Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

The virtual world amazes many, to the point where some rather the virtual world is preferred by some over the real world. One can use a virtual world to create something fantastic, such as in Minecraft. According to an article written by Diane Mehta on Forbes "Minecraft is a virtual world. It’s digital LEGOs if you will, but it’s a space for kids to exercise their imagination and to connect with others to also want to build and create things."

Another can use a virtual world to meet people and become part of a community. Speaking of feeling like part of a community, an article “iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction” from CNN written by Nicole Saidi states "one benefit is that visitors can practice social interaction and find information about the condition. The graphical representations of real people create a ‘comfort zone’ that can coax users out of their shells and get them communicating with others.”

Virtual worlds can foster such creation, but there are some cases where the virtual world becomes addicting. People will spend money on games, such as World of Worldcraft, an massive multiplayer online role-playing game, or mmorpg, with a multi-million player base, can be really great. It can bring joy to many. The problem lies with those who get addicted and spend too much money or time, trying to acquire in-game items. Competitions begin, and time, some say, is "wasted" on the game, on something that doesn't equate to real-world value.

The fine line between good and bad is thin, and as long as one uses it with balance in mind.

Blog About Twitter

A Twitter discussion is very different from that of a Blackboard or class discussion. Twitter requires one's comments or posts to be short, with the longer posts usually being the last ones to read. In a blackboard discussion, it may be easier to get a point across, but it usually involves a longer comment. In a class discussion, people tune out of the conversation often. On Twitter, you have to be concise, you have to pick the correct details to state. It also allows for more rebuttal, since people can reply to your comments faster, and more often. I personally rather discuss topics on Twitter than on Blackboard.

Social Networking Sites

Oh man, the variety of the social networking sites out there is absolutely wild. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Path. They all serve similar purposes, but look different or have other limitations.

They all allow you to "follow" or connect with other people or entities, which in turn allows you to see what they choose to share. They differ on what content is shared though.

Facebook allows all sorts of content, short or long statuses, photos, videos, or even feelings! It's riddled with advertisements though, sometimes clogging up one's "newsfeed" to the point where I just want to log off. Lately my newsfeed has not been too interesting, seeing two-day-old posts again and again.

Twitter is the same, just it limits one's post to 140 characters at maximum. The longer "tweets" are cut into two posts, or put on a third-party website that was linked.

Instagram is limited to posting photos, and now after the competition has begun with another company, Vine, videos are allowed. Instagram is owned by Facebook though, so the same advertisements are there.

Path, my least favorite Social Network, is just a much smaller version of Facebook. Path tries to be unique by creating a "Path" for one to follow another on. Just like one's news feed, but with a different name.

Social Networking

At the core of the many forms of social media is the social networking aspect. News can be shared, opinions can be debated, anything can really happen. There are some poor areas of social networking, especially privacy. In the article posted by The Wire, “Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn’t Private”, it explains how muffled the privacy settings on the platform can be. In fact when one posts photos on social media there is very little control on those pictures. The key is as illustrated in the article “don’t expect to hide something if you do everything can be share and re-shared these days”.

Social Media is also a vital part of many corporations. For starters social media is an easy way to learn about ones audience. One method that companies use to maximize revenue, utilizes social media and the details it gives about those connected. Companies can even target certain audiences through social media platforms such as Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook. Social networks like LinkedIn link the corporate and social media aspects to create a new way for potential employees to be recruited.

So the question is what does the future hold for social networking? Although social media has a bright future for society I want to focus on the negative it could continue to have moving forward and way into future. One of Social medias biggest problems is that it is decreasing real, live social experiences in society. As the New York Times article “Anti-Social Networking?” states, children, more often than not, communicated with their friends in person. However, nowadays children are consumed by their usage of mobile devices and applications. The problem is people aren’t connecting as much with one individual and are often involved in online chats. The pew research center found that “ages 12 through 17 send 50 or more text messages a day and that one third send more than 100 a day.” The data is troubling, and hopefully this downward trend doesn’t continue!

http://www.thewire.com/technology/2012/12/facebook-privacy-so-confusing-even-zuckerberg-family-photo-isnt-private/60313/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/fashion/02BEST.html

Blogs vs Wiki

Blogs and Wikis are similar in many aspects, but they do have some crucial differences. First of all, is that Wikis are written and maintained as a collaborative effort, whilst blogs are usually made as a solo effort. According to Wikipedia, the definition of a Wiki is "is a website which allows collaborative modification of its content and structure directly from the web browser. In a typical wiki, text is written using a simplified markup language (known as "wiki markup"), and often edited with the help of a rich-text editor." Meanwhile, according to Kathy E. Gill in her article "How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere?" explains the primary characteristics of a blog, which include but are not limited too:

Reverse chronological journaling (format), Regular, date-stamped entries (timeliness)Links to related news articles, documents, blog entries within each entry (attribution), Archived entries (old content remains accessible), Links to related blogs (blogrolling), RSS or XML feed (ease of syndication), Passion (voice).

While one person updates a blog, many can contribute to a wiki. This gives the blog it's own identity, while a wiki has more of a position or structure that it fills. Wikis are used in many companies and organizations, even a class in Baruch College! Many can contribute from home, from work, even on the train. The information is updated very quickly once submitted, which can speed up projects and even increase efficiency.

On the other hand, Blogs distribute different types of information usually, and have a footprint in everyday life. Blogs have effected politics, increasing the candidates' exposure, even in presidential elections! They brought some information to the public's eye instantly. The blogs used are also relatively inexpensive, which assists many in creating and maintaining their own.

Both Wikis and blogs are excellent and effective resources to post and share information quickly and easily, which is a great benefit for society today!