The Next New Thing

Of all the "new" media forms discussed on this blog and many more found in the wider society, the most fascinating type is the kind which does not yet exist.  What would it look like?  What would it do?  I'd think the answer is relative.  One approach to the possibilities would be a consideration of what society needs now and in the future.  More than ever, new media tends to be fluid and impactful, yet traditional.  We may begin our news search in the morning browsing curators like bloggers and share stories on Facebook, for instance, however these must be verifiable and so we tend to rely on the legacy media (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN) for the "true" version of events.  In this way, any new media has to be trusted.  

Moreover, any new media would need to be social.  First responders after hurricane Sandy, for example, were regular people organizing on Facebook to get the victims toward food and shelter (for maybe the first time, the Red Cross played a supporting role). Whatever the new media is to become, it will probably not thrive without speedy agreement from thousands of ardent supporters.  Third, we live in a society of images and so the new media will have to be visual.  The advertising industry best understands this concept.  

Fortunately, maybe (it depends upon how you see it), the internet has seized and transformed almost every industry.  If it hasn't reached yours yet, it soon will.  It would be great if a new media form could truly make the world closer in alignment with what we believe it could be.  Save the animals? Sure. Cure for Cancer? Coming right up. Fries with that? The best ever.  IT is discouraging however to know that the same nature of the world that encourages such invention will also become its downfall.  Great ideas can be known, shared, and built upon, but people rarely get to really experience the benefits for long before huge regulations are imposed. We seem to see the future world, but we cannot yet really live there.  Any awe inspiring new media will have to be allowed to continue without harsh restraint and for a sufficient period of time. 

Privacy and Confidentiality

Online privacy. The term is redundant.  New ways of sharing media, first via usenet and formal blogs then later social networks, have made it impossible to remain an enigma online.  Oh sure, one wonders, if I haven't done anything wrong, what would I have to hide?  Anything a person does could seem controversial to another as a consequence of living in a networked world.  Personalities and cultures, for example often come into conflict.  Looking to become an employee of X company?  Better be able to fit into the culture.  This means keeping under wraps your photos of last Saturday's wild evening, or other information you wouldn't want to share with everyone.  But how?  Facebook seems to offer privacy features, but eventually allows your info to become public.  Twitter and blogs can be hacked.  Official government memos could be leaked.  The relative comfort of life behind a screen is illusory; don't mention anything you wouldn't want everyone to know.  The consequences could get you fired, arrested, stalked, or worse.  Alternately, the lack of privacy gives new meaning to the phrase "paper trail"; look out online bullies, your actions are being documented.  Similarly criminals hiding out on social networks could be caught more easily than, say, hunkering down in the old safe house.             

According to Wikipedia, privacy is a condition of being selectively compartmentalized, anonymous, the decision to remain unidentified.  This sounds great when wishing to assume new identities or attempting to become more social in group settings.  The ability to hide creates a certain courage, but at what cost?  Many would argue that online socializing is not as beneficial as the real thing.  People become even more isolated as a result.  Studies show that the animal brain requires challenges when growing new neurons-the lack of real interaction could literally cause brain drain.

Confidentiality seems work in the opposite manner; access is granted to a select few relevant parties.  Lack of confidentiality may cause clients to cease sharing useful information with their lawyers, derailing precedent setting court cases.  Victims of a crime may not be as forthcoming if real identities are revealed.  Patients may not volunteer embarrassing symptoms if this were to become public.  Companies could not function if top secret details were to be published.  The "need to know" basis,however,  has all but disappeared.  More than ever, people simply have to trust one another to use discretion.  In the future, we will not be able to continue as a society if we cannot trust someone with our most private information.      

P2P File sharing

File sharing is the act of downloading information in media form such as movies, music, ebooks, documents, or anything online.  File sharing at this point is intrinsic to the internet; how else would ideas truly grow and evolve? Clive Thomson notes that file sharing is changing entire industries.  He points out that television shows that formerly cost hundreds of thousands of dollars can now be produced digitally at home and shared at a fraction of this cost, replacing the standard format.  Some people believe that this ability to act collaboratively should be an inalienable human right, while others label this an act of piracy.  True, artists must be compensated for their work, but are billions of dollars more important than the drive to create and conceptualize? The answer will depend upon whom you ask.  

