Creativity and New Media

http://www.myspace.com/memoriesinplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctXk1m5nbuw

The links above will bring you to a Myspace profile and a youtube video of my old band, Memories in Play. These two forms of new media have allowed my band to publicize our music and reach out to our audience using methods that were not available in the past. Without the use of internet new media it would be very difficult for the band to attract fans, communicate directly to fans, and distribute music to our audience. Myspace and Youtube both have allowed the band to not only provide our audience with music, but provide them with videos and pictures as well. Posts on the band's Myspace profile and Youtube video pages serve as a means of communicating and reaching out to the audience. These technologies have also allowed us to provide the fans with news of upcoming shows and events. These websites display the number of how many visitors, views, and song plays that occur over time. This was beneficial to the band because this gave us some insight about the growth of the band fan base. All in all, new media greatly benefitted the band.

Creativity

Creativity can be described as unique, innovative, and inspirational forms of thinking or representations of one's unique, innovative, and inspirational thoughts. Over time people have become creative in the way they use new digital technologies. First of all, it was extremely creative and innovative to design hardware such as computers, smartphones, and digital cameras that perform unbelievably powerful functions. This hardware can only be used with the proper software, which also is an immensely creative and innovative technology. With this new software came applications and websites such as Youtube, Twitter, Flickr, and many other's as well. With these few resources individual's ability to be creative and share their creativity is limitless. With the use of cameras, computers, and certain types of software individuals can shoot a video, make background music, and edit the entire production. Finally, when the production is complete this individual can post the video to the many websites that provide members with the ability to publicize their work. These channels for sharing creative work include the three websites stated above (Youtube, twitter, and Flickr), Myspace,  Facebook, Instagram, Google and others. In the article The New Math of Mashups, Mark Vidler describes how the simplicity of being musically creative is due to the fact that “You don’t need a distributor, because your distribution is the Internet. You don’t need a record label, because it’s your bedroom, and you don’t need a recording studio, because that’s your computer. You do it all yourself.” This means that a single person alone can creatively make music with the use of their computer and publicize this music using the internet, eliminating the need for other parties to help with recording and distribution. The simplicity of publicizing a creative work has sparked the growth in people's creativity. Millions of creative videos are being posted to Youtube everyday, which is evidence that people feel more inclined to be creative. The power of an individual to publicize their work has motivated people and has been a major influence on the creative works that exist today. 

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are online simulations of the real world, involving all aspects of life including social, business, and educational interactions, which mimic actual face-to-face interactions and scenarios. User’s of virtual worlds see this technology as an opportunity to lead a second life, which is the concept that led to the creation of the virtual world, SecondLife. SecondLife and other virtual worlds involve users controlling avatars in a real world landscape that allows them to create their own environment and interact with other users in the virtual world. Due to the extensively detailed representation of our physical and social environment, users can do the same things that are done in real life, but while they are sitting at their computers. This has lead people to utilize this technology in many ways and for a number of reasons. Some people use virtual worlds to do things that they have never gotten the opportunity to do in real life including, visiting places they have never been to before, or dancing in a night club. User’s of certain interest groups use virtual worlds to come together and interact, giving people the opportunity to virtually socialize with strangers who they would have never met if virtual worlds were not in existence. In the article iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction by Nicole Saidi, it is explained how individuals who suffer from autism and Asperger’s Syndrome use virtual worlds in order to become familiar with, and learn how to interact, communicate, and behave in social situations. People with disabilities involving paralysis or the inability to perform physical activities can use virtual worlds to swim, jump, run, dance, and even fly. 

Discussed in the previous paragraph are some of the many pros involving virtual worlds. These pros include the ability of virtual worlds to provide people suffering social anxieties and disorders with the chance to practice and familiarize themselves with social interactions in steps. These people can use virtual worlds as their first step towards socializing and progress to face-to-face interactions when they feel more comfortable with handling the situation. Psychologists believe virtual worlds can be used as additional therapy to help people suffering from social disorders. These virtual worlds allow people to participate in society while they are in their own homes where they feel secure and comfortable. Virtual worlds give users opportunities to walk down the virtual street in a virtual neighborhood and run into a stranger, who is physically located in another part of the world, but in the same virtual world, that they would have never met. This technology has the ability to bring the global community together. Virtual worlds have resulted in lasting friendships and connections. People can conduct business in a virtual world that provides users the ability to practice a profession or occupation. A virtual world can help any kind of interaction, whether it be social or business related, due to its capacity to produce a sense of face-to-face interaction with the use of avatars. Even though the avatar may be a false representation of its user, the technology gives users a visible body to communicate with, which enhances the interaction. 

The cons to virtual worlds may seem less obvious than the pros. One may perceive that virtual worlds may inhibit face-to-face interactions by giving people a reason to stay home and communicate virtually. If people begin using virtual worlds too much they may hinder their abilities to conduct in face-to-face interaction. Some say that society has already been consumed by technology that has limited face-to-face communication and virtual worlds will add to this reliance on computer interactions. 

