Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are not a thing of the past anymore. They are used in many different ways including gaming, social meet ups , teaching, and even military training. Students experience this world through online classes and interactions. A virtual platform allows users to experience the nightlife of NYC (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html). Soldiers train for the battlefield by being put through virtual war scenarios to be readied for them when faced in reality. Virtual worlds save people time and money and is extremely convenient.

Instead of commuting to school, students can take classes from home and use the saved time more efficiently. Money can be saved by refraining from using electricity in classrooms, etc. Also, having soldiers train in virtual worlds will save a lot of money that would be spent on artilleries, ammo, etc. These worlds can also be adjusted to match a specific situation soldiers might face to prepare them for the future.

The bad thing about virtual worlds is probably the lacking realistic experience. Although technology has improved tremendously over the years, virtual experience still cannot match up to the real thing. Actual classroom interactions and real experiences on the battlefields would be more beneficial than the virtual ones.

Virtual worlds foster creativity by connecting people all over the world. Now, we can virtually meet with people in different nations who may contribute to ideas we have or even enlighten us with an idea. IBM recently started a program called "JAM" that connects over hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to come together and blog about business ideas.

The future of virtual worlds look bright.  Companies are already starting to take an initiative to indulge their employees in the virtual world through daily conference calls and meetings online (http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html). Technology improves by day and soon enough, virtual worlds will probably become a huge part of everyone's lives.

Blog About Twitter

Discussions on Twitter and on Blackboard can differ in various ways. The main distinction between the two is probably the character limitation placed on Twitter "tweets." This leads to a shorter discussion on Twitter which can be a good or bad thing. A concise set of posts and replies can be easily read; however, it would not be as detailed as discussions on Blackboard that have no such limits. In comparison to an in-class discussion, I believe a Twitter discussion is very similar. They both pose environments in which participants can freely discuss and comment what is on their mind. The only difference is the more willingness to participate for those that are hesitant to participate in a classroom setting. 

Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites have been a part of my life ever since grade school. I have an account in all of the following: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I've noticed several differences that really distinguishes each of these sites from each other. Myspace was the first social networking site I signed up for. My impression of this site is its compatibility for music. It is easy to share personal or others' music through Myspace, which is why artists tend to be members of it as well. Facebook has the impression of being a mediating platform in which people from all over the world can post comments, thoughts, statuses, pictures, and even videos on others' pages. This creates a site in which we all can use to connect without limitations with people. Twitter is something new in my life, and has made an impression of a quick, but effective method of communicating ideas and thoughts. LinkedIn has had a lasting impression on me because it connects professionals and students with potentials. All of these sites have their own unique characteristics, which makes them all popular and attracts users. 

Social Net'g

Social networking has become a part of everyday life. Whether it be through Facebook, twitter, and even LinkedIn, people all over the country and even the world are connected and can interact through social networking. There are so many ways to use these technologies, while the most common use is for keeping in touch with friends. Through social networking, we can share thoughts, posts, articles, pictures, and even videos! We are even able to do all this with people living thousands of miles away.

Another use of social networking is staying in touch within the professional world. LinkedIn is a network site in which prospective and current professionals connect with each other to build hopeful and useful relationships for the future. There are millions of active users from students to corporate executives of Fortune 500 companies (Langfitt, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6522523&sc=emaf).

There are obvious benefits to these social networking sites, such as easy methods of communication. We are now able to interact with anyone with access to the Internet. However, when such massive amounts of people are somehow connected together, there is a downside. Privacy is a major issue and according the the article "Who Cares About Facebook Privacy?" students actually do care about what people can see on their Facebook. (Parry, http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/who-cares-about-facebook-privacy-students-do/25877). The downside is that information that goes on these sites will always be accessible someway, somehow; privacy is breached by these social networking sites.

Throughout the past decade, these technologies have advanced. We can now video chat with whoever else has access to the network anywhere around the world. Although problems such as privacy do exist, I believe that the benefits definitely outweigh the downsides. In the future, I believe social networking will take its next step to holographic interactions. Although it may seem farfetched for now, it won't be long before technology advances once again.