The Top Ten Things To Be Aware Of When Using New Media :
As defined on Wikipedia, New Media refers to on-demand access to content anytime,
anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback,
and creative participation. Another aspect of new media is the real-time
generation of new and unregulated content.
Basically New Media is a term to define all that has to do with the internet, and the ability to have access to any sort of content at anytime. Furthermore, the ability to contribute to content, making the internet interactive.
(Wikipedia contributors, 2014)
3 DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW MEDIA :
Every consumer is a producer
You get what you don't pay for
Competitive and Mutually catalytic
(Powerpoint Old and New Media Convergence, Professor Doyle)
New Media should be encouraged, but here are some things that users should be aware of:
1. Location Aware Media
What is it? "Location-aware applications deliver online content to users based on their physical location. Various technologies employ GPS, cell phone infrastructure, or wireless access points to identify where electronic devices such as mobile phones or laptops are, and users can choose to share that information with location-aware applications. Those applications can then provide users with resources such as a “you are here” marker on a city map, reviews for restaurants in the area, a nap alarm that’s triggered by your specific stop on a commuter train, or notices about nearby bottlenecks in traffic. Applications might also report a user’s location to friends in a social network, prompting those nearby to meet for coffee or dinner." (Educause, 2009)
Basically this technology allows the application to know your location on the GPS. This helps your phone to personalize your results. For example, your weather will be personalized to the location you and your phone are. This technology also allows your GoogleMaps to give you driving directions. Unfortunately this technology adds to some privacy concerns.
Location Aware Media offers positives and negatives for new media users.
The Positives: This technology offers users the ability to have personalized search results, making the task of finding a local restaurant, or store much more convenient. There are also certain apps that use this technology to help users find their phones when they lose them. This technology is used in GPS applications to create a route, and certainly offers many benefits.
On The Other Hand...
The Negatives: Location aware media has a few downfalls based mainly on the concerns of privacy and security. Many social networks will post your location for everyone to see, unless turned off, compromising users privacy.
Example : I was watching a news segment a few weeks back, and caught a segment that was being done about location aware media. The hosts were discussing how positive this technology can be, but reminded guests to turn off the location service so they wouldn't be posting their locations on their social media pages. The lady host, ironically, mentioned this first, and was discussing how it could compromise her privacy. Her male co-host turned to her during this and said something along the lines of "Yours is on!". She immediately responded "No, I made sure to turn it off!" But realized that she had recently gotten a new phone and forgot to do this again. The lady had been tweeting from her apartment, where the address got posted under all of her tweets. She was shocked and freaked out by this and explained how to turn the services off. The segment went on to show viewers just how accurate the location really was. The phone listed street corners and even building numbers with a street name.
This technology could compromise your security and it's something to be aware of when using new media. Even this blog post gives me the option to list my current location!
The screen shots below are from my phone. They show the location services that control the location aware applications. To turn off all location services you swipe the "Location Services" to the left. To turn off select services you choose the service and swipe left. For example: AroundMe location services is turned on, while Facebook is turned off.
Another example is my Facebook page. My location services is turned off but if another user tags you, and theirs is on, then you get a pin on the map and tagged there as well. The issue with location aware applications is that you may be leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind about your whereabouts which could be dangerous.
Conclusion
Location Aware Media can be very useful and convenient when used right! The gps on my weather app allows me to find the weather of the city I'm in, and on my Groupon app it lets me view local deals that are happening. If used carefully it offers many benefits!
2. Social Media helps businesses AND consumers!
As technology has advanced, social media has become an amazing way to promote your business. What could be better? A business can utilize an array of social networks to promote their products to a large audience, for free!
Snapchat: A new way to promote your business!
Snapchat is a social media site that has been growing in popularity recently, letting friends send photo messages that are only visible for ten seconds or less, chosen by the sender, that automatically deletes after being viewed. Recently, a yogurt shop in New York called 16 Handles announced their new Snapchat business promotion! Here is how it goes.
First, you snap 16 Handles a picture of you and your friends enjoying 16 Handles ice cream.
Next, they snap back a coupon, not to be opened until you are at the register the next time you visit, or else the image will be erased!