The advent of P2P, or peer to peer, file sharing makes it easier than ever to gain access to the goods.  Here computers can communicate and files are subsequently copied from one system to another.  Last week's popular movie can now be viewed at home, for free and shared among many users.  Ever since Napster lead the way with downloading music from the personal collection of friends and strangers, the world has become embroiled in an interesting legal and ethical dilemma.  Precious privacy and confidentiality, for example, mentioned in the previous post, could become compromised.  Sensitive military and commercial documents may put lives and careers in danger.  Previously solid moral grounds become grey areas when individuals do not pay for the privilege of ownership.  Unfortunately, dire consequences are becoming business as usual in a connected world; it's common to pay thousands for a few illegally acquired songs.  Maybe this will be the inspiration to create a balance (make the punishment fit the crime) and thus inspire new business models.  In any case, traditional medial outlets will need to adapt if they expect to survive.          

Creativity and New Media

My definition of creativity and new media.  The title is "A Job A Day".  Sometimes my creativity comes from experiences and so this depicts various places I've worked for over the years.  After much saving of money, I am here (thankfully) back in school. Last semester, yay. 

First, I have assembled YouTube videos dealing with different types of employment that were then edited in Final Cut Pro.  Layered over these are images of storefronts cut and (painstakingly) altered in Photoshop.  AfterEffects finishes the job with an animated figure walking by to show the passage of time.  The music reflect the mood.  The video was shared on YouTube and now appears on this blog.

Creativity

So how does new media foster creativity?  Put simply, new media makes it easy to develop new compositions.  Being creative in this sense is quick and inexpensive.  Making a new mashup, for example, merely combines work from different sources to bring forth new meaning to the pieces.  According Frere-Jones, anyone with a computer and the right software can create a new work with little effort.  Further, the idea does not just sit on the shelves of a library or record store.  Sites like Vimeo and YouTube allow creators and users to share the product, which may go viral as a result.  New viewers may then gain inspiration from these and subsequently create their own work.  

Companies have found new media to be cost effective when designing new products. Leaders like Lego and Twitter, for instance, use social platforms to let average people submit their designs.  This is creative outsourcing at its best, yet the negative aspects are still being worked out.  

Copyright matters, royalty agreements, and "what is art" aesthetics are called into question when everyone (and anyone) holds the key to the means of production.  It is curious that these worries do not restrict the desire or ability to create new work, as they tend to in the offline world.  Maybe it is the legal grey area fostered by new media that allows the creativity to continue. 

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

-->

Virtual worlds are evolving all the time.  They can be used for entertainment (video games), business (corporate meetings), or political aims (info gatherings). Here we can view spaces and items which may or may not exist in the real world.  In these ways virtual worlds can be fun, informative, and creative.  Virtual worlds are fraught with pros and cons.  Users with disabilities such as autism, for example, can benefit from experiencing social settings in different ways.  Architects and designers can view and present their creations clearly.  Historic places in danger of slipping away can be preserved forever.  Want to see the Mona Lisa? You can view it any time you like from the comfort of your own home.  However, I feel that many of these possibilities are marred by their shortcomings.  I'd prefer to see the real thing.  Also, personal safety might be an issue; children in Second Life might become acquainted with dangerous "people".  Personal information may be exposed-even Twitter isn't safe from hackers.  If you are at a club, you cannot have a beer with that.  Maybe these issues could be solved with some further technical development. 

It's easy to be creative in virtual reality.  You can choose any type avatar you like with the right clothes and hair.  You can choose a location template or create your own world.  You can make music or create a painting of your own.  Feel free to design a dress, make a new color, or present your own dream home.  Personally the most wonderful thing about virtual reality is that the options prompt people to think about their lives, for better or for worse, and what they'd really like versus what they expect to achieve.  People could make many of their goals actual realities instead of virtual ones if they only knew what it was they really wanted. For this, future virtual realities may evolve into a training ground for future exploration.  Users could try on a career or visit a country to find if this is something they'd want to really do in the real future.  As usual, there would also be business implications. Marketing companies would gladly pay for the opportunity to decipher the product preferences of various demographic groups.  I'm watching this to see how it all turns out.