Privacy & Confidentiality

I think the most important concern of people with new media is its privacy and confidentiality. The problem is that when people expose themselves so much through mediums such as twitter, Facebook and blogs, they are making a lot of valuable information attainable to the general public. It is thus important to always set very strict privacy settings on these websites and also to have strict judgment when choosing what to post.

Issues of privacy and confidentiality are very related to media becasue people expose a lot of themselves online and could get very hurt as a result. In this sense, although free speech should be encouraged, I think it is the irresponsibility of these websites to censor what people post. It is also our own responsibility to use judgment when we decide to make something public. I think it is difficult to expect much privacy when one is posting everything they do and their pictures on public websites. Unless people are protected with privacy settings, I don't think they should expect much privacy. This could pose a huge issue in the future as people's darkest secrets get exposed online. It could also mean disaster for people professionally speaking becasue once something gets on the web, it is almost impossible to delete. The lesson is to always be careful and maintain sound judgment.

Advice to Baruch College

If I was hired as a new media coordinator in order to improve Baruch College's social media communications with its student and faculty, I would institute several changes. First of all, I think as incoming freshmen enter the school they feel lost especially since Baruch is a commuter school. Thus, to make the process easier, I would ask several seniors to have blogs of their own, which would be posted on the Baruch website, so that people can read about their experience and ask them questions. I would reward the seniors by paying them or giving them internship credit. I think this would work great becasue the seniors can discuss things like registrations, career types, and great opportunities they were involved in.

Another thing I would institute is a Facebook and a LinkedIn page for all of the Baruch alumni in order to allow them to network and also for other students who are still in Baruch to ask them questions and ask advice.

I also think the registration and financial aid need a better way in which they communicate with the student body. I know recently they added twitter and facebook, which helped a lot, but they need to post more often and allow people to ask questions more efficiently. Also, I think student life should get more involved in New Media seeing as they are supposed to be the most connected to the students. They should post on twitter and Facebook the events around the campus, outside opportunities as well as important due dates to keep in mind.

My Twitter Experience

I was surprised at first to see how many people bash Twitter! I think it is mostly because they are not too familiar with what Twitter can offer. First off, if you follow some very interesting people you can get live up to date information about current event around the world. It is great because you can see people's reaction in real time and build a relationship with that person by replying to their tweet. I also like the fact that certain companies, such was JetBlue and HBO, post tweets when there are sales. There are also quite a lot of tweets around fans...I know HBO has a whole twitter account for just True Blood and it updated its followers with sales, new cast, screening, new products and etc. I think if you are a fan Twitter is a great way to keep in touch with things you love. I think overall people do not give Twitter a chance before they put it down.

I agree that it was a lot more difficult at first to write in only 140 characters but then that forces you to be concise and to the point. It also allows for your followers to get a quick update of your thoughts instead of a long one which might take time to read. It is definitely shorter and maybe not as personal as a BB discussion would be or a FB wall post. And it definitely gets confusing to retweet topics so in this sense it is more complicated than an in-class discussion. But I think it is effective in the sense that it is short and simple and gets the job done!

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

There are several different ways in which virtual worlds can be used. As mentioned in the the CNN article, it can be used for work purposes. For example, Second Life enabled IBM and other companies to hold meetings virtually. Another way in which virtual words can be used is in toys. An article published in BusinessWeek recently mentioned how toys such as Webkinz allow for the new generation of tech-savvy children to also enjoy the existence of the virtual world. Aside from these two examples, virtual worlds can be used as social tools in order to met new people and/or maintain relationships and interact with family and friends.

The benefits of a virtual world in a professional sense include decreasing costs associated with work travel and thus saving money, making the communication platform more engaging to professionals, and building and maintaining relationships more easier in the professional sense. The negative aspects would be that by using virtual worlds people lose the "human affect", where people spontaneously interact and build relationships. Virtual worlds can also make people anti-social in real-life situations.

