The Next New Thing

The next new thing would be like eHarmony but for everything in life and not just dating. Users could fill out a very extensive questionnaire and then it would match them with friends with similar interests, ideas for vacation, ideas for shopping, etc.

It would serve as resource to advise you on every aspect of your life based on questionnaire which explores the deepest parts of personality, therefore the connections would not be based on superficial interests you list, but based on your innate traits.

Evidently, this would require the use of very complex algorithims, however in a few years, I certainly see it as being possible.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

I have not added any content to our class wiki, however I do have plans for what I want to do. As editor of "New Media in Entertainment," I want to make sure the page is coherent, organized, and visually appealing. In addition, I will read through the wiki page and check it for grammar and other errors.

Also, after reading an interesting article. I want to add a wiki page titled "Mobile Phones and New Media". I think smartphones is a very big part of our generation and would be an interesting topic to discuss as part of our class wiki. I've started my research by looking at the evolution of cell phones throughout the years and how new media technology has changed the cell phone industry.

About My Term Research Paper

My term research paper discussed the positive and negative effects of social networking on society. Positive issues discussed included easier cultural diffusion, quicker communication, and easier facilitation for business outreach. Negative effects included privacy and identity theft issues, decreased face to face interaction, and unethical business practices.

I chose this topic because social networking is considered the “in thing” in today’s society. My sources used throughout the paper include newspaper/magazine articles, scholarly journals, and organization websites. I began my research using the Baruch database system. My scholarly sources came from the EBSCOhost database and a few others that Baruch offers students access to.

In my research paper, a brief history of social networking was also discussed. I certainly learned more about the history and development of social networking sites. For example, I learned that SixDegrees.com which launched in 2007 was the first recognized social networking site.

Based on my research and own experiences with social networking, I believe the positive effects outweigh the negative. Social networking provides much more benefits that it does pose risks. Though issues such as privacy pose great dangers for users, when the right precautionary measure are taken, users can minimize this risk.