(MWPartners, 2014)
Here are some other great examples of marketing via social media! All pictures are from my Instagram.
The first picture is from my best friends restaurant, Dante's. Businesses use hashtags to encourage more views, hopefully spreading the word. They post specials as well as promotions.
The second picture is from Charlotte Russe's Instagram account letting followers know about a current promotion!
Look! McDonald's is utilizing Snapchat as well!
NOW looking at it from the consumers side...
One of my favorite things about online shopping, besides convenience, are the reviews about the product, or place.
There are reviews for almost everything! Movies, Movie theaters, clothes, stores, businesses, restaurants, insurance providers, etc! This makes buying a product online, or a new experience much less daunting. You now can have piece of mind ordering your dog a new dog bed!
As if it wasn't convenient enough already, many shopping apps now link reviews to their page.
New Media has made being a business owner, and a consumer easier and everyone should be aware of the benefits that it presents!
3. EVERYONE, yes even you, can break news!!
Twitter is my personal favorite social network, and although I have never aspired to be a journalist, I think its pretty awesome that recently a lot of news is broken by regular civilians.
I see examples of this all the time. For example, the other day I noticed that a celebrity I follow posted a tweet about the earthquake that had just happened... Twenty minutes later, CNN posted breaking news, an earthquake rocks California.
In 2009, the power of Twitter became the topic of conversation when a plane crashed into the Hudson River and the story was broken via Twitter, around 15 minutes before mainstream media reported the crash. Twitter was buzzing with pictures and conversations, some users tweeting about seeing the plane as it crashed. Another user tweeted a picture of the scene from the rescue boat he was on. This tweet was instantly retweeted and caused so much of a commotion that twitter crashed. This incident showed how powerful Twitter really was as a news outlet. Citizen journalism, referring to citizens playing a role in the output of news, has been increasingly popular, and social networks, especially Twitter have been increasingly breaking news before the mainstream media. (TheTelegraph, 2009)
Now get out there and start breaking some news!!
4. Personalized Search Engines
Years ago, everyone saw the same search results. Today, search engines have utilized new technology to personalize results that users receive. The idea behind this is to weed out articles that the user probably wouldn't choose. The results are picked depending on the users location and past search history.
For example, when you type "fondue" on my Google, it pops up with The Melting Pot of Albany. When I asked my friend in Carmel, NY to type it in, she got The Melting Pot of Poughkeepsie.
This is very convenient when searching for a chain store near you like Target. Google gives you personalized information about the nearest store.
Many people argue that there are downfalls to personalized search engines. Many feel that it decreases the likelihood of finding new information because of biased search results. Users may be worried about privacy as well.
(Search Engine Land, 2014)
I like the idea of personalized search engines because I hate looking through irrelevant things to find what I want. I also love when Google finds stores and restaurants for me based on my location because of the added convenience.
These are my personalized results. And if you didn't think it was convenient enough, Google also offers the business hours, directions, website, phone number, and menu!
5. This goes without saying, but you can find ANYTHING online.
If you have never used New Media before there is something to be aware of.. It has anything you will ever need and is the best invention since sliced bread.
If you want to find a tutorial on how to braid a fishtail braid, you will find one. Or, if you need to know how to make your boyfriends favorite dish, its on there.. multiple times.
The internet has everything to make life go around and I always question how earlier generations made out without it. The internet provides convenience, with internet shopping and online bill pay. It offers directions for basically anything. It lets you experience other cultures, and research anything you need to know about.
I can't stress enough to you, new user of new media, THIS IS AMAZING.
6. Rumors spread like wildfire
Be aware that not everything you read online is true! This affects social media, just like it affects real life. When rumors get started, they spread very quickly on social media.
For example, I was on my Facebook on winter vacation and came across a picture of Jennifer Aniston with her head shaved bald. The picture had text under it that said that she had done this for her niece, who has cancer. Her reps later released a statement saying that this was a fake post and her picture had been photo shopped.
(Nsenduluka, 2013)
Here is the picture! I love you Jennifer Aniston!
