Creativity

New media fosters creativity among those who wouldn’t otherwise participate. Today it is easier to be creative because of the new media available to them. As a result, people are creating new things that are entertaining for others. One example of this is the rise of mashup videos on Youtube. Youtube users are using animated cartoons as visuals and pairing them with an audio that makes it funny. According to the article “Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?”, Disney is allowing edited videos of their animated cartoons with rap audio despite the animation being an infringement of their copyright because wholesale piracy is a bigger issue. Disney’s toleration of mashup videos allows room for creativity for users to continue making videos as long as it doesn’t interfere with Disney’s revenue. A Nickelodeon spokesperson doesn’t see the harm in mashup videos, he even applauds the clean edits. The way I see it, mashup videos can lead to a few to pursue a career in animation. Thus, new media's ability to foster creativity is beneficial for our entertainment.

Work Cited:

Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why? The New York Times, September 24, 2007; available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24crank.html

Creativity and New Media

I chose to play The Sims for this assignment. It was quite interesting, especially given that we are recommended to stay home due to the pandemic going on, so it felt like a little escape. The first thing I had to do was to create my avatar. It became challenging for me to do so because the clothes options were horrendous, but I managed. Next, I was taken to my house. I had to fix and decorate the interior of the house with the little options I was given. I had never played games such as Sims or Second Life before, so it was a surprise to me that I had to do a lot of things to play it. I was given work as a barista at a local coffee shop where I had to work shifts. The Sims makes it mandatory that you work, decorate your house, and interact with other Sims because these assignments are assigned to you as “Quests” that you must complete in order to receive more rewards and cash and to level up. I thought it was funny that one of the quests was for my Sim to rest because I wouldn’t think a digital character would need to. My favorite part about the game was decorating my house. Although I don’t plan on playing the game consistently, I know a friend who does. She has shown me her house and it is huge. She even expanded it! If one truly is dedicated to playing Sims, they can be very creative in decorating their house.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used in many ways. A few schools have taken advantage of virtual worlds. According to the article “The Virtual World Moves into the Classroom,” virtual worlds provide an unimaginable experience for students because it is interactive. Social studies teachers gain a lot from the use of virtual worlds because they can take their students on a virtual tour of a historical event without spending thousands of dollars on a trip. Learning through virtual worlds has a positive effect on student’s learning because they tend to “remember what they’ve encountered in the virtual worlds.” Virtual worlds can also help children engage in their imagination and feel connected with others. The article “After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?”, states that children can experience this by playing Minecraft. Minecraft is a virtual world that allows its users to build and explore while being connected with other users with the same goal. It is a great way to foster creativity in children since their generation is growing up with advanced technology. They can build and design their own worlds through a mobile device. Virtual worlds serve a great purpose in children’s lives, but it can create problems when used in other ways.

 As always with anything done online, the main concern is whether it is safe for children. This concern was made a reality when Pokemon Go, an augmented reality game, was released. Besides everyone going crazy for it, malicious users were using it to target victims. Children became very susceptible to it because they were walking around town without parent supervision. I strongly believe we will see more of virtual worlds in the future. It has some useful purposes if used for good reasons. I can see it being introduced into the classroom more, especially for subjects such as social studies and art classes that focuses on designs.

Works Cited:

After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get A Reboot. April 30, 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/ 

The virtual world moves into the classroom Posted by Joe Earle | Sep 14, 2018 https://www.reporternewspapers.net/2018/09/14/the-virtual-world-moves-into-the-classroom/

Blog About Twitter

A Twitter discussion must be quick and to the point due to the limited characters per post. This leads to users making threads that users can read and respond to. Unlike Blackboard Discussion, Twitter has a more interactive feel to it. I believe this is the case because Twitter is easier and faster to access. You receive instant notifications if a user replied to your tweet or mentioned you on a tweet. If the user is near their phone, they can continue the conversation in seconds. With that being said, I don’t think a Twitter discussion can ever come close to an in-class discussion because multiple students can input their thoughts at any given point. There is a lot more instant feedback that can guide the classroom discussion. Bouncing off ideas is hard to do on Twitter if not everyone is logged onto it. Twitter is great if you’re glued to your phone or laptop screen.

Blog: Social Networking Sites

The only social networking sites that I log into on the regular are Instagram and Snapchat. I currently have Facebook, but I rarely log into it. When Facebook came out, I wasn’t really into it because I didn’t feel the need to post about my life. Why would anyone care if I went to the mall? I don’t really care about having a following or being friends with a lot of people online which is why I never used it at its peak. I only use Facebook if my parents need me to look up a family member from the motherland since they both don’t have social networking sites. My Facebook is filled with my family members posts. I had a Twitter account for about 3 years but got bored of it because it became repetitive. I never had anything to say. Although, sometimes I do miss using Twitter daily because it kept me up to date with a lot of current events. It helped spread news at a faster rate which is very helpful. All I must do to see what everyone is talking about is to click on the Explore page and look at the Trends and What’s Happening. What I miss most about Twitter is its funny content, but I don’t miss out on much since my boyfriend gladly shows me all the tweets he thought I would find funny.

In all honesty, I’m not sure why I still have Snapchat. Ever since Instagram added Instagram Story, which is basically Snapchat, I’ve noticed a lot of users stopped using Snapchat for Instagram. I don’t blame them since Instagram has everything in one. I occasionally post on Snapchat. I like Snapchat because of its face filters. It’s always fun to play around with them with my nephews. In the future, I will probably end up deleting Snapchat. Instagram has remained my favorite social networking site. I love it because of its clean format. The only complaint I can say about Instagram is that they stopped organizing posts in chronological order. Instagram is simple and easy to use. Who doesn’t like posting a selfie or posting photos of their awesome trip? I like it because its only meant for photos.