Virtual worlds can foster creativity within the population of users. It is obvious that bringing different people together that come from different parts of the world can bring new ideas to the table, because of many diverse perspectives and knowledge. These people with creative ideas now have a simulation that they can use to create their own environment and social life. This technology is a creative tool that people can use to design a life that they desire. A user of a virtual world must create an image, style, name, and appearance of their avatar and the environment that it lives in. The person must also coordinate the mannerisms of the avatar and conduct conversations with other people. The individual participating in this must be significantly creative to make this as realistic as possible. The article "I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life" by Dave Itzkoff explains that there is a thin line between real life interactions and virtual world interactions, and this line is fading. In order for this to be true the users must be creative and envision themselves in the world that is simulated on their computer screens. Creativity of users is the foundation that makes for effective virtual interactions. 

I think that in the future virtual worlds will gain popularity and attract more users. Some of these virtual worlds may look like a complete fantasy environment, but continue utilizing the fundamental functions allowing users to communicate and interact using avatars. Virtual worlds may one day be exact replications of large areas such as the entire United States or even the entire world. People may one day have the ability to drive across the country, fly to another country, or walk through their favorite park all in a virtual world on their computers. This type of virtual world can give people the chance to see things they have never seen before that actually exist in the real world, meet people they have never met before, and experience what the world has to offer all in a virtual world.  

Blog About Twitter

I believe twitter is an effective and efficient tool used for communicating, but it does have important limitations when compared to a blackboard discussion and a face-to-face in class discussion. Twitter is useful when briefly communicating and commenting or replying to another person's posts. But if someone was trying to give a thorough explanation of something, an in class or blackboard discussion would be much more effective in doing so. The major reason for this is the 140 character limitation to all posts on twitter. This limitation forces people to get their point across in only a short sentence. It can be very frustrating to write several posts to get a short point across that may be equivalent to a thirty second face-to-face conversation. However, twitter is very useful when spreading news to a large group of people and creating awareness. The links to other's posts is also very useful when discussing specific topics or brainstorming and certain ideas.

I believe that an in class discussion is the most efficient and effective way to communicate and no other forms of communication can surpass it. However, some individuals may be timid or feel pressure in a classroom when speaking in public. For these people, blackboard and twitter may be a much more useful way of communicating because it relieves this social pressure and allows them to communicate with a large group of people without actually speaking.

Blackboard has become a major medium of communication in colleges. It has become a useful tool for many teachers and students and substantially aids in academic discussion and communication. Unlike twitter there is no character limitation when discussing on blackboard, making it a very efficient medium of communicating and allowing its users to thoroughly explain and discuss whatever is being studied.

Social Networking Sites

Social media sites all share the basic foundation or purpose, which is the five C's; communication, collaboration, creativity, community, and convergence. Four specific social networking sites that are very effective in conducting the five C's are Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and LinkedIn. Even though these sites share the same basic purpose, they can be used differently and have different functions that make them unique. 

Facebook has become the biggest and most popular of all the social networking sites. Facebook seems to be the most broad social networking site in regard to its capabilities. This site allows users to share all forms of information. I believe it is the most efficient in using the five C’s. It allows people to privately and publicly message other users and share pictures, videos, thoughts, and ideas. This site has organized peoples’ lives online allowing them to relive some of their favorite times by looking at pictures from the best parties, concerts, restaurants, vacations, and well, everywhere. Facebook is great for keeping in touch with friends, for advertising a business, and for making people aware of upcoming events. It seems to be used primarily for  entertainment and social relationships, however, it is also used for business purposes such as marketing. Facebook is designed in such a way that people can use it for any purpose they desire.

Myspace is quite different from Facebook. A major difference is that there is no news feed. People have to search for their friends instead of getting their posts on the news feed. Myspace seems to be set up like a blog. People create a profile and write comments to each other on one another’s profiles. Myspace has a lot of the same capabilities as Facebook including writing comments, sharing photos, and sharing videos. I think Facebook is more effective in connecting people and allowing them to communicate and collaborate more efficiently. A major use of myspace has been promoting bands. Many bands create profiles on myspace and post their songs allowing people to stream their music. Bands post pictures, videos, comments, and a list of any upcoming shows or events that they are involved in. This is an efficient way of connecting with their audience and fans and keeping them informed on the latest news of shows or album release dates. 

Twitter is much different from both Facebook and Myspace. It does not have the capabilities of the other two social networking sites, but has gained popularity and has attracted many members. Twitter seems very basic in it’s functions. It allows users to post comments or “Tweets” that are available to a user’s followers. These comments may include a person’s thoughts, ideas, likes, dislikes, complaints, or outbursts. Some people may post comments on somethings they want to advertise such as a business or they may write a review on a product they bought. The unique aspect of twitter is the 140 character maximum tweets. This forces users to post very brief messages. I do not believe that Twitter is as effective in allowing people to collaborate, but it is efficient in brief communication and spreading awareness.  

LinkedIn is another growing social networking site that is based on the five C’s. This site is specifically used for business purposes. LinkedIn allows its users to connect with others in a business-like fashion. People can build contacts and message one another about their jobs or other jobs they might want. Users can create private groups, similar to a chat room, and collaborate on anything they choose. LinkedIn also allows people to connect with others who work for the same company as they do. This can be very helpful when trying to network with people in the same field or profession or in collaborating and communicating for work purposes. Employers use LinkedIn for recruiting and for reaching out to possible new employees.