Social Media Musical?

The people of Improv Everywhere are at it again! They continue their spontaneous musical series by performing at a GEL conference in NYC all about social media.
Watch this video to see more.

Mobile Device Vlog

The Technology of the Obama Era

In the subsection "President Obama and His Blackberry," Paul Levinson talks about the security issue of preventing Obama's texts, tweets, and posts from hackers. Most people are aware that everything that is posted on the internet whether its pictures, status updates, or emails can still be accessible deep in the internet's mainframe. Text messages or phone calls can be tracked as well through your service provider. Any of these ways of communication can be intercepted or even hacked if the hacker had the right equipment and the right skills.

It would be interesting to know what the President of the United States was texting or emailing. Better yet, it would be more interested as to who he was talking to. However, information that President sends out is probably important and secret. This information would be really bad if it got out to the public early. I think it definitely would be a good idea for Obama to have his blackberry protected and his internet connection more secure than the average person.

Cyberbullying on LikeALittle

As I was reading about cyberbullying and cyberstalking in Paul Levinson's chapter "The Dark Side of New New Media," I reflected on bullying using of AIM when it was popular before MySpace and Facebook. However, there was one website that became popular this year that made me think about this topic. The infamous website is LikeALittle. For those of you who don't know, LikeALittle is a website dedicated to flirting with guys and girls specifically on Fordham's campus. Most people who comment or respond say the same thing, "Why don't you just tell them in person?" I'm not going to get into the flirtatious aspect of this site, but rather the dark side.

Though I do understand that it's all in fun, I have seen several posts that I would call inappropriate. One post said something along the lines of: blonde girl, i am waiting to attack you on Hoffman. The blonde girl was no one in particular, but it was saying that someone will be attacked when leaving Fordham's campus. On another note, students may get called out by name saying that someone in their class is watching them because they are beautiful/handsome. I am aware that some of these are people's friends and they are aware of the post, however, some of them are actually real. If you knew that one of your friends didn't post about you, but someone else did, then a part of you feels a little creeped out by it. Overall, I don't think this is a great site due to all of the cyberbullying that some people may get carried away with.

Reflection of Wikipedia Assignment

After class, I checked on my Wikipedia addition here and I was not surprised to find that no one changed or deleted it. As a matter of fact, I am the last person to make an edit to the page.
To be completely honest, I thought this was a very difficult assignment because in order to add a paragraph of information, you needed to know something about the subject. Not only that, but the article was most likely something extremely specific. For example, I thought of edited Fordham University's Wikipedia article, but I realized that I only know the broad topics that are already addressed on the article page. There are a few lines that I could edit, but that wasn't the assignment. I then tried to think of a band I listen to, but realized that everything I know about the band was already posted on Wikipedia. As soon as information is released about a particular person, place, or thing, someone has probably already posted it on Wikipedia. The only exception is if there is something specific to you that you may know, that others wouldn't know first.

Recording Podcasts

Podcasting...a new form of social media that iTunes came up with. To be completely honest, I don't really know of many people who use podcasts. The advantage of them is that there are so many different genres of them such as learning a new language, news stories, or sports updates. In high school, a few friends and myself created a new podcasting group. We recorded interviews with faculty and students regarding upcoming events such as athletic games or theater shows. We also incorporated top music hits of the week, advertisements for other events and clubs, and some comedic skits. It was a lot of fun to record, however, not a lot of people listened to it. Most people are occupied with homework and other curricular that they don't have time to listen to it. Not only that, but not a lot of people plug in their iPods every single night to update it. I know I don't.

Knowing the Age of "Second Lifers"

I have actually been a member of "Second Life" before. It was
about 5 years ago or so and I got the idea from watching my local news. They were doing a story on this new virtual world and I decided to go check it out. I think I only went on the site once and it wasn't because I hated it, but rather you never know what kind of people you are talking to. I can distinguishably remember two types of people. There was this guy who kept making fun of me because I was new to the website. He put me in a bubble and I had no idea how to get out of it. Reading Professor Levinson's section on "Second Life," he probably created a script that put me into said bubble. The second was a girl who claimed to be 15 but was actually 10 or 12. I figured this out based on the language she was using and her lack of typing skills. Since that day, I have never been on the site again. Based on the reading, apparently it was through some changes; one in particular. That change is the addition of voices. Before, members had to type everything as if they were in a chat group. Now, members have the option of speaking aloud to other members. This change can also help identify an approximate age of the complete strangers that you are socializing with.

