Creativity and New Media

Ever hear of DailyBooth? If not, let me tell you about it. It is like Twitter but with pictures.

You upload snapshots of anything and get people involved in a conversation.

Well I decided to use it to play a game. When ever I was on long drives with friends or family or just really bored I would suggest the word association game. Someone says a word and you say the first word that comes to mind. It can get hilarious.

Well I decided to try it with the internet tools at my disposal.

Here is how it went.

Want to see the action? Click Here 

Creativity

What part of new media doesn't foster creativity?

New media has made it possible, for pretty much everyone, to let out their own creativity. From comedy video on youtube, to music mixing and editing, to making short YouTube videos, to this thing that I am currently posting on-ehem- Blogs.

I have been blogging for a long time now and I have never seen more creativity then I do within this world.  There are blogs for writing, commenting, photography, lifestyle, cooking, whatever you want you can find. And there are also the people who create the templates for blogs and website designers.

But I think one of the biggest and greatest outlets for creativity is YouTube.In "I Tube, You Tube, Everybody Tubes" it says that " YouTube, the world's largest UGC site, serves 100 million distinct videos and 65,000 uploads daily."   Go on YouTube and the world is in front of you. The other day I learned how to use iMovie software on YouTube.  You know how much creativity is fostered in 100 million videos?

Take a look at this...

Or if you prefer something a little more well eclectic...

Two different video. Both very creative and both on the same site.

Of course there are also the videos that Brooks Barnes talks about in his Article which are people doing mash-ups with already well known things; like disney.  To take a show, movie, song, etc, that people know and basically rip it apart - and very well- is just incredible.

New media is a great for people looking to get themselves out there. Whether it is a blog, fred-like youtube video, or some song mash-ups and parodies.

New media is bursting at the seems with creative minds.

Virtual Reality

Why are the Sims games so popular? Because they allow people to slip outside their world for a little and into another. But it doesn't stop there.

According to Mark Tutton, CNN, companies are now using diving into the virtual sphere. Using programs like Second Life, virtual offices are being set u to hold meetings and even create virtual water-cooler experiences.

 IBM has even created their own virtual tool. Parmar of IBM told CNN that he had to hold a meeting with technical leaders from various countries. Instead of everyone flying to some center location they used the Sametime 3D program to hold the meeting.

But these programs are not just for the office. VLES.com, according to David Itzkoff of The New York Times allows people to have a night out on the Lower East Side without getting up fromt he couch.

Sounds like a good time.

There are a lot of pros to these virtual sites. On the business side of things it is easier to conduct meetings.  Companies spend a lot of money on travel, imagine cutting those expenses and just meeting in one of these worlds? Companies would save a lot of money and time. Also work does not have to stop because there is a blizzard.

Also there are some people out there who would do better in this virtual setting. They may feel more comfortable being more aggressive.  These people may have some good ideas that they have been afraid to share.

As for the other aspects of virtual world, well like Sims it may be exciting to live  different life for a while. Also think about if your friends are coming in from our of time and you need to find something to do. Well you can use a site like VLES. com to explore some places before you go.

Just like everything else, though, there are some negatives aspects. These virtual worlds are another example of how new media ruining communication skills. It is easier to express yourself online for some people but it is important to know how to do it in person. Especially in the business world. You learn how to be aggressive in a real meeting. You learn how if you want your ideas out there you need to speak up.

It is also much better if you explore the Lower East Side for real, rather than from your couch while you watch television.

VIrtual worlds should be used an addition not a substitute.

As for the future of virtual worlds, well I think some day soon our classrooms will look something like this...

It is only a matter of time.

Twitter Post

This is beautiful.

With the use of Twitter, we could have an interactive class discussion. It is true that we can use Blackboard to have such a discussion but it is not the same.  Twitter is optimal for things like this because it's fast and it's easy.

Blackboard takes you through a whole process to leave a comment and you have to go through all the post separately and reply. Here you can be conversing on multiple topics for everyone to see when they open Twitter.  Not to mention most people have iPhones or Blackberries and they can follow and contribute to the conversation right from their phone.

It is fast. You only use 140 characters, you make your point and interact with classmates. Also you could add a hashtag, to taylor the conversation.

I don't know if Twitter is better than an in class discussion but it is a different dynamic.  Usually college classes are rather big and with everyone trying to get their opinions in, those less aggressive ones get pushed aside.  Also, not everyone is comfortable saying exactly what they want in front of a whole classroom. But Twitter, like the rest of the virtual world, sets up that vail between people that adds a higher level of comfort.

Social Networking Sites

There are so many Social Networking sites out there it is getting hard to keep track. It used to be that there was one major one at a time. Remember when everyone had a Myspace but then it got conquered by Facebook?

Now many exist, but are all used a little differently.

Let's start with the most common, Facebook. Now Mark Zuckerberg really pulled out all the stops with this one. But, it used to be inhabited by only college students and your school had to be added before you could join.  Now anyone can create a profile and you can add a million pictures, even ones that your friends rather you not put up. You can update your status with when you are going to the mall or who is winning the play-off game. You can create public or highly exclusive events. Create groups of people with interests similar to yours.  You can even take care of a virtual farm.  Facebook is now a part of everyday life. I would go as far as to say that it has become an addiction for some.

