Creativity and New Media

I mentioned in an earlier post that Instagram is one of my favorite social networking sites as I have a passion for all things beauty.  No, I am no beauty guru, but I enjoy staying updated on the latest beauty trends and products and find that Instagram satisfies this love of mine.  What I didn't mention was that I enjoy sharing my techniques and products with the beauty community in return. 

 

Instagram is well known for sharing collage photos and most recently short videos.  Downloading applications that are compatible with Instagram allow users endless opportunities to become creative in their posts.   My favorite apps are  InstaCollage, InstaFrame, moreBeaute2 and CameraBag.  I do have to admit, Instagram is best viewable through it's app rather than its website. 

 

Lastly, I find that being a part of the Instagram community has challenged me to become more creative in my makeup application and posts.   Check out some of my creative Instagram posts below and feel free to follow me if you like what you see and want to see more!

 

 

 

 

 

Creativity

What is new media?  Rather than defining it with some sort of Webster's dictionary jargon or Google search, I'd rather tell you new media is social networking, blogs, wiki's, twitter and the like.  New media provides an avenue for communication, collaboration, community, creativity and convergence.  I believe the  most striking aspect of new media is the creativity it fosters within people.

 

In an article entitled "Pop Music 1+1+1=1 The New Math of Mashups" by Sasha Frere-Jones, the author interviews Mark Vilder, aka Go Home Productions, on the subject of mashups and digital technology.  Mark explains that one of the benefits of digital technology is 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.”  Isn't this so accurate in today's technological world?  Technology has allowed the flexibility to be innovative in your own time and place.

 

From YouTubers just sharing their hobbies becoming well known beauty gurus or rappers and singers with contracts and touring the nation to bloggers being sponsored and even creating their own fashion or beauty lines.  With new media at your fingertips, your creativity is solely limited by your imagination.  Have you been creative lately?

Social Networking Sites

Nowadays the social networking site options are endless.  From Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter to LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest, just to name a few of the most popular sites. At one point in your life, especially those from the iGeneration, I'm pretty sure you've visited or even signed up for at least three of these sites mentioned, if not all.  I, for one, was a former Myspace and Facebook user and am currently an Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest user. Today, I'll be discussing my first impressions of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Instagram.

Facebook

As mentioned previously, I was a former user and deactivated my account because I missed the days when you had to have a college email address in order to sign up and access the site.  This is no longer the case and hasn't been for a very long time.  I use to feel part of an exclusive society but now it's just another social networking site, a site I am no longer intrigued to be a part of.  My initial impressions returning to Facebook for this blog post is - does the site ever stop changing?  I find that Facebook updates it's features too often and that was one of the many reasons I decided to leave the site.  However, I do like how on your home page you get an overview of your profile, upcoming birthdays, pending requests, advertisements and search fields all in one screen.  I find that the settings can be tricky to control but no less manageable.

Myspace

Myspace has received a complete face lift.  Not sure if it'll ever be as popular as it once was in its hay day, but their new look and features has definitely opened the doorway for music lovers alike.  If you're looking to find new music, the new Myspace is very compelling!

Twitter

As mentioned in my previous post, twitter is a form of micro-blogging, similarly to Facebook updates.  You can tweet thoughts, reactions, share links, and the like and follow other users.  I do find twitter to be somewhat overwhelming for a new user - you can easily get lost or confused but no worries, just click here and there, and you'll figure it all out.  Similarly, to Facebook, once logged in, your home screen gives you an overview of tweets from those you are following as well as the latest trending hastag  topics and suggested users to follow.

Instagram

Currently, Instagram is one of my favorite social networking sites as I have a passion for all things beauty.  No I am no beauty guru, but I enjoy staying updated on the lates beauty trends and products and find that Instagrams satisfies this love of mine.  I do have to admit, Instagram is best viewable through it's app rather than its website.  Instagram allows users to share photos and short videos with your own commentary and hastags that will easily share your photo with others viewing that respective hastag.  Additionally, like the other sites above, users can comment on a photo or video.  The main difference with Instagram is that there is no "direct/private message" feature that allows a user to send a private message to another user.  The only form of communication between users is commenting on photos or videos.

Which are your favorite or go-to social networking sites?

If you're bored (or curious), follow me on Twitter and Instagram! :-)

Twitter v Blackboard

Have you given in to “tweeting” your thoughts away yet?  Well, the same way I’m here blogging as a class requirement is the same reason I began tweeting this past summer.  

Twitter has become a staple in social media and networking and has found its way into the classroom, yet I find that it is drastically different from our CUNY Blackboard tool.  Blackboard is a virtual learning environment and course management web based system.  Professors and students communicate and complete course assignments through this tool.  One of the most popular features is the Discussion Board.  Here both Professors and students can create forums or threads to discuss topics of our liking.  Most times a Professor will post a topic and students must comment on the topic as well as respond to other student’s comments.  These comments are not limited with characters as Twitter is.  Twitter is a form of micro-blogging, where the end user is solely posting brief text updates, usually sharing a thought, a joke, a link, etc.  I find the most useful aspect of Twitter is that it is in real time unlike the Discussion Board.  