The downside to the internet is that false information can be spread just as fast and easily as important information can be.
7. Social Media can and should be used to learn about politics.
Many politicians have some form of social media. Twitter is a very popular outlet that politicians use and even the President has a Twitter. In fact, he was one of the first politicians to utilize the power of social networks, helping him organize grassroots efforts in swing states and raising campaign money.
Politicians can use social media as a means to communicate to the voters and reach out to them on a more personal level. They can announce press conferences or answer questions.
(Wadhwa, 2012)
At the moment, President Obama is using his Twitter to notify Americans that the healthcare deadline is coming up very soon! The most recent post is reminding Americans of the healthcare deadline while the second most recent is a link to his donation site.
On a cute side note, up until recently, this was the most retweeted tweet in history. It just got beat by the Ellen Degeneres selfie at the Oscars.
8. You can become famous using New Media
Social Media is not just a stupid time waster. I can name off a few different names of people who got famous from social media. One example is Jenna Marbles. She got famous for her YouTube videos, as did Jimmy Tatro. Jenna Marbles is now on MTV's show Girl Code, and guest hosted Ridiculousness, a show about funny internet videos.
The most famous person that people know of who made a career from his internet videos is Justin Bieber. He posted many videos of himself singing and ended up getting discovered by Usher.
The point is, new media is allowing people to reach out like never before and find opportunities in life!
August
2009 -Justin Halpern created a Twitter account called
"Sh*t My
Dad Says." based on his fathers jokes. Within months he had millions of followers and a book deal,
which led to a short-lived CBS sitcom, "$#*! My Dad Says," starring
William Shatner
(Professor Doyle Twitter Powerpoint)
9. Be careful what you post!
There have been many scandals on Twitter but one of the most scandalous was when congressman Anthony Weiner tweeted a picture of his crotch!
The photo was tweeted to a female college student! Uh-oh.
Another great example is when Joe Paterno got fired for his sex scandal. Ashton Kutcher tweeted "how do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeyes fan I find it in poor taste." After he researched the issue more, he took back to twitter to recant and apologize.
(Bukszpan, 2013)
It is so easy to post that sometimes people can forget that things posted online can be seen by many! More importantly, there is evidence of it! You should not post things that compromise your privacy.
10. OR else you may start some Twitter petitions
If people don't like whats going on in the world, or if YOU don't like whats happening, tweet about it. Or you could blog about it, post it on Facebook, or even Youtube it. You can guarantee that other people are posting about it!
A great, recent example was a few months ago, when the star of Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson said some nasty things about the gay community, comparing it to bestiality. People were split on the issue and #DuckDynasty was trending for days!
The hashtag lets users interact over the same topic, causing debates and well written petitions.
During the Trayvon Martin case many people took to Twitter to voice their opinions. Many posted pictures of themselves in black hoodies to show support of Trayvon Martin. People took to Twitter to post about their outrage over the decision.
(Detroit Free, 2014)
Social Media lets users debate about their feelings over a mutual subject. It lets people communicate from all over the globe and shows public opinions.
IN CONCLUSION: Use New Media! Its the best! Be aware of what a powerful tool new media can be in your life and how it is shaping society in a positive way, allowing users to have their voice heard.
WORKS CITED
Bukszpan, Dan. "The 10 Greatest Scandals Ever Tweeted." CNBC.com. N.p., Aug. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
"Chapter 8: Personalization & Search Engine Rankings." Search Engine Land. N.p., 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
Educause. March 2009. Educause
Learning initiaves. website.
"New York Plane Crash: Twitter Breaks the News, Again." The Telegraph., 27 Nov. 2009. 31 Mar. 2014.
Nsenduluka, Benge. "CP Entertainment." Christian Post. N.p., Dec. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Professor Doyle, Twitter Powerpoint
"Snapchat: A New Way to Promote Your Business Through Social Media."MWPartners. N.p., Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
"Trayvon Martin Case: Outrage, Disbelief on Social Media after George Zimmerman Acquittal." Detroit Free Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014
Wadhwa, Vivek. "Social Media’s Role in Politics." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 01 Feb. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
Wikipedia contributors. "New media." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
