Windows and mirrors (1-3)

Windows and mirrors (1-3)

We have had many hand-outs to read, but, of them all, windows and mirrors is very interesting to read. Also, it provides new ideas that one never perceived about the interfaces we interact with on the Internet social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, among others. Jay Bolter and Diane Gromala introduce two ways in which we can look at the different media we interact with and this is just but the tip of the iceberg. Their main point that they make in this book is how we feel when we interact with these platforms.

As I continued reading through these first three chapters, the book became more interesting. It is amazing how one can read something and immediately start to judge the entire book based on the knowledge just acquired. As I was going through the reading, I realized that most of the interfaces fall into the “mirror” and “window” characteristics. This was hard to understand as I wanted each and every interface to belong to one of the sides and not both. Through this reading, it has made me understand many things about new media available for users today.

There is no doubt that David Botler and Diane Gromola made a informative book. The level of detail and knowledge pumped into this book is amazing, but what makes it better is its simplicity to read and understand. We have been provided with many articles but I know even my classmates will agree that this book provided a whole new and breathtaking experience compared to many others.

New New Media

New New Media CHPS 1-5

Like mentioned in class this assigned reading was the most interesting to me for many reasons. One reason being as though, the chapters deal with social media and the different functionalities of social media. This topic is very intriguing and comparable to present day media because it seems as though the world operates through social media. These chapters discuss many aspects of “New New Media”, one that caught my attention was the fact that you establish online relationships via social media. This leaves one to ask whether or not you can honestly consider this online friendship a true friendship. This is interesting because in many cases many people aren’t who they claim to be via the web. I myself do not partake in social media as heavily as my friends as it is now a known fact that many employers use what you do and post on the web against you, if need be. So I tend to be very careful on what I post. Before reading these beginning chapters I believed I was very knowledgeable on “New New Media” but I found out I had a lot to learn. “New New Media” exhibits how everyone can be a producer and are in complete control of the way they use certain media. It’s fascinating to witness the evolution of ‘New New Media” , from the MySpace days, to Facebook emerging to now Twitter and Instagram being the pioneers of the field, it’s all intriguing for me as I was able to bear witness to each.

CHP 6-10

Levinson makes many legitimate and relatable aspects that are present in today’s modern technology. Many consider blogging as a relevant social media, blogging gives users the ability to express themselves freely. It allows for people to have an opinion and freely express it to however number of followers they have. As mentioned in class, Blogging has added a new element to the argument which has been around for decades, “Is Journalism a true profession?” Blogging further pushes back those who say it is, but similar to journalism the only difference is that blogging does not require a specific education or degree obtained. Levinson stated, “The truth is that one not need not be a citizen of this or any particular country, one need not be an adult, one need not have any attribute other than being able to read and write in order to blog.” This quote is very accurate as I can relate to it from the “Writing for the Internet” course I took which I was asked to create a blog and post accordingly to my topic. I found blogging as interesting and the fact that I can write whatever I want on an array of topics led me to create another blog. Blogging as well as the entire “New New media” has really made a huge impact on society and that impact is forever growing and evolving.

 

 

