Creativity and New Media

Hi, Everyone.

Today, I am showing you a virtual world that I made on my phone.
I used an app, LINE PLAY, which is a part of service of LINE.

First, I created my avatar. You can choose a face shape, eye shape, nose, eye color, and hair.
I put a rabbit toy on my head :) And, you can choose a background/scenery and action, and then you take a snap!

LINE PLAY provides you a room. You feel free to edit your room, but you have to buy every item in a proper store.

When you want to buy anything like interior decor, clothes, or pets, you need "Jems," which is substitute for money on LINE PLAY. For example, if I want to buy a set of clothes at the left side on the screen, I have to pay 6000 Jems. On the right top of the screen, it shows a total Jems that I own. 

You can go to the shop and buy any item! Even your face is changeable :)

Once you buy any item, it is going to be saved in your closet. Now, you can change clothes anytime.

So, how can you earn Jems? There are several options: you complete your tasks, play games, or join events. I usually do the first option. See a picture below:

You can see a icon on my avatar's head. It means that she wants to take a bath. A bathtub is located on the right corner in my room. Once you click the bath icon, she can take a bath. After completing the task, you will get 10 Jems. 

This is another task (see a picture below). She wants to sit on a couch to relax :) 

You can also visit other users' rooms and complete tasks. Other tasks would be that you give water to plants, clean a room, touch a pet and so on... 

Moreover, you can post your diary on LINE PLAY. This is what I posted so far. You can upload any pictures and a snap that you take on this app. Other users "Like" your posts and add comments.

I visited many places and this is one of the examples: Times Square. You can see the yellow icon with "high five" on every user's head. If you complete 20 "high five." you will get 300 Jems :)

It totally looks like Times Square :) Super cute!

As I said, you can visit a friends's room too. Even though you follow the user, you can visit his/her room. I go to random room and complete my task there. 

There are lots of sundaes and cute stuff in her room (see below). All these items are also in shop, so you can get them if you want to.  

This room is very girly and like a princess room :) You can also change the ground and wall paper. This user collects all pink items! Very creative and cute.

This is my sweet room :) It is much simpler than other users, but this is my style! (and I do not have enough Jems to buy items...) I bought a bed, couch, TV, closet, bathtub, and fashion stuff s far. I am still beginner, so I will get into the life more :) I want to buy more clothes and change a makeup later on when I earn enough Jems.

Also, you can see a icon that is yellow and green color on the top of the screen. This is called "Magic Box", and you can receive a random gift every three hours. This time, I got a chess king bathtub :) If you want to double-check the item that you receive, you go to mailbox and see it!

This is the basic guideline of LINE PLAY. I am enjoying this app so far and have to be careful not to be addicted to this :)

Thank you for reading such a loooong blog :)

See you in next blog!

Creativity

Hello, everyone.  Today, I'm going to talk about how new media foster creativity.

I think that every new media need users' voice/opinions to improve their creativity. Because of users' help, new media have rapidly developed in such a short period.

Twitter is an example to explain how to foster their creativity. 
Twitter started their service with the ability to post 140-character messages. The company has been watching how their users use the service and its observation would be a key to improve their service. Twitter came up Lists and Retweets later on. 

One of my favorite service is @ symbol. It hyperlinks the names and allows users to see the subject's profile page. Other hyperlink service is hash tag # which users can click an see all the other post on a topic. These services allows users to connect other people and receive more information. 

An article also introduces a creativity of new media. Lego started a site, Design by ME, where fans can use Lego design software to create their own models. Even though Lego is not a technological company, they still utilizes new media to improve their service and to satisfy their fans. 

New Media must be sensitive to customers' voice and its reviews will give companies a hint to be more creative and to maintain to engage with their customers.  


Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

What are different ways these virtual worlds can be used? What are the pros and cons? Be specific. How do virtual worlds foster creativity? What do you think the future of virtual worlds will look like?

