P2P

Peer to peer sharing is very common nowadays--with programs like Dropbox, venmo, airdrop, YouTube, and more, you can share/exchange just about anything. Whether you need to pay a friend back for grabbing that drink for you at a "cash only" bar (venmo) or share a chapter of a textbook with a classmate (dropbox), there's a program designed to help you share resources. Illegal sharing and streaming is also still very popular. With wages rising at a slower rate than cost of living, people are turning to free resources on the web to enjoy their favorite TV shows, music, even school material. While Hollywood has cracked down and strategized technological ways to get around this trend, according to Brian Stelter and Brad Stone with the New York Times, nearly 40% of the film and music we listen to today is streamed or downloaded illegally. Other companies like the Lending Club, according to NPR, are choosing to capitalize on this new age of P2P sharing by providing direct peer to peer loans by investors.

Social Networking Sites

As someone who uses social media minimally, every sites seems similar to me. While the "purpose" of each of them differs slightly, the function of them remains the same-- express yourself. Twitter focuses on short tidbits, facebook allows space for people to share thoughts and events, and instagram provides a visual medium for either of these principles. Snapchat is slightly different in that there are rarely words and is typically used for humor.

Social Net'g

The benefits of forming a community are endless. The human race depends on the interaction and connection with others to grow, develop, and love one another. The internet has expanded this love and connection, and has absolutely increased the overall education of the world.  Of course, the new connections provided by the internet also create dangers, just as any new technology has. Security breaches and cyber bullying are just a few of the dangers the internet has created/enhanced. The work force has also become more competitive with the internet because of the instant search engines employers are given when searching for new talent. According to Frank Langfitt with NPR, employers' searches are easier than ever with the simple click of a button to access thousands of potential candidates as well as the social engagement of said candidates. The Atlantic Wire highlights the privacy issues many face with an article showing the vulnerability even the Zuckerbergs face n maintaining the privacy of their family life.

Creativity

The internet allows creative people to flourish by providing a way for the to design, collaborate, modify, create, produce, draw, paint, write, mix, arrange, develop, and orchestrate whatever they can dream possible. YouTube is the central hub for many creatives today by providing an outlet to teach and share their creations and discoveries. Surprising to many, according to The New York Times,  Disney has yielded their stronghold on copyright material in order to promote their productions and allow others to share their "voice," if you will.

Privacy

Real privacy exists for few Americans today because of the ever present connection to the web. Data collector and sellers are given free range to our data, including our phone numbers, email addresses, address, even Social Security number with very little effort on their part. This information is bought and sold countless times without our knowledge at all. Though there are efforts to make these transactions more transparent to consumers, there has been little progress. Much of the responsibility to be private fall on the shoulders of the consumer to be aware of when, how, to whom, and why their information is needed and whether or not they should give it. Unfortunately, achieving privacy in America also requires some level of sacrifice in the modern social world. Communication between "friends" is often reliant on seeing where people have visited, photos of life events, information about education and work, daily activities, and other pieces of information regarding their personal lives and choices. Reducing the display of these things often leads to a reduction in interest and contact from certain people. Those whose career depend on this kind of interaction are bound to suffer and, therefore, cannot afford this kind of sacrifice.

Advice to College

If I were hired by my college to "revamp" their social media, I would first create a central hub promoting central, easy access to all students. I would link all social media (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter...) accounts to this page ad organize them by purpose--namely, by student organizations, career center, school departments, campus events, and important dates. I would then divide this central hub into different functional sections. There would be a rotating panel on the side with the main current event from each organization and easy directions for students in need of recreational assistance.

I would lead a petition to install new screens in each building highlighting the rotating panel reflected on the website.

The Benefits of Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds enable people to experiment with a variety of different experiences for a number of different purposes. A popular one known as Second Life is used primarily for the purpose of “hanging out” and socializing with other online users. According to Diane Mehta with Forbes.com, Second Life has also proven useful in the development of training and healing programs for military uses. By enabling soldiers to experience peaceful environments related to environments typically known for eliciting responses of fear, anguish, or anger, designers provide a way for soldiers to readjust their experience with said environments. They can also use these features to prepare them for potentially dangerous situations. Others experimenting with the benefits of Second Life in include the governmental, NGOs, and nonprofit organizations, according to Mike Musgrove. For example, several officials have held meetings in person while simultaneously logging into SL to understand the experience, understand any potential danger that could occur in the program, and discuss ways businesses could use the software.
Though SL is just one example, the possibilities in virtual worlds are exponential--they encourage creativity, allow people to experiment with various social environments, provide an innovative way of communicating, and can even be used to preserve/recreate history. Could virtual world serve as historically immersive programs in the future? Could it help those with mental illnesses overcome barriers to society? How could they help with other types of design such as architecture or interior design? The possibilities seem to be limited only by our imagination.

Blog vs. Wiki

Blogs

We all know what a blog looks like. Even though each and every one has a different layout, theme, attitude, or topic, every blog shares the intention of creating an online form of individual self-expression or thought.  Many blogs are structurally customizable--much like a website, the way we format the aesthetic of our blogs is part of what makes it so expressive. Blogs also allow people to share posts others can comment on and then collaboratively discuss a wide range of topics and ideas. In this way, blogs allows for people who may have never connected before to find common interests or goals they can both/all work on together.

Wikis

I guarantee the first word "Wikipedia" is the first thing most of you think about when presented with this idea. Wikipedia is, by far, the most popular wiki used. Wikipedia even has a wiki on wikis. According to this wiki site, wikis are "websites that provide collaborative modifications of its content and structure directly from the web browser." They use wiki markup as their simple text language for editing content and run a wiki software, aka "wiki engine" which enable user to edit the content from their active web browser. Depending on the type of wiki, many allow different levels of access and control, some of which are open source that allow all users to see how things are made, others of which are more private and do not allow direct editing or allow viewers to see its formation process. As Wikipedia has discovered, the bigger the wiki gets, more rules must exist. In "Wikipedia: No Longer the Wild West?" we see a balanced response of anger and understanding as people realize the information on the site must become more regulated so the site's credibility and beneficial contribution to the community continue to grow. In the end, wikis are created in order to establish a common place for exchange and collaboration on ideas, tasks, organizations, as well as general need-to-know information.

New Idea for Wikis

Wikis could prove more useful if they were open to questions or feedback about topics. Blogs enable viewers to see the information and comment on it directly, whereas wikis allow only for the contributors to...contribute. There is no space for people to comment or ask questions about the content on the page in a highlighted fashion. Google docs would be another example; those with access have the option to comment on the document. The comments then show up on the right side bar so they are immediately visible to the next visitor.

Just a Theory

The way we interpret and interact with media has changed dramatically in the last 10-15 years. I am only 25 years old, and I was in high school when Facebook started. Instagram is only 6 years old, and Snapchat is only 5. Despite the infancy of these platforms, billions of people have integrate at least one of them into their daily lives. The nature of "always being on" must have some consequences (good and bad), right?