Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual Worlds are sometimes an escape from reality. Ironically it can be a reality that you create, there are many games and apps and technologies that can help you create an entire virtual world. Plenty of people enjoy immersing themselves into these virtual worlds that technology can create. When I think of a virtual world I think of The Sims, that game puts the power to create a virtual reality in the gamer's hands. In my opinion I think that Virtual Worlds have lots of benefits. It can aid in business, real estate, education and more. In the article The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Virtual Classroom and the Role of the Teacher by Guy Posey, Thomas Burgess, Marcus Eason, Yawna Jones we see that while technology can aid in Education it also has a downside. By adding new Virtual and technological methods to teaching it is hindering the teaching abilities of the teachers. Yes, virtual worlds are great for helping model different information for students but are they actually learning or getting caught up in the technological aspect.
I believe that the cons to Virtual Worlds is how easy we can get attached to the way something looks virtually and be let down if it doesn't perform or look the same way in reality. I think that the future of virtual worlds will do extremely well and prosper, in a technology and media driven world we live in today, we enjoy having everything done virtually. As the article No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You by Ruth La Ferla their is no object of money or problems in the virtual world,“Everything fits; things don’t wear out. The virtual world represents a different value proposition.”

Blog About Twitter

This class was my first time having a discussion board through Twitter. I think it is a cool concept and it also makes us think directly to the point since we are limited to expressing ourselves through 140 characters or less!A Twitter discussion is different from a Blackboard Discussion . For our twitter discussion we used a hashtag to keep all our classes input in one place but on Blackboard you need to click and look at each person's post and comment. Also according to how someone designs their twitter account you might be able to put the tweet to a face as opposed to blackboard it is less likely that you will remember someones face when you are reading their name on the discussion board. Obviously nothing compares to an in- class discussion. That is as personal as you are going to get you can see people's faces and reactions and see the emotion they put behind answering to material. I personally like in- class discussions because it gives the best opportunity to see other people's point of views face to face.

Social Networking Sites

My Top Social Networking Sites are in no particular order: Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. While they are all social networking sites they are all quite different. Facebook is for people of nearly all ages although we hope there aren't users under 12 but we know that isn't always the case. Facebook is a place to connect almost anyone has one; young and old. It is a place to really express yourself on your wall and timeline. Facebook has helped old friends reconnect and people find lost loved ones too. You can see everything that anyone updates or you can see less depending on privacy settings. You can also be a member to as many groups as you'd like and check off that you're attending events.
Twitter is where you write what you want in a Tweet of 140 characters or less. This social network is a little less personal because this is probably the best way to get in touch with any celebrities you've always wanted to talk to. You can tweet a little you can tweet a lot, you can also see suggested twitter accounts, and see what other people are tweeting about all on your feed.
Snapchat is the new age of social media and networking. Not everybody has one and it is quite personal since whoever you have on your Snapchat can see your face. The name is genius since it literally explains what it is. You chat through snapping pictures of yourself or other things. Your snapstory can be as long as you want with pretty much whatever you want.
Last but not least Instagram, the new way to display yourself. Instagram is universal and is known for bringing selfies and personal interests all on one account. Your Instagram says a lot about who you are and what you're up to at the moment. Instead of posting a status you can check in and post a picture or video for the world to see. It isn't only a place to connect with friends but with other people and celebrities too. The "Popular" page is a feed in which you can see whats popular based on things youve liked or followed or people you follow. Instagram is a great place to keep your photos and videos in one place.                                                                        

Social Networking

 Social Networking our mean of communication these days. I cant even count how many times I've been asked Why don't you just pick up the phone and call? How many times me or someone else around me has been made fun of for checking in and posting our every move. But really is picking up the phone and dialing instead of texting become a lost gesture?  In the article "Being There" by Virginia Heferrnan she writes “What makes a great Facebook update?” I asked, as my status update, one recent morning. She explains about how simple it is to update everyone you're friends with about what you're doing at that moment. But the real question is do they really care? .Social Networking and the new wave of technology definitely has it's benefits. It is so easy to market a brand with the click of a button or get in contact with multiple employees at once. Social Networking is great for business you can have numerous employees selling a brand or an idea through Twitter, Websites, Blogs and the holy grail of Social Network : Facebook and Instagram. I do think that Social Networking is hard to keep up with and especially if you are an employee. Think what if your future or current employer get a hold of your personal accounts? Would you be happy with the content they are viewing? Would it jeopardize your employment?
Today's world is very high tech you no longer have to be in the Technology and Media field of work to be revolved by Social Networking. Cell Phones or should I say Smart Phones rule almost everything around us. Doctors can instantly answer emails when they aren't even in the office and fashion designers can post their latest creation through an Instagram post and in a business meeting you no longer need to come prepared with a flip chart all you need is a projector or a computer.
In the article Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting by Frank Langfitt the unthinkable is possible. Nobody would ever imagine that their Social Network they were a part of could land them a high end job. "Social networking technology is absolutely the best thing to happen to recruiting — ever." Instead of hopeful employees searching for jobs days on end they make a professional profile that showcases themselves and can possibly hear back from any company.
I know that today their are many companies that make a profession out of job recruiting o i think in the future these Social Media networks are going to grow in popularity as opposed to just the old resume and interview and job application process.

Blogs vs. Wiki

In my opinion I think blogs may be easier to navigate than a Wiki. With that being said i also think both are great for collaborations. Blogs I think are a little less informal as opposed to Wikis, but more people can contribute to the large amount of info on a Wiki. "Bloggers write about topics that matter to them; their audience may be large or small.Some blogs are single-person operations(one to many); others have a community of authors (many to many)"(How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere? Kathy E. Gill) .Blogs are usually easier to see who is writing which posts which makes them more personal. Wiki's can have multiple contributors on one piece of information."He chose a wiki—a software application that allows groups of users to create, edit and comment on online documents—so that each team member could contribute and access up-to-date information on the project."( Margeret Locher's article:Wiki While You Work; The technology popularized by Wikipedia can help companies gather and manage their own collective knowledge) Blogs many times are a reflection of the Blog owner and wikis are more of a joint effort of the people who are putting up the information. Wiki's show you on the side the updates of which things are posted and blogs you usually have to scroll down for the older postings. The importance of converging ideas today has grown. take our class for example if we were to put all our posts in places of our choice ex: Tumblr, Twitter, Emails, Blogger... it would be a lot more difficult to track our progress and assignments. As a whole we are combining our ideas on a Wiki which we are using each other to grow; and we are independently using our Blogs to answer questions and state our opinions. Blogs will show our classmates our outlook on the assignment and Wiki we will work together.

Research Topic: Social Networking / Social Media and How is it Changing Who We Are?

The reason I want to do research on this topic is because if you look at people who are older than us, aunts , uncles, moms and dads we can see the age gap in our technology use.The younger generations and even not so young are glued to our phones. People in today's world are nearly addicted to all our technology! I'm guilty as charged with that one. Social Media and Social Networking is becoming our life these days. It has become so easy to find everything and anything at our fingertips. I want to write about how different we are becoming by being so attached to our social media. As a teacher I see first hand how much social media and social networks are impacting lives. 2 and 3 year old children are coming home and playing on the iPad or watching TV for hours instead of playing with toys or looking at books. Also today it is so easy to find information on a person's personal life, with the click of a button you can find someone's Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and practically cyber stalk them. My objective will be writing about the multiple perspectives on how we're changing due to Social Media and Social Networks.