Hello everyone! Today, I am talking about a "virtual world".

First, I am not familiar with a concept of a virtual world, so I am surprised at a fact that the virtual world is utilized for business. This is one of the creative ways to use the virtual world. It is now beyond an entertainment. Let's take a look at examples...

According to a article "Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life", creators of Second Life, more than 1,400 organizations, including large companies, educational institutions, government agencies and even the U.S. military, use Second Life to hold meeting, conduct training and prototype new technologies more efficiently. Moreover, there is a fact that IBM's technological leaders from around the world met for 72 hours via Second Life to brainstorm about new technologies. 

The virtual world can save time and money for a business trip, and can avoid feeling an isolation because of a highly engaged environment.   

There is an interesting experiment of the relationship between behaviors in the virtual world and behaviors in the real world. Participants are assigned to play as Superman (a heroic avatar), Voldemort (a villainous avatar), or a circle (a neutral avatar). After playing the game, they taste both chocolate or chilli sauce and give either one to the future participant. The experiment shows that playing as an avatar yielded stronger effects on subsequent behavior than just watching someone else play as the avatar.

Your experience in the virtual world may affect more your behavior in the real world than you expect. Playing inappropriate actions in the virtual world may cause of committing a crime in the real world. It is a good approach that Second Life requires everyone to be at least 16 years old before they can create an account and the service is limited if they are under 18 years old. This is one the ways to avoid a crime by younger generations.

More companies and institutions may utilize the virtual world for business and be easier to break borders between countries. If they are getting used to it, the virtual world will look exactly like the real world and people will "live" in the virtual world. That would be amazing and I am looking forward to seeing the progress in five years :)

     

Blog about Twitter

How does a Twitter discussion compare to a BlackBoard Discussion?

To an in-class discussion?

Hi. Everyone!

This time, I am comparing between Twitter discussion and my school site, Black Board, discussion.

There are some similarities between Twitter and Black Board (BB).
Unlike a blog, both sites have a timeline, so you do not have to click to see other classmates' entries every time. You just scroll a timeline and check their comments out smoothly. Personally, since I may not be familiar with Black Board, I feel comfortable to use Twitter rather than BB. Another similarity would be that you can reply to the particular person on both Twitter and BB through pressing a 'reply' button. You will also be able to recognize easily when someone reply to you.

I think that one of the differences are a notification system. Unlike BB, you can set notification on Twitter. That is useful because you receive notification every time when someone replies to you or retweets your post. Also, when you reply to another user, the person's username would be highlighted with @. When you click the highlight, you will be able to access the person's page.

On BB, you can see the total number of posts, and the number of participants on the discussion. Since  BB separates threads by each topic, it is easy for active users to understand what the thread is about or what the main discussion is in the thread. BB avoids confusing discussion and keeps organizing the thread. Another difference is a word count. Since Tweets restrict to 140 characters, it has a limitation of the quantity of information or knowledge. On the other hand, BB does not have any limitation, so users can describe their opinions or thoughts sufficiently.

I cannot say which sites is better because Twitter and BB have both advantages and disadvantages. Since this is the first time to use BB since I entered CUNY school, I am still not getting used to BB. I personally prefer to use Twitter, but BB is a great place to discuss academic topics in class/school. 

Social networking sites

Hi, Everyone. Today's topic is social networking sites.

I am comparing four different sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

How do I use these four sites?

Facebook makes me easier to contact with my family and friends in Japan. Since Facebook breaks a boundary of countries, everyone is welcome to contact with people around the world. 

I also follow some news networks and newspaper companies to get information because I do not have TV at home. It was helpful because, for example, I could watch the Presidential Debates in 2016, the Election Day, or the President Inaugurations via live streams on Facebook. 

On Twitter, I am selecting specific followers and followings to focus on my interests and hobbies. For example, I like Japanese-anime (cartoons) and I am following users who like the same characters and official accounts of anime corporations. I can immediately collect and share a lot of latest information which is related to the topic. Since I have fewer friends/followers on Twitter rather than on Facebook, I feel more comfortable to share my feeling on Twitter.    