Virtual worlds foster creativity because they allow people to open up and not hold their ideas inside. By being comfortable inside their home they feel freer to speak their mind and all social boundaries are lifted. It also allows for people to look up information and bring in facts into conversations that were not readily available before.

I think in the future, people will rely on virtual worlds much more in the professional sense than in the social sense. I think people still enjoy going our for a real beer more than just sitting in front of a computer and pretending to sip a beer over the internet. But in terms of getting work done and communicating with professionals all over the world, I think virtual worlds will be very prominent in this aspect. We already use so much digital technology in order to connect with people all over the world and I think in the future it will be cheaper and more convenient to have a virtual conference than to fly to Europe and have a face-to-face meeting.

Social Networking

I think Social Networking has gone a long way and it still has a long way to go. I know for a face that many corporations keep in touch with their "fan" through the usage of Facebook and MySpace. One example I know for a fact is regarding HBO. I am currently interning there and I know that HBO has close to 35 Facebook Fan Pages for various shows and movies they release. It has 4 pages alone for True Blood, its hit series, and the fans number close to 800'000. HBO uses these Facebook pages to post programming updates, ask opinions from fans, post new merchandise links, post discounts and coupons to its online store, and post images as well as videos in order to engage the fans even after the show is over. It is primarily used in order to create marketing buzz around the show even after the show is over and also to make revenue from selling merchandising items. It also serves as a great way to keep a dialogue with the fans and allow them to voice their opinions in regards to vital issues. HBO reviews these websites and then gains important insights into how the fans feel about what is going on. It also keeps the communication going between HBO and its fans.

The benefits of these technologies to the society is that people are able to stay more connected to people in their lives that they might have otherwise lost touch with. It also allows for people to share information, such as videos and pictures, with many of their friends and family. I also think it serves as a good way to get away from daily life and escape into a more peaceful and fun life. Some people are also able to communicate better with others over the internet and build lasting relationships on these social networking sites. Of course the "dark side" is that people can get either carried away with spending time on these websites or these websites can become platforms for potential crime.

I think in the future social networking sites will be pose even greater opportunities for marketers and various organizations in order to maintain their relationship with their audience but I also think these websites will be more closely monitored by the government in order to prevent crime. I also think these websites will act as great ways to build and maintain relationships on the professional level, as the NPR article points out! As mentioned in the article LinkedIn has "a network of 8 million professionals"- and that is a great starting point in finding a job!

Check Out Social Networking Sites

My first impression of most of the required social networking sites has happened over four years ago. I remember the first time I logged into MySpace I was totally confused about how to navigate around the website and I thought there was too much freedom as to how to design your profile. Too many choices leads to confusion. At lease for me. I also remember that there were even websites to get background designs from- which made it even more confusing for me when it came to choosing the most interesting one. I also remember that MySpace had a very sleazy feel to it and that it was filled with naked people and wannabe gangsters. I think it was everyone's effort to hook up.

Facebook, on the other hand, was simple and down-to-earth. I did not have to figure out too many options and I did not spend much time "designing" my profile. Plus it had a more mature crowd. I definitely thought it served my purpose a lot more- it was a way to stay in touch with people.

Friendster seems to me like it is a middle ground between MySpace and Facebook. It has the clean and hip feel of Facebook but also the cluttered with ads and very free feel to it like MySpace. I really like the branding of the page (ex. the green logo and the way albums looks) but overall I like simplicity, which Facebooks gives me.

Lastly, I have been part of a Polish social networking website called NaszaKlasa.pl. It means "our class" and it was designed for people to keep in touch with the friends they made in their classes. It has now turned into something more like Facebook and people keep in touch with everyone from family to coworkers. I really like that website becasue it is relatively clean looking and it allows me to keep in touch with my family and friends in Poland.

Overall, I am satisfied with a combination of Facebook and Naszaklasa.pl !