Blogs vs Wikis

In general a blog is sort of like a "diary" or journal in which usually one person writes on. The reason a blog is popular is because the writer is in control of what they want to write. They can write about anything as long as its safe, thank god we have freedom of speech :] I guess the basis in which to distinguish between a blog and wiki is the format and the general usage of a blog is meant to be more personal and convey a writer's message, or ideals. The words of a blog is usually in a less formal format and is at times biased on certain subjects. On the other hand, we have wikis which is like a free online directory of information or encyclopedia. A collaboration of blogs can certainly be done. For example, one of my favorite sites which can be viewed on my bio is Gizmodo. This is a site where there is more than one blogger on a website writing about new tech pieces, interesting stories, or about the gadjets. This site is generally centered towards tech junkies. One of my favorite sites since there are so many different writers you can get a wide variety of stories that you generally would be unaware about.

In Ezra Goodnoe's article "How to Use Wikis For Business" she talks about how Wikipedia is essentially an open source project. Anybody who has the proper security or access can edit, add on wiki. The article talks about the advantages of using wiki such as the fact that its a lot cheaper in a business to use and easy to implement. Using wiki would cut down the cost to install a more sophisticated system. Another great advantage about wiki is the fact that it is very user friendly as it has a low learning curve. However if used in the business world companies should be ensuring that their internal wiki is protected behind a firewall. In the business application the wiki can cut project times as employees will may have several emails from different departments on a specific project. This centralization of data is essentially what makes it a "killer app" for businesses.

It is easy to see why wiki is one of the fastest growing open source databases. Its easy to use, straight forward and reliable provided that you have staff or people checking the updates being made. I believe that there should be a wiki strictly just for tourism. It would be a great idea to have one database just to list out tourist attractions and directions. I love to travel and personally it would save a lot of time and energy to just find information online with a single click. Think about it ! on online wiki that tells you all about a countries history, tourist attractions and places to dine !








"How to Use Wikis for Business," by Ezra Goodnoe, Information Week, August 8, 2005,

Impact Youtube has on video bloggers, amateur musicians and film makers.

Lights, Camera, ACTION! Youtube basically allows anybody to become a "director", all you need is a camera, internet, and a Youtube account. This website is essentially a free online video sharing site, in which users can rate , view, upload and comment on videos. The simplicity in the site coupled with the fact that membership is free helped to attract members. Youtube nurtures the creativity and awards users who maintain a consistent and good flow of traffic to their videos. Professional Musicians have been known to make videos in which they create competitions or to build "buzz" about an upcoming album, or to promote their music videoes. The heart throb, Justin Beiber is just one of the many talents that have been discovered on Youtube. I will be following video bloggers, musicans, and film makers on writing about how they have been able to make a name for themselves and how promotion is done.

Describe New Media

New Media encompasses many aspects of our lives especially for the general population that is consistently online.The first thought that came to mind when I read the words "New Media" was a correlation between the media such as the news and the internet. This assumption was only the tip of the iceberg as I have come to learn. New Media includes but not limited to blogs, forums,music, film,online radio stations even virtual worlds. In a nutshell, New Media is "a wide variety of web-related communication technologies" Examples of new media technologies for online videos include Netflix, Youtube, and Hulu. Social networking sites such as, Myspace, Facebook, and linkedin are examples.

The World Wide Web, otherwise known as the internet has been the catalyst in increasing the popularity of new media in the later half of the century. Technology has made our lives easier in the sense that we are connected through an invincible and omnipresent-like network. The Internet has come a long way from its predecessor created in 1969 by ARPANET with help from the prestigious MIT. The common factor that is shared by New Media is its reliance on the internet. How can we distinguish "new media" from "old media? I believe the answer to this question lies in the digitalization of the data and its availability. New Media compared to old media is like comparing the iTouch to the first generation iPod, same basic features with additional goodies added on. This however does not mean that old media is obsolete. For example, The New York Times provides an online version of its news paper for free, this may have taken a considerable amount of readers but there are still people who will prefer to read the actual physical copy. This same idea also goes for ebooks like the ones used on the Amazon Cradle, its a paper saving solution however,in a school context buying books is a more viable and cheaper solution for students. Its not always the case that its "Out with the old and in with the new"

Citation

Friedman, Linda Weiser and Friedman, Hershey H.,The New Media Technologies: Overview and Research Framework(April 2008). pages 9-24. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1116771, pp. 9-15.