Alex's Blog

I suggest to make a video social media website for virtual reality machines. This would require new technology but I think it would be fun to watch videos using virtual reality. There are pictures where you can move around your phone to see different perspectives of an image. I'm just thinking to do the video version of that.

P2P is digital file sharing where people can download and upload content such as ebooks, music files, videos, etc.. There are websites that allow you to do this like mediafire or megaupload. These sites make it easy to share files from person to person. You can directly send someone a file or post the link in a public location where anyone can download and edit it. There are files that have digital rights managements to them which is a little trickier because you would have to change the file format to enable editing and sharing.

This is a screen shot of an avatar I've made in a game called MapleStory. It is a 12 year old game and I've been playing it on and off for about 8 years. This is my main character but there are other ones that I made. One of the reasons why I play it is because there is a large variety of cosmetics that you can change for your character.

I haven't contributed on the wiki so far. I'm planning to edit the YouTube wiki specifically on how YouTubers make money. I've done some research and I want to make people realize that having a lot of views on a video doesn't translate to how much money a YouTuber earns.

Privacy is a big issue in social media. When something gets posted online it stays online. Social media companies have methods on keeping your content private but on some cases that is not enough. An example would be Facebook. On Facebook you can change your privacy settings which would enable you to choose who you want to allow to see your pictures and posts. However, there are methods where people can still see your pictures even if you don't allow them to do so. An example would be to search for a person, Alex Chen in the search bar with the word "Photos" following the name (Alex Chen photos). This would show my photos and photos that other people have of me even though I have not given access to them.

I would suggest Baruch College to make a YouTube video showcasing their building locations. Baruch College doesn't really have a campus so it might be hard for students to find their way around the college. They can also use Twitter to inform students about activities and instructions on how to join clubs. Creating a Baruch hashtag may create more of a community within the school. Like if something fun happens at school someone can snap a picture of it with the hashtag #Baruch.

New media fosters creativity by making everything convenient. YouTube is a new media technology that allows people to post videos seamlessly online where anyone can view it. These days all you need to make a YouTube video is a smartphone. You can record and upload on a smartphone in minutes. This makes it really easy for content creators to make and upload a unique video. YouTube makes it possible for videos to go viral. Viral videos are those who are viewed and shared with the public, grossing millions of views. Reasons for videos going viral are numerous but some examples could be that the video is comedic or propaganda.

Virtual worlds can be used in many different ways. One way is to make it become a simulation world. You would be able to do things in that world that you couldn't do in the real world like "fly". Virtual worlds are amazing because there is so much that you can customize. You can even create games and pretend that you're someone else. An example would be first person shooter games. You can pretend to be a soldier and shoot other players in the comfort of your own home. A con would be that some people take virtual worlds a little too seriously. Some people have difficulty finding the line between virtual and reality which can be dangerous in numerous ways. I think the future of VR is leaning towards 4D entertainment meaning that you would be able to use more than just your eyes. I think that people will be able to feel the recoil of a gun when shooting in a FPS game.

A Twitter discussion differs from an in-class discussion by having the ability to potentially hide behind a screen. Twitter allows people to connect with more people using hashtags. It has the potential to make trends and like always, whatever goes on the internet stays on the internet. So unlike an in-class discussion you have to be careful about what you type because it will be hard to take back.

I recently made a tumblr account and I think its very clever how they designed their site. People can share their music playlists and when you visit their blog you can choose to play the music in the background. Another social media website I looked at was Yelp. This is different from the other sites because its all about sharing your opinions on small businesses and rating them out of 5. I found a lot of reviews to be helpful. Especially the reviews that included a photo.

Social networking is a big deal for companies. It is where consumers can go an discuss about a product with other customers or even employees. I would say the dark side to using social media is that there can be trolls on the internet. Even if your product is great, people can lie and bash on your products. Some social networking sites allow you to remove comments like those but there are some that don't. If a product or service is just bad it is easy to tell because a lot more people would be leaving negative comments. Usually people tend to ignore the good comments of a product and base their judgement only on the negatives. It is said that bad news travels faster than good news.

In the case of Blog v Wiki I think blogs are more for opinionated content while Wikis are more factual. Blogs gives more freedom to the user in where they are able to speak their mind. Wikis have some restrictions to them making them which is why the nature of a wiki is to be more factual. In one of the readings a Walmart employee reviewed a movie that they were selling on their blog. It was a one sided critique in which he bashed on the movie being "debacle". Walmart is now known for having their own blog about the items that they keep in store. People who blog are the ones who actually buy the products. This helps them decide which items stays on the shelves and which goes. Wikis however are used to obtain other kinds of information. Mostly up to date facts because multiple people can update the content on a wiki. However, every change made to a wiki is sent to the contributors. Unlike blogs, its not really meant for discussions and opinions.

My paper topic will be about Vlogers vs Streamers and how they are similar/different. I believe that prerecorded content and live content have the same kind of audience because when I read the comments in a prerecorded video it seems to be very similar to comments I see in live streams. However, in live streams there are a lot more references to internet memes because it makes the stream more interesting. Most of the streams I watch is gaming related so the "vlogs" I plan on comparing will probably be ones of those who game.