Has anyone else attempted this virtual reality? Did you notice any changes or updates that have been added over the years? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Editing of Wikipedia Articles

In Paul Levinson's book New New Media, he brings up the excellent point of editing Wikipedia articles. I believe that when he wrote this book, Wikipedia did not force users to create an account in order to edit the articles. Now, however, an account on Wikipedia is necessary in order to make edits. Before, administrators tracked users via their IP address, a set of numbers that are assigned to every computer in different locations, as a way of identifying with each computer user. Levinson says that once an account has been created, Wikipedia uses that to track users. But, neither of these methods are a good way to keep track of vandals. Anyone could create a different account name and easily have access. Or, especially those living on a college campus, can just go to another location (or building) and log in from there because their IP address is a different number (yet, this could prevent the person living in that location not to be able to edit if the editor gets banned.) As of right now, I don't know what could be a less foolproof method. Maybe tracking both the account and the IP address since that could give a lot of information (especially if they consistently have the same IP address.)


On another note, I did not know that editors/readers are allowed to view every single edit that was made to a Wikipedia article. I think that's a very useful tool because it allows readers and other editors to see what other people are looking for in terms of adding content (or even deleting it.) Great! Now, I have another way to procrastinate from doing my homework.

Foursquare

For the past month or so, I decided to try another form of social media: Foursquare. For those of you who do not know what this is, Foursquare is meant for a smartphone with either WiFi capability or a data plan because it tracks and shares you're location with your friends. The more places you "check-in" to, the more chances you'll unlock badges. You get points for going to a new location like a park or a restaurant. There's also a mayor for each location. If the mayor happens to be in the location when you "check-in," then you get even more points.
Foursquare is similar to Facebook in which you can have friends, post statuses, makes comments, upload pictures, and even check into a location. However, I find it kind of strange to announce every location I go to. I understand if there's a nice restaurant that you might want you're friends to check out, but there's no need to know you're home, at the park, or at a grocery store. Even you're friends really wanted to know where you are, they would either call or text you. As a default setting, all of locations and comments are public information. If you are worried about someone knowing you're location, you can set it to friends only, but that may also make you lose friends.
There is one benefit to using Foursquare and that is the special deals that are offered. Certain stores or restaurants have discounted rates or may even give away things for free just by checking into their location. For example, the Checkers located on Fordham Rd will give you a free small milkshake for every 3rd check-in. Some stores give you a discount only when checking in for the first time. Also, being the Mayor of a location can give you even more opportunities. At Checkers, every time the mayor checks in, he/she can get a free small milkshake.
If you're interested, this may be something you want to check out. For more information, you check out Foursquare's website here. Keep in mind that not all locations have WiFi, which obviously makes having a smartphone much more useful for this. If you do check it out, let me know what you think!

How Non-Voters Can Keep Up With the Rankings

Digg is a site that I am not familiar with. However, after reading the chapter in Dr. Levinson's book New New Media, I have an idea of what it is like thanks to websites such as Stumbleupon and Mashable.

I found the Ron Paul section to be pretty interesting due to the stories about Ron Paul that were "Dugg" by readers, despite the fact that he did not even win the primaries. Dr. Levinson points out the usage of Digg by people (who claim to be) 13 years or old. There is a 5 year gap of teenagers who can use the site, but are not able to vote. Dr. Levinson says there are several factors why this occurs, but most importantly it could be due to the young audience that Ron Paul targets rather than Barack Obama who targets those people between the age of 18 and 30. So rather than this occurrence of "gaming" on the website, it seems that the age difference plays a role in online politics as well.

Towards the end of the chapter, Dr. Levinson talks about the "Alexa ranking," which made me curious to see how much it has changed. As it turns out, Google is the number 1 website (which probably held that spot when this chapter was written) and Facebook has moved from number 5 to number 2. MySpace, which was ranked number 7, is now ranked number 63. And these new rankings have occurred about 2 years later than when the book was written.

Not only were "Top Sites" posted, but so were "Hot Topics." The one that I think is worth mentioning is FireFox 4, currently ranked at number 3. FireFox is one of the leading web browsers today. After experiencing some competition from Google Chrome (and let's face it, it doesn't receive any competition from Internet Explorer), FireFox is being updated with some pretty cool improvements. The official update can be download starting tomorrow. To see some of the features in this update, check out the following link from Mashable, a site similar to Digg. I can't wait for this update!
http://mashable.com/2011/03/10/firefox-4-guide/

Common Features of MySpace

Wow. Myspace was such a long time ago. Honestly, I think the last time I logged on was back in middle school. From what I can remember, there were three features that me or my friends used that I noticed many other "friends" using as well.