I do not constantly share my video in public, but I sometimes upload a video that I create my projects in my production class. I mostly access to YouTube to search music, movie trailers, and something that I want to know. For example, it is very helpful because when I do not know how to use a Photoshop, someone shares a video with a basic explanation and actual demonstration on his/her pc. This is one of effective ways to solve a problem.  

I think that I am enjoying Instagram the most in these four sites. By using a hashtag #, it makes me possible to access other users who post the similar photo or checkin the same place. I can find someone who have a similar interests and hobbies. Images is easy to get people's attention rather than only letters/messages. For example, if a bakery promotes a seasonal cake, they can share information with nice images of samples or cooking processes.  

Which is better or not?   

All four sites make users available to connect with other users around the world and to share their opinions or thoughts in public. Since Twitter has a word count, it might have a limitation to provide sufficient information within one tweet. However, it can simplify a topic, and avoid confusing followers or missing a main argument. In certain cases, Instagram is catchier than Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube because of an impact of the image. I believe that it is effective and easy to attract users' attentions whenever a company wants to promote a new product or service. YouTube is very informative and understandable rather than other three. It is because it includes visuals, explanations, and demonstration. If a person does not understand what a YouTuber says, s/he can still watch the video and follow what the YouTuber does. 

All social networking sites have attractive features and influence people's lifestyle. I think that social networking users are looking at various sites and choosing a proper site depending on their purposes and situations.

Social Networking

Hi, Everyone.

I am going to talk about social networking today.

As you know, many individuals are using some kinds of social network service such as Facebook, Myspace, or whatever you come up in your brain. Of course, many companies and even government get into the world.

According to the CNN article in 2009, a dictionary word of the year in 2009 was "unfriend." This term was definitely considered as an official word because of the influence of Facebook.

Companies, celebrities, and news network tend to use social networking to share the latest information immediately. By continuing to release information and advertisements, they can promote themselves anytime and anywhere. The continuous sharing information would be valuable because social networking would help improve the recognition in society. 

I think one of benefits of social networking for business that they can promote themselves to a certain group of people based on location, demographics, interests, behaviors, and connections. The power of social networking always surprises me. A month ago, I searched an iPhone case on Amazon, and when I opened Facebook after that, Amazon ads on Facebook recommend me some similar products that I searched. 

Based on a search history, companies can identify the specific target people and it makes possible for them to keep consumers' attentions efficiently and effectively.

Some companies show their ads to the specific group of people. For example, I am a middle of 20's, female, and unmarried. A couple days ago, an ad of pregnancy test kit popped up on Instagram. (This ad scared me...even I am not sure that I am not a pregnant.) I think this product company researches the demographics and send their promotion to the specific potential consumers.

I think this system is helpful for consumers to search anything next time. Once you search something specific, a computer automatically search and find anything that you seem like. On the other hand, I also feel scary because a computer always follow my activities on the Internet. I feel I do not have any privacy any more...   

A dark side of social networking might be invasion of privacy. Most of social networking users are, for sure, using those sites to keep in touch with friends, find jobs, and enhance their careers (Forbes 2009). However, even the basic personal information could be risky. Lance Hoffman, a George Washington University computer science professor argues that users' information is revealing far more than they expect and their names and birth dates could be a enough source for an identity thief. Some thief might steal their information and combine to others from different sources.

Another risk would be an "overshare," which is "inspired in part by the habit of spewing too much personal information on social networking sites and blogs" (CNN 2009). Even though many Facebook users create their pages to share their private life, they have to be careful of a "link" function. According to Forbes's article, "When a business contact from the LinkedIn world wants to become your friend on Facebook." If you share a too private post, which you do not want to share in public, on Facebook, your future employee or employer might see it. Overshare might give you negative influence and then affect on your future career. Overshare can also be risky because it may cause of gossip and potential abuse of the services. Some reported suicides are related to malicious gossip circulated on a social network. (Dubner 2008) Users do not have to underestimate this fact. It is serious!  

