just reply and help them.

Twitter: Discussion

Twitter discussion is much different than any other websites I have used for socializing. I did not know how to navigate to what I wanted to do. I think its difficult for everyone when they are using a new site for the first time because you don't know where anything is and most importantly, you don't know what the site allows you to do and limits you.
Twitter is much different than an in class discussion. In classt you can actually see the person and interact with them face to face, which provides a benefit. In twitter it is much more difficult to follow a conversation because when you reply to someones tweet, it does not come up under that persons original tweet. everything you post gets posted under your wall and its hard to figure out to who's post you are reply and to which one. Twitter also differs from the Bb Discussion Board. although they both allow users to interact, BB allows one to post longer discussions. That makes it easier for users to interact because it dot not limit the users to sharing what is on thier mind.
I personally did not like twitter before I signed up for it, and I still do not like it now. It is annoying to have all of my tweets under my name when I feel that they should rather be under the tweet that I replied. Also, people who use twitter use it to put their life on display, and I have better things to do than read about how someone loves the weather or is running late to class.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

These virtual worlds that have emerged online can be used in many different ways. Not only can they be used for ones entertainment, but they can also be used for businesses. This allows businesses to interact with others from people on the other side of the world. Also, this gives businesses an advantage also because they can be creative and that will allow them to create more ideas that can help their company.
There are both pros and cons to these virtual worlds. Although they do let us skip reality, for some, they believe that the person they are in the virtual world represents them. That could be a problem because sometimes people represent themselves as more superior and able, although that is really not who they are. The pro can simply be seen as an escape from reality. The con is that one cannot simply fprget about thier real life and become to attached to the world virtually. Virtual worlds fosters ones creativity. It gives us a chance to create a world where anything from being able to fly to fly to having six arms is more than possible. In "In Room 100, It's Sid and Nancy All Over Again,"by Saki Knafo, it can be seen that the present changes in a building does not please the attendants so they create this virtual world so they can go back to the way things were before. In "iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction" by Nicole Saidi, both pros and cons can be seen. The pro's are that it allows people with autism escape into a world where they can interact with people and practice social interaction. This allows people to interact with difficulties and lets them be realaed in their home space. The cons are that although it does let these people interact smoothly, these people might become very accustomed to interactions in the virtual world that interactions in the real world could be seen as frightening to them.
In the future, I think the worlds will be a better copy of our reality and maybe integrate more with the real world so they become less of a fake game, and more of a real tool in our lives. I think they will become more useful in education and training for people, so such things will be more accessible by everyone all over the world, no matter their status.

Social Networking

Social networking can and is used in a number of different ways in the business world. The most important is basic networking. This enables us to connect easily and communicate with others with as little information as just a name to search for. We can see resumes and all kinds of information about a person with just a click, and find people through them as well. We able to create groups that are relevant to a certain subject matter. We are also able to invite people so we can meet them. These possibilities are endless. Online virtual worlds can be used for many things.
Social Networking at IBM: "What's Next? Your Future in Social Networking" by Chuck Hamilton discusses how social networking are seen as a new form of communication and a new way of doing business. It allows businesses to collaborate with all different kinds of people from different levels all over the world, enabling them to do business better. One benefit to social networking is that it costs less. Also, it allows different people to bring together different ideas from different places of the world. Chuck Hamilton stated that "social networks are emerging as key tools for business innovation." Businesses use social networks as an advantage.
There is also a "dark side" to this technology, which is the lack of real human interaction. Everything becomes virtual on the online world. We no longer have the regular social practices of seeing eachother and shaking hands, small talking, and courtesy. Many people see this as a bad thing for society. We cannot lose the most basic interactions between eachother or else we will become a lifeless society.I think the future will only bring more things to the internet world. Everything will be online from virtual shopping to eating to even going out and dating. It will be a very different but interesting world to live in.

Check Out Social Networking Sites

With New Media, comes a new type of social communication which is in the form of Social Networking Sites, such as Facebook, Myspace, and Friendster. I use Facebook for personal use because it covers all my needs and the majority of the people I associate with also use it. I have looked at the other websites too. They are all pretty similar in essence with the basics such as creating a profile page with ones picture and interests and allowing people to communicate in different ways. The differences between the different pages are the layouts, applications. Facebook has made its way to become most popular among highschool and college students and is taking over the whole population from big to small. Myspace is more for teens and has a more teenage touch to it, for example customizing your page with different colors and layouts. I prefer facebooks uniform look because it is easy on the eyes and makes use of it much easier. Friendster is similar to facebook but also includes some of the blogs and entertainment features that are seen in Myspace. The one thing that I do not like about Friendster is that I don't know anybody who uses it, so in reality it does nothing for me. Also, something I do not like about Myspace is that as my friends are geting older, they stop using it. The most important things I like to consider when joining any social networking site is 1: Where the majority of my friends are registered 2: the layout of the pages and 3: any additional applications the sites provide that I would like. Facebook and Myspace both have applications for Blackberrys, which I use all the since I'm not always near a computer. These days everyone is a member to a few of the social networking sites, that way they cover all the people they know no matter where they are members. So, in the end it all comes down to personal preference.