Social Networking

It’s amazing how the concept of social networking has sky rocketed to the top of everyone’s vocabulary and day-to-day activities.  Social networking has become a huge trend as it seems that today everyone is blogging, tweeting, linking and posting on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms.  These technologies can be used to share similar interest, opinions, experiences, tips, information, and even to advertise and market.  For instance, at the agency I work for, LinkedIn is used as a recruiting tool and Facebook is used as a communications and marketing forum to enhance the agency’s reputation and to share their impact on the community. 

 

Social networking is extremely interactive and because of this, there can be many downfalls. For starters, society has established a need for "social capital" as described in the article "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum" by Stephen J. Dubner.  Social capital is a concept that describes the benefits individuals receive from their relationships with others.  The need to expand these relationships via social networking has increased exponentially.  What doesn't make sense is why would people want their information exposed and out on the web for the world to see.  Also, because of this need for social capital gain, the obsession over how many followers or friends you have trumps any real connections and in person interaction developed over time.  However, as William Reader states, "whether this is good or bad depends upon what kind of society you value."

Another downfall is the idea of privacy and appropriateness.  There is no real filter for what content can be posted or commented with the exception of certain privacy settings.  These settings can be used to "pre-approve" comments before they are made public or to distinguish who can see your page or photos.  As described in the article "Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private" by Rebecca Greenfield, these privacy settings are not fool proof.  Some settings are so complex that they are difficult to monitor and ensure they are effective.  As the author recommends, "the lessons here is twofold: Facebook privacy settings are too confusing, and if you really don't want intimate photos out there, don't put 'em on Facebook. But also, don't expect to hide something if you do — everything can be shared and re-shared these days."

 

I would have to admit, I'm with William Reader on this, I find that I value a society that appreciates face to face interactions.  Truthfully, my eyes and brain are physically exhausted by the end of the day from staring at a computer, tablet, and smartphone for 12+ hours.  While the benefits of social networking and media may outweigh the risks, life as we know it will only continue to become impersonal, relying solely on these tech-based relationships.  When do I, as a human, turn off? 

Blogs v Wikis

Ever wonder what's the difference between a blog and wiki?  Chances are the answer is "no."  You probably didn't even think about the two in the same sentence - at least I didn't.  Well today's blog post will shed light on the similarities and differences.  To start, let's define blog and wiki. Using my best friend Google to search for definitions, a blog is defined as "a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis."  A wiki is defined as "a website that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure by its users."  What does this mean exactly? 

 

Blogs and wikis both provide an avenue of communication, however, their main difference is the type of communication.  Wikis are usually knowledge based sharing while blogs are usually more opinionated which in most cases are the opinions of an individual or the owner of the blog, collaboration is very limited.  Wikis are edited by a team or group and promote collaborative work.  Multiple users can create, modify, and organize the content of a wiki in a collaborative manner.   A good example of how wiki is knowledge based sharing is seen in a NY Times article entitled A Rorschach Cheat Sheet on Wikipedia?  by Noam Cohen.  In short, the article describes the concerns over information being shared via Wikipedia, specifically “The Rorschach Test,” a series of ten inkblot plates that are well regarded in the field of psychology.  The inkblot plates were reproduced and shared on Wikipedia.  For many psychologist, sharing these inkblots undermines the decades of testing and researching performed and recorded over time.  I won’t go into the debate in the article -  feel free to read the article for yourself.  Nonetheless, this article shows how a wiki is a platform to share knowledge.
 

Furthermore, both medias provide a platform of feedback; you can post a comment on a blog and participate in a discussion forum in a wiki – either way you’re voice is heard! (Or at least you hope it is!)  A great example of this collaborative work can be seen in a NY Times article entitled Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid by Michael Wilson.  The article describes how a Brooklyn blog began to write about local suspicious criminal activity.  Visitors would leave comments replying to the activity noted in the blog post.  For the author(s) of the blog, it finally seemed that blogging lead to actions, although there is no clear connection of the two.  Nonetheless, the blog mentioned in the article united the community and provided an avenue for feedback over community concerns.

Additionally, since both blogs and wikis can link to articles and other blog post (as you've seen in this post), this provides an opportunity to connect and network among different channels.  This is extremely useful in blogging, as through blog-rolling, you are able to link visitors to your favorite bloggers, an informal word of mouth per se.  In today’s networked world, it’s best to give users a chance to cross over to other links and pages that may share similar interest as your blog or wiki.

Finally, what's next? Where are wikis headed?  As I’ve discovered in the course I’m enrolled in, wikis have made their way to the classroom.  In the weeks ahead my class will begin creating and/or editing our wiki page – that should be interesting!  I cannot begin to imagine the future of wikis, maybe they'll become a staple in how businesses function or may replace a business process.  What do you think?