I am sorry that this blog is very unorganized, but this is what I think about social networking.

Social Networking is fun, but you have to be careful of your behavior on the Internet.

References:

Dubner, Stephen J. "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum." Freakonomics. N.p., 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Gross, Doug. "Dictionary word of the year: 'Unfriend'" CNN. Cable News Network, 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 08 Mar. 2017. 

"Leaving 'Friendprints'" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 16 June 2009. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Blog vs Wiki

Hi, Everyone. 

Today's topic is Blogs and Wiki!! 

I hope you give some comments about this topic.

     I think blogs and Wikipedia have a similarity which everyone is welcome to use them easily. If you want to start a blog, you type in your information to create your own page and then, you just type up whatever you want to share to others. You do not have to get a license to release your information through a blog and Wikipedia. 

     Unlike publishing a book, I think that a blog is a much easier way to share your thoughts or research to the public. I am enjoying writing blogs as well as visiting someone’s page. For example, when I want to know a film review or analysis which I am interested in, I will search blogs related to the film on my pc.

The difference between blogs and Wikipedia is that bloggers actually give their information or thoughts to others; instead they share. For example, you cannot edit someone else’s blog or nobody can edit your blog. It is because a blog is the place to send information or someone’s thoughts, belief, or anything. On the other hand, Wikipedia allows you to keep editing materials and developing the page with others. Wikipedia also provide you a bunch of information/knowledge, but you also exchange your knowledge on Wikipedia. I think that another difference between blogs and Wiki is subjective or objective description. Since blogs mostly are written by one person, it could be more personal or subjective. On Wiki, it could be more objective because more than one contribute to edit a page and a person may aware of the new perspective.

     As we know, blogs and Wiki are useful. However, we have to focus on the negative aspects as well. Since anyone can share anything without border, some users tend to share unreliable information and unacceptable expression online. According to the article, "Stung by the Perfect Sting" by Maureen Dowd, there is a 37-year-old female model who is escribed as a “Skankiest in NYC” from an anonymous blogger. Even though everyone can share “anything,” information could be dangerous for a certain people. When you post anything on your blog, you have to ask to yourself whether or not it is appropriate to share. We all should be protected from cyber abuse.

     Wikipedia always shows up at the top whenever I search on Google. You can see any information about anything on Wiki, but it sometimes causes of a trouble. According to an article “A Rorschach Cheat Sheet on Wikipedia?” on New York Times, some psychologists do not feel comfortable that Wikipedia shows the 10 original Rorschach plates with common responses for each plates. Experts may be worried about the test security because if the content of the test is shown to the public, it would be meaningless to use. Even if the experts do not want to show the test online, it does not mean they can maintain the security. A blogger might upload all test materials or a scoring book would be a part of cheating. I do not think that this is bad because the images of the test are not important, instead, how people react to the images. People are taking the test anyway even though it is just for fun.

     

     I am not sure it’s already existed, but I would like Wikipedia to create academic and professional versions of Wikipedia. For example, Medical Wikipedia would be helpful. On this Wiki, only doctors or anyone who has a medical license can create the page. The would be a good place for doctors to share knowledge about diseases and treatments. It is also good for us or patient too. For example, when you looking for any reliable information of a specific disease, you can look at this and this decrease people’s myth and misunderstanding about the disease. Also, it can be collaborated to blogs. Wiki users add patient’s blog link on a link/source section on Wiki. Bloggers will be able to connect with other patient who has the same disease, and to share their experience, opinions, and their feelings to others.  

Sources:

Cohen, Noam. "A Rorschach Cheat Sheet on Wikipedia?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 July 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

Dowd, Maureen. "Stung by the Perfect Sting." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Aug. 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.