1. Inside Jokes: I remember keeping a running tally of inside jokes between me and my friends in the "About Me" column on MySpace. I believe it started in the AIM profiles, but the space was very limited. When MySpace became the big sensation, most of my friends kept a few words that reminded them of a significant time or comment that had been made. Eventually, it got a little annoying and time consuming to mark every little event that happened in your life that the fad slowly died (as well as the fact that MySpace was constantly bothersome with viruses and spam).

2. Poetry: I was/am not good at writing poetry or even lyrics for that matter. My best friend from home, however, is. Back in the MySpace era, my friend who I will call, Tom, would post poems, short stories, or random writings in the blog section. I would read them every time I logged into MySpace and viewed his profile. Eventually, he changed his theme and began writing lyrics, which I thought was really impressive. To this day, Tom keeps a blog outside of MySpace and writes in it periodically poems, lyrics, or short stories. I was even lucky enough to compose one of his songs and perform it for my friends at a charity concert for Darfur.

3. Music: The music pages were possibly MySpace's best feature. It was an excellent place for rising musicians to accumulate a fan base and broadcast their songs worldwide. Though I am a musician, I never actually created a music page. Tom had this desire to start a band, so he created a page and listed me on it. Unfortunately, the band never actually happened and the page was pretty much a fun experiment for him. There were students at my high school who created a music page, got a decent fan base, and was able to sell some of their music on iTunes. Music pages really did help a musician's popularity. It is unfortunate that Facebook does not have similar features on their music pages as MySpace did.

Is Twitter Worth it?

Let me start by saying I do not want a Twitter. I have no need to make one and I'll give some reasons why.

First: I understand that many people have a Twitter just so they can follow their favorite celebrities. However, there are ordinary people who like to tweet just for the fun of it. But there will always be one person who loves to tweet every detail of their day. These people exist even on Facebook, but there you can always hide their posts. I don't know if that is a setting on Twitter since you probably wouldn't follow those people anyway. But if it's one of your friends, you feel kinda obligated to follow them. That is just one of my social networking pet peeves: those people who find it necessary to tell the world every detail that's going on.

Second: I don't have a favorite celebrity that I need to know their life story. I don't have a need to follow sports teams since I can get all the information from espn.com. And to be totally honest, I don't need another social networking site to procrastinate more of my time on as it is.

Third: As Professor Levinson points out, the average age of Twitter users is 37. That is probably because many of those users do not want to create a Facebook. But that means that many of my friends aren't actually Twitter users. So unless I want to follow celebrities, sports teams, or just so I can say I have a Twitter, I don't see the need for creating one.

Professor Levinson talks about a Congressman who didn't update his privacy settings on his Twitter page. It seems that many people today never actually take the time to read directions or small updates that have been made. That is why when something electronically new (that I have never used before) comes out into this world, I always try to read, or at least skim the basic directions. But I try to read the advanced directions because you never know what else something can do. For example, Gmail has filters that can automatically label, skip the inbox, or even star your messages. Sometimes, it's actually worth those extra minutes to read the features of something new, especially something that can go public.

The Importance of Facebook in College

I became a part of the Facebook Network in 2006 - my sophomore year in high school. At first, I didn't think it was that great. With MySpace, I could design my own page, all of my friends were on there, and it was a great place to listen to uprising bands. I really liked MySpace, until it was bombarded with virus and spam. My friends told me Facebook was better, so I switched.

For high school students, Facebook wasn't really necessary. I saw all of my friends every day at school. As for the ones I hang out with, they had my cell phone number. In high school, Facebook was just a fad that everyone wanted to be a part of.

Once I entered college, everything changed - including Facebook. I don't just mean the interface of the profile (though that does change very frequently), but the way students used it. Facebook was actually important and necessary. For me, I joined several Fordham groups asking questions about the living situation, what to bring, and the different groups on campus. But then, I get the letter telling me who my roommate was. And the stalking begins! I friended my roommate just so I look at what kind of person I would be living with for the next year. Because of Facebook, I learned his favorite music, movies, tv shows, etc. I also had the chance to view his photos so I can see what kind of people he hangs out with and see if he was a party animal. I remember saying to someone during the Summer "How did people do it before Facebook?" Before Facebook, college students knew nothing, unless they actually met the roommate beforehand. Facebook was my way of preparing for the school year.

After being a part of the Fordham community for over a year now, I've come to realize how important events and groups are as well. Honestly, without Facebook, I would have no idea when any of the events occur. I don't really look at fliers, usually because I'm in a rush to get somewhere or I'm talking to someone. But if you send me a Facebook event, chances of being being there are much higher.
Whether Facebook was invented to stalk people or to bring the thousands of college students on campus together, Facebook has really made a different on college campus around the world.