I do think that Facebook has taken it a little too far. People are too invested in browsing through other people's lives. You could spend hours checking in on what all your friends are doing, and while sometimes it may be entertaining, it is a little much. However, it does have it's perks.  It is a good way to keep in touch with people. Finding old high school friends has been made pretty simple as well.  Companies create profiles and you can learn more about them, follow their moves. It is a good tool.


Secondly Myspace. I remember when I created my Myspace profile. It was my first graze with social networking.  I still have a Myspace profile which was required for my internship. When I log on, it is like a different world. I notice that Myspace is the music place. They have tried to make it more like Facebook with the status updates and  such but I feel out of place because I am not in a band.  There are musicians and bands on Facebook but it is not the same.

Myspace has always been artist friendly. There are regular people who still use it and appreciate all it's Facebook-esque additions but at the end of the day every new band creates a myspace before a Facebook.

Now I am not very familiar with Friendster. I created a profile and browsed around a bit. It seems very cartoony. With the Treasure Chest feature it reminds me of a gaming site. Which I think a lot of people may use it as. One feature I did like is the Forum feature. It seems as though there is some good discussion flowing through there and there are a lot of helpful ideas there for all sorts of people.

There is also a classifieds section. Which Facebook has ( Marketplace) but I did not expect Friendster to have it on first glance.

Finally one of my personal favorite Social Networking sites is LinkedIn. This is unlike any other because it is a professional  networking site. It's Facebook for the professional world and it has remained that way. I can log on and join professional groups and browse jobs from industries I am interested in. I have some of my employers leave me recommendations right there on the site and I get to connect with other people in my field on a professional level. It is clean and easy to use and very helpful.

The fact that LinkedIn stays professional allows it to be more serious than Facebook can ever be. You are not bombarded with  status updates all the time and pictures. It is just employees, employers getting together. Sharing helpful tools and keeping it professional.

There is a social networking site out there for everyone. Weather you want to meet writers, or professionals, or find old friends, promote your band, etc. You can find it all on the internet.

Social Networking

From experience alone, I have seen the way Social Media has changed the business world. I have been  interning at Girls Rock & Girls Rule for almost two years now. GRGR is a company that promotes female musicians. Most of what we do could not be accomplished without the use of social media.

I believe that Social Media may have gone a little too far. Like Steve Chazin said on Feakonomicsmedia.com "I can know what’s on their minds (MySpace), who else they know (Facebook/LinkedIn), and even what they are doing at this very moment (Twitter). On the other hand, I’m not sure I need to know any of that."  It may be more beneficial to use Social Media as a business tool then to know where your friend is eating dinner and if that dinner will be with his or her significant other. 


At GRGR we use Myspace to host music from all the female musicians we represent and we have Twitter linked to Facebook so we can let all of our followers and friends know what resources are available or about new news on the music scene. Our newsletter is linked to a Wordpress blog which also happens to be our website and we use music sites like reverbnation.com to get in touch with other artists and managers. The possibilities are endless. 


But Social Media does not stop at business promotions.  There are blogs and Twitters for political groups and initiatives all over the world. Obama got on the bandwagon during the presidential election. David Carr, New York Times, wrote an article explaining how Obama was able to build a fan-base that would help him move past the republican candidate John McCain. His advisers saw that to target a larger audience the use of Social Media would prove to be highly beneficial, they were right. 


SOcial Media has created a new world. It has made networking easier ( and probably more important) and has opened the doors for really pushing ideas  and businesses to new levels. From here on people wanting to start new start-ups are going to have to get very creative. Topping the Facebook and Twitter of today is not going to be easy. 

Blogs vs. Wikis

Two of the best examples of how the world of media is growing, changing and expanding are blogs ( or web logs) and wikis.  These two forms of what is referred to a “New Media”  make, available to the public, pretty much all the information one could ask for. You want some new recipes or helpful gardening tips, well there is most likely a blog for that. Need to write a paper on George Washington, well you can learn about his entire life off Wikipedia.  

But it is much more than that.

Blogs and wikis have become a tool for people to be heard. An outlet to say whatever you want, from citizen journalism to arts and crafts. Michael Barbaro of The New York Times writes about the blog formed by Wal-Mart employees. Checkoutblog.com  is an open blog in which Wal-Mart employees can talk about, well anything they please. They are not the only ones: General Motors and Dell also have employee blogs.

As for wikis, we see the altitude of its magnificence right in our own virtual classroom.   We are able, as a class to put together a page in which we can all communicate and share ideas with each other. “ [They] needed a way to organize in one place all of the schedules, code and other details of the project. He chose a wiki,” writes Margaret Locher, CIO.com. She was referring to Tony Pagliarulo,  who decided that a wiki wold greatly benefit his company EMC. They were ahead of the game because they were always updating and communicating.

In my own personal life, I have been part many blogs in which many collaborators can each log in and contribute their latest articles. For example, when I worked for WhereshareNYC.com, reviewing New York City establishments, I and the rest of the employees were able to log on at their leisure and upload a new review.  

People believe that blogs and wikis are pretty much the same things. The truth is, they do share many similarities but it depends on what you are looking for. Blogs are great ways for writers to get together and produce things like online magazines or comments on pop culture. Wikis work great for classroom assignments and communication and with business communication and ideas. Personally, I think both can work but I recommend blogs for writers and wikis for  more information-based and business like endeavors.

Both blogs and wikis can be very helpful and are a great addition to the web and out day to day lives.