Blogging, Mobile Hardware and Old New New Mediums

Looks like this weeks blog post is going to start off with the none other then growing phenomenon of New New Media , Blogging. The first chapter of this weeks reading assignment encompasses every detail associated with blogging. Levinson starts by explaining the core concept that distinguishes blogging from other forms of media by referring to bloggers as "citizen journalists." This title describes perfectly describes the position of the blogger who is able to write and publish about the news or any topic without any journalism credentials whatsoever. The beauty of blogging is that it is fairly easy for anyone to write about anything at anytime. Blogging also gives the writer a certain amount of control and power over the influence that their blog has on its audience. With hundreds of different blog based websites, blogging has become its own profession. Although as we saw in chapter 6 it is very difficult to make money through blogging,  many bloggers have mastered the art gaining popularity via blogging and have become financially successful through this form of New New Media. In short Levinson expresses the virtually unlimited power that blogging gives to any individual that is able to effectively utilize it as well as the the information needed to understand the mediums presence today.
One of the topics in chapter six that stood out to me the most is the concept of the "equalization of New New Media, in which famous and not so famous people can more easily be in touch." This goes way beyond the subject of blogging and into almost all New New Media outlets especially those based primarily around social interaction. The study of New New Media and its effects on older forms of media is presumably the
most studied subject in the world of communications. It is surprising that the effect that New New Media has on the popularity of celebrities and the power that it has to manipulate fans is rarely discussed (at least within the classroom). Growing up in this generation has allowed me to both watch and take part in this rapidly growing world of New New Media. As a dedicated music fan, I literally started using certain New New Media forms such as Twitter to follow and interact with specific musicians. I became part of the surprisingly popular and powerful "Fan Girl" culture that is greatly predominately based on this concept. An artists ability to utilize New New Media to connect with fans directly impacts their career and can dictate their popularity on many levels.
Before touching upon some of the older and currently less prevalent forms of New New Media, Chapter 7 discusses Four Square along with Hard ware which is an integral part of the evolution of New New Media.
It makes sense that Levinson would group the subject of hardware to Four Square because unlike the New New Media outlets previously discussed, Four Square and other similar applications would not be possible without the use of the mobile hardware it is used on. Four Square adds the location element to New New Media opening yet another world of opportunities. Levinson briefly discusses the "perks" of this new aspect as well as the ramifications of it. As Levinson explained, the user is responsible for controlling if/how they use this medium and the amount of privacy they give themselves.
The reading goes onto chapter 8 titled, Smaller Potatoes. This chapter discusses a number of New New Media sources that ironically are looked at as old. The concept of Old New New Media is an interesting idea in itself. Levinson brings up Myspace, Reddit, Podcasts and other mediums that seemingly began the evolution of New New Media. Although still around, the popularity of there sources have plummeted as newer sources came in.Chapter 1 describes one of the characteristics of New New Media as "Competitive and Mutually Catalytic." New New Media Outlets are growing and developing at an extremely fast pace greatly to to their competitiveness with each other, technology, and within themselves. As New New Media continues to evolve, newer forms have been able to build and learn from the original mediums and better understand how to keep themselves "alive".

Leah Johnson

Chapter 6-10 Levinson makes many valid, yet relatable points that speak to today’s technology age. Social media and blogging have many similarities, but blogging gives the users beyond what they may want out of these kinds of media. Blogging absolutely gives the user the ability to control all aspects of their use and what they want to convey to the public. The user is free and able to reach many different public figures depending on their use of articulation. For example normal people cannot usually reach celebrities, but many do more often on blogs than social media. The prevalence of negative comments getting a reaction may be problematic. Celebrities and many other public figures rarely react to positive comments they are getting from common people, but negativity seems to get a reaction that everyone would want. Why? This could be a segway into cyber bullying and the glorification that comes with it. This chapter gave rather interesting insights to how we conduct ourselves within these new medias.

New New Media Ch. 6-10

I don’t know if I’m the only one, but comments are one of my favorite parts of reading blogs. Whenever I read an article that someone has shared on Facebook, as soon as I finish it I scroll down right to the comments section to see what everyone else that has to say about it. Some of the comments are funny, but I think I do it more to see if people had the same reactions or questions that I did while reading it, although I rarely ever post a comment myself unless I have an account for that site. 

Comments, however, get dangerous when it comes to cyberbullies and trolls. I know on blogs, YouTube, Vine, Twitter, I see many rude, unnecessary, and derogatory statements posted in the comments mainly just to stir up trouble. Most of these “trolls,” I’ve noticed, are usually strangers to the original poster, and they usually target people with large followings, like celebrities. The amount of negative comments on one of Miley Cyrus’s tweets, for example, would be astronomical compared to the ones on an FDU students. The comments box on Vine even says, “Say something nice,” to encourage users to avoid these kinds of problems and cyberbullying. 