Viral Videos

It is amazing as to how quick people view videos around the world. All one has to do is enter the site known as YouTube. Want to see a clip from your favorite movie? Maybe an upcoming trailer? How about a music video you missed on VH1? Or what if you're in a bad mood and need something to cheer you up? All of these questions have one answer: YouTube.
Everyone knows about the "David after Dentist" video or the "Sneezing Panda" and the reason for that is because they are viral videos. No, I'm not saying the videos are spreading viruses, but they are spreading to other people. The reason I have seen many YouTube clips is because of my friends. Many of them will post a YouTube video on their Facebook or even share it with me and that's really how videos become viral. Basically, they're chain letters, except much less annoying.
Rather than just watching the videos, users can also post their own. Many musicians like to post performances for others to watch or even show tutorials for inspiring musicians. Maybe if you're lucky, one of yours videos might become viral worldwide which may even make you famous. Who knows?

What's the Purpose of Blogging?

In my opinion, Blogging is a very interesting concept of new new media. The reason I say that is because I don't really understand what is the point of blogging? A blogger writes about anything he or she wants whether it is a movie review, a personal top ten list of songs, cheat codes to a video game or how well the day went. Somehow, there will be at least one reader that will read the blog. However, the trick isn't about writing it; it's about getting more readers and making sure they come back. A creative blogger will come up with ideas that interest the majority of people so they will actually come back. But what does the blogger get out of all of this? Most bloggers seem to do it for fun or because they love to write. Nowadays, bloggers can even make money from advertisements using Google AdSense or even Amazon Associates. Now that is an incentive to blogging!
Fun fact about me: When I was in high school, I decided to create a Xanga. At first, I was doing it because my friends had one and I wanted to try it out. The problem was I didn't have the motivation to write every single day. Eventually, the blog became an outlet for my emotions. Whenever I was upset and wanted to vent, rather than bothering my close friends, I would write it on the blog. Of course, I didn't make this public (only my closest friends could read it), but it was a way for me to get my frustrations out. Since that's how most of my friends started blogging, that became my definition, which isn't the norm today.

Wireless Advancement of Technology

When portable web gadgets such as the iPod Touch and iPhone etc, were introduced, I had absolutely no desire to have one. Even a year or two later, I still was reluctant to get any of these devices. I just couldn't see the need to constantly check my email, update my Facebook status, watch YouTube videos or even check my Fantasy Football scores. I was already on my computer enough during the day that I didn't need to carry a portable computer around with me. I saw it as maintaining self-control away from the "New New Media" as Dr. Levinson calls it. I know of many people who have tried, though some have failed, to stay off of Facebook or other media sites in order to prevent procrastination or distractions from schoolwork or being physically social. Not having one of these devices allowed me to step away from my computer, even for a short period of time, and actually be productive in my work.

All of this was true, until this past Christmas when I finally received an iPod Touch. To be honest, I didn't want an iPhone mostly because it's service wasn't with Verizon...yet. However, being on a college campus like Fordham, I always have wireless service anyway. Now, with this portable gadget, I can receive my emails, surf the web, view my Facebook profile, and watch YouTube videos as long as I have a wireless connection. Before I got this new toy, if I ever received an email between 7 and midnight, the sender would get an almost immediate response from me because I get alerts when I receive a new email. With this iTouch, I would send a reply email within 5 minutes of receiving it no matter the time of day. It also comes in handy when I am trying to look up an actor who I forgot what movie he's in, or a song that I can't remember the title. I even use it for reminders (like my class schedule) or to view an event I've planned in my calendar. Though I always have it with me, I can still exhibit the self-control I was talking about before. Surprisingly enough, I don't even spend much time on Facebook anymore because I receive email notifications of the updates. It's amazing how a small device like an iTouch can really impact my everyday life. Before Christmas, I thought I could live without a portable Internet connecting device, but now, and I never thought I would say this, I can't live without it.

In Dr. Levinson's book, "New New Media," he talks about the popularity of websites such as Wikipedia, Facebook, and YouTube as they are considered to be Web 2.0. However, with many people using gadgets such as iPhones and Androids, I think we are now in Web 3.0 or (to avoid "the problem with numbers") The Wireless Web. I spoke to a friend over the weekend about the technological advances that the world has today. I started to remember about that dial-up connection (that we all know in love) which prevented access to the land-line phones in exchange for Internet access. Dial-up advanced to DSL, which ultimately led to wireless Internet. Currently, we have 3G and now 4G so smart phone users can have access almost anywhere they go. All of these "new new media" (except maybe SecondLife) are accessed daily by millions of users worldwide. It is incredible to think how advanced technology really is. We, as the millennial generation, are very privileged to be apart of a technologically structured experience. It will amazing to see what advances and/or differences that will occur five or even 10 years from now. We'll just have to wait and see.