Next New

The next new media should be 3D holograms to communicate with the use of our mobiles or laptops or watches. I am not sure it doesn’t currently exist. Even though we saw it on movies and some ads, I don’t think it exists for public yet.  In the article, “Microsoft has created Star Wars-style holographic communication”, Dieter Bohn mentions that not only we can communicate with a hologram in real time, but we can also record the interaction for playback and even shrink down the holograms to set on a table. This communication can make "virtual presence" a real possibility.

P2P

File sharing, exchange of information, includes sharing of computer programs and multimedia. There are many ways to share files; sharing files via removable media such as flash drives and via peer-to-peer networking also known as P2P file sharing. In peer-to-peer sharing uses a software program to locate computers to share files. P2P file sharing allows users to share and access media files and matching results such as books, music, movies, as well as games using a P2P software program that searches for other connected computers. The users can also download the file from anywhere. Some examples of P2P file sharing are applications such as Napster, Spotify, UTorrent, and BitTorrent. There is a also downside to P2P file sharing, in terms of privacy. According to Siliconangle Article, millions of accounts were stolen from iMesh which was P2P file sharing website (Pleasant). Moreover, “P2P File Sharing and Its Impact on Business” states that even though P2P is easy to use for downloading music and movies, BitSight, a security rating company, reports that it is problematic for Business. The article states that, “Among the findings are that 43 percent of application files and 39 percent of games files shared contained malicious software” (Barker). Due to theft, some companies prohibit P2P file sharing. Thus, although P2P file sharing is very convenient, it is also a subject to identity theft as well as viruses, malware and spyware.

Barker,Ian. "P2P File Sharing and Its Impact on Business." BetaNews. N.p.,2015. Web. 02 July 2016.

Pleasant, Robert. "Millions of Accounts Stolen from File Sharing Site IMesh." SiliconANGLE. SiliconANGLE Media, 13 June 2016. Web. 2 July 2016.

Privacy

In this age of New Media, with massive sharing of information, personal and business privacy and confidentiality can be compromised. The biggest invasion of privacy is social media. Aside from public posts, information that is privatized can be obtained by hackers. Facebook for instance has been troublesome with privacy. Even public information can be used against them. Credit cards information in the smartphones can also be now hacked and with the stolen identity hackers can take out loans and purchase expensive stuff. Worst of all, government officials such as FBI and polices are now monitoring Facebook and Twitter account to catch criminals.

Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used in many ways. Virtual game and virtual business meetings online as well as school might be many of the famous reasons why many enjoy virtual reality. Many people prefer to jack into the virtual reality because they want to escape from the chaotic reality. These players mostly are anti-social game geeks who create news avatars with altered physical appearances and identities displaying more confidence, friendliness and extroversion in the virtual world, according to Stanford Alumni Bailenson (Bailenson). This, on the other hand, can lead to low self-esteem and self-confidence unabling them to interact and communicate with actual people. In other words, virtual world affects a user’s perception of the real world that there is no place for them and lead to the inability to connect with an actual person. The idea of a life lived online outside a regular society is seemly dangerous and unhealthy. According to Dr. Takahiro Kato, a psychiatrist working at a hikikomori support center, computer addicts hikimomori, a term used to describe estimated 500,00 to one million Japanese citizen who refuse to leave their homes, displayed depressive and obsessive-compulsive tendencies (Kim). As technology advances, virtual life becomes increasingly more lifelike and is applied across a broader range of fields from entertainment to medical therapeutics nowadays. A number of global communities leaning towards virtual world also suggest that we might be ready for the futuristic virtual world similarly unrestricted by the physical constraints of the Earth. Consequently, the 21st century better known as the era of Technology is ready to jumpstart the new era of Virtual Reality.

Infinite Reality: The Dawn of the Virtual Revolution. Perf. Jeremy Bailenson. Stanford Connects. Standford Alumni Association, 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 May 2016.

                  Kim, Monica. "The Good and The Bad of Escaping to Virtual Reality." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 May 2016.

Creativity and New Media

This is the best example to show how creativity is fostered through media. I created my virtual me on Avakin Life. The look is not my liking because I can only design with the choices they give, but I can customize the Avatar later when the levels are up and the choices are unlocked. I was just playing before, so I never knew and thought this is the basic of creativity. I enjoyed working on this assignment although I am not good with technology and virtual worlds. This app is really great. It is good for people like me who are not familiar to hang out with people in real world. We can meet a lot of friends in the game and enjoy in the games as our second life.

Creativity

New media has impacted our lives substantially. It fosters creativity in our society in many ways. With the evolution of new media, People are able to create and collaborate together in coming up new ideas. In the article “Twitter Serves up Ideas from Its Followers”, Claire Cain Miller discusses how companies use Twitter as a tool to monitor what customers think about their products and services. As a result, the companies can use the customer's’ feedbacks to provide better customer service and generate new ideas. It is both of benefit to the customers and companies. Claire also mentions, “the Internet lets people exchange ideas easily and rapidly with large groups, and computing tools that let people design new products cheaply”. Not only the Internet fosters creativity easily and rapidly, but it also helps companies save money. With the growth of technology, practically anyone can create anything and modify it better.