On the same token, I think cyberbullying almost goes hand-in-hand with privacy. If your social media is private, then only those that you accept can comment on your posts, therefore severely limiting your chances of being attacked by trolls. Privacy is a huge issue for people on the internet, especially in the case of new new media, because there is a constant struggle between wanting to put yourself out there and not wanting to be judged by it or having it come back to bite you. For a long time I had all of my accounts set to public view because I would put my music and writing out there and I liked getting feedback from strangers. However, at the same time, I didn’t want future employers or family members seeing the other things I posted if they had something like profanity it it, for example. It’s hard to find a balance with new new media, but as we said in class last week, there’s a whole new generation coming up in the workplace that will probably be much more understanding about new new media problems. But for now, I’m going to continue to keep my media private in order to protect myself from the multiple dangers and “dark sides” of new new media. 

New New Media (chapters 6 -10)

Blogging has been around for a long time now. But, this is probably the first time I am blogging. Thanks to this class that I have taken up. There have been several times in past so many years that I had developed an urge to write a blog on things that I see and experience. However, the idea of keeping things to myself always stopped me from writing one. The idea of monetizing the blog was novel to me since I have never come across anyone who has done so. The best thing about new new media is the fact that each of them can be intertwined with the others in such a brilliant way that the whole thing looks like a different new new media altogether. It appears like a perfect collage of every possible thing one wants under one umbrella, which in this case is the blog. Personally, I have come across blogs which seemed like paid blogs lobbying for or advertising/campaigning for thing A or thing B. But, it is just today I came to know that they had a separate name too. Some people like Sarah Palin demeaning the bloggers as "some blogger, probably sitting there in their parents' basement, wearing pajamas, blogging some kind of gossip or a lie" (p 111) come across as quite judgmental, who state things that demote bloggers just to get back at them for their personal failures. Blogging to me is an interesting media to get different perspectives. I may not necessarily accept the view point put forward but always consider what is being written about.

Foursquare with its integration to iPhone and other smart devices has made common man's life public to the extent that each individual today in some or the other way has become a celebrity. For only those who like to be in news or be noticed by people, would check in.

I have heard a lot of cases of cyberbullying and cyber stalking in India which have led to even deaths of innocents who couldn't differentiate between the thin line of virtual friends (some strangers whom you have never met or know personally) and real life friends (who you have met and know personally).

The example mentioned about the Mumbai terror attacks (p 166) and how each action and movement was tweeted by the people who were witnessing the event in real time was highly discussed on news channels in India. If I am not mistaken, some of the news channels even had a ticker at the bottom which had the tweets by the common people as well as people involved in politics about the developments of the catastrophe.

I would like to quote an example from real life about the craigslist and the fraudulent people posting things on it. My uncle had kept a 'sell' sign outside their house. One fine day they noticed a car parked in the drive way. On calling out the person in the car from the kitchen window, my uncle found out that somebody had posted the ad on their behalf and that the person was waiting for that agent to come and show the house. My uncle called the police and things followed. But, one needs to be extra careful while dealing with things online especially when people post things on your behalf.

There are thus positive and negatives about new new media just like the old media and the new media. One just needs to be extra vigilant to avoid being victimized by such scammers.

NEW NEW MEDIA (CHAPTERS 6-10)

According to Levinson, “the truth is that one not need not be a citizen of this or any particular country, one need not be an adult, one need not have any attribute other than being able to read and write in order to blog.” This is absolutely true. Blogging is so popular, not only for those reasons, but also because everyone has an opinion. Blogging gives people a platform to say whatever they want whenever they want. Blogging enables the user complete control over whatever it is that they have to say. It is one of the most popular ways of human expression.

However, Occupy Wall Street was a different case. People were not allowed to express their opinion. Journalists were hit by police with nightsticks, shoved against walls, slammed against barricades, and arrested. This was all because journalists were doing their jobs and reporting the news. I find it ludicrous that Mayor Bloomberg as well as the NYPD felt that they were justified in mistreating these reporters. These reporters were not criminals and shouldn’t have been treated as such.

Blogging and social media have been used to make a significant difference in society. During the Arab Spring, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube played a huge role in coordinating actions on the ground and getting real-time reports out to the world. New media helped facilitate a successful revolution. Without new media, there would have never been an Arab Spring. For the better or for the worse, new media has contributed massively to shaping our society and the world.

Video clip to what has happened since the Arab Spring:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NxTl-JLccE