Effect of Social Media on Interpersonal Communication

Over the years, there have been new additions to new media. I think the next new thing for new media could be holographic messages. Instead of calling or texting, people may be able to record and send others a holographic message or even card that includes both audio and visuals. We can already communicate with one another through video conferencing, so it seems that with an advancement in technology, we can work on developing holograms.

So far, I have been working on the page for new media in traveling. I recently started traveling and have spent a great deal of time planning trips, so I decided to do more research on this topic. I have fixed a couple of broken links and started to add some content on online travel agencies, such as CheapOair. I am also looking into trip planning websites and applications.

File sharing is when users on the Internet distribute files, whether it be documents, videos, or music. P2P is an form of file sharing in which it allows individuals to share content without having to connect to a specific network or platform. One example of a P2P file sharing platform is BitTorrent, which allows users to upload copyrighted materials for others to illegally download. While policy makers are trying to stop this illegal activity, others are questioning whether or not internet access should be restricted from the public. The article, "Should Online Scofflaws be Denied Web Access," discusses how some countries are actually suspending laws under which Internet service providers would have been required to crack down on illicit copying. It argues that "there’s increasing understanding that broadband is fundamental to basic economic and social participation."

New media has changed the lives of almost anyone who uses it, but many issues arise regarding privacy and confidentiality. These issues range from loss of privacy on social networking sites to loss of confidentiality due to illegal downloading and sharing content. Anything that you put online can be easily found and information shared online can't be taken back. When on the web, many social networking sites guarantee privacy, but they can only do so much. For instance, Facebook announced earlier last year that there was a security breach that caused private user data to be leaked. This affected thousands of users and just goes to show us how the internet has become way too expansive. With new media, it has made it even harder to ensure privacy and confidentiality.

Baruch has been increasing its social media efforts, especially with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. However, I think they should be utilizing these social media outlets more to help promote events, academic programs, and deadlines. I find that while email can be a useful tool for communicating with students, not everyone checks it as frequently. Due to the high volume of users on social networking sites, more students would be able to stay updated and aware of the things happening on campus. Instead of sending out mass emails with news and deadlines, Baruch can share a simple post or tweet in order to give students real-time updates. It could also help promote various events from STARR or networking opportunities held at Baruch and increase attendance.

New media platforms such as Instagram offer experiences that foster communities of creativity. Users personalize and tailor their profiles to their liking as they begin to build their brand. This platform allows individuals to share photos, videos, and even stories. I recently started using Instagram stories as a way to document my travels and to express my creativity. I have been able to produce my own content using boomerangs and editing tools. It has been really fun to get creative with captions and add hashtags, filters, stickers, or locations to my photos or videos. Instagram introduced a new feature in which you can showcase your saved stories on your profile and I customized my profile with all the countries I traveled to earlier this January. I picked stories from my trip to Asia and created highlights of my trip for each country I visited. In one example I included below, I documented my time in Taiwan and used a combination of photos, videos, and boomerangs, while also utiliz...

New media platforms foster creativity by providing different ways in which we can express our ideas, while also exposing us to the thoughts and opinions of others. A NY Times article talks about how Disney helped foster creativity among its users by tolerating YouTube videos that turned their characters into rap stars. Various individuals decided to take clips from animated movies and TV shows to create mash-ups of the song "Crank That." A version taken from "SpongeBob SquarePants" started gaining in popularity and Nickelodeon, the owner of the children's show, encouraged their audience to continue creating more mash videos using their original content. This example shows how social media not only helped foster their imagination, but also allowed users to connect through these iconic characters. Nickelodeon and Disney helped create a community in which individuals can feel inspired as well as inspire others. "Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters....