WIKI SO FAR

I have not contributed to our class Wiki so far, however, what my Wiki will be on is Technology in Theology.

I will focus on how small and mega-churches leverage technology, new media to reach the local community and the global community with the message of the gospel in ways that rival and outpace in some cases secular organizations. The research I've done surrounds social media, media rich websites that are mobile ready, media distribution of church events, music, pastoral blogs, mobile apps, etc.

I will demonstrate how the Christian church today is effectively using technology in numerous ways to reach the "lost" for Christ in amazing and effective ways. I will show how churches today are going beyond print, radio and TV and more heavily into new media technologies.

Much of my research stems from the work I've personally done at the mega church I work at The Brooklyn Tabernacle. Also, the churches around America we are affiliated with and have relationships with and their use of technology and new media.

Thanks,

Ron Salomon

P2P

I must confess, I've participated in peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing in the past and I've always had a deep conflict in my mind about doing so. Developers, engineers, content providers, musicians, etc. work really hard to develop content and media and software and with a simple Google search and a few clicks I can have any reading material, song, video or movie or software that I want. This is not fair!

When I started my P2P adventure, Warez.com was preeminent in pirated content, Napster was key for illegal "sharing" of music content and many other pirated sites were popping up all over the place. They made access to very expensive software and music effortless. So much so we had to make ethical decisions based on false rationalization paradigms to put our conscious at ease all the while, deep down inside, we knew it was wrong. I was never comfortable with the process so I stopped early on. However, what about copying CDs or DVDs for a friend or loved one. We know they won't resell it but we provide it for their "convenience" and enjoyment. Since I bought it, why can't I share it. I bought a book, why can't I share it? I bought some food, why can't I share it? The lines were blurred and the software, music, video and publishing industries "legally" would never be the same.

China has been a leader in pirated content for quite-sometime and remains so. However, despite these and other facts, software companies continue to thrive and see record growth. One could only imagine where we would be if content could NOT be pirated. There's a conflicting stance that exist in the development community. There are those who believe in open source software and everything should be freely available to foster creativity, growth, etc. There are those who believe that nothing should be free - we're a capitalist society after all! I lean towards the latter but believe in a hybrid of both as an alternative.

I believe that software and certain content should be free but for educational and learning purposes only! This would foster creativity, learning and ultimately production in industry. However, I don't believe we should have all software as free otherwise what would be the incentive to the developer or programmer to make it in the first place. How would they enjoy the fruits of their labor?

Let your conscious be your guide!

References:
1. Stelter, B., Stone, B. 2009, February. Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/media/05piracy.html
2. Choi, David, Y; Perez, A. 2006. Online Piracy and The Emergence of New Business Models. Retrieved from http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/usasbe/2006/pdffiles/papers/cases/016.pdf

PRIVACY

The illusion of privacy and confidentiality will continue to come crashing down as technology marches forward and new media follows suit. Whether you're using a blog, twitter handle, Facebook page, LinkedIn, YouTube video, Google search etc. the act of doing that alone has limited your privacy. Whether it's the NSA, Google, Facebook, marketers, etc. everyone is in the hunt for information about you and everyone of those organizations I just mentioned has "legitimized" reasons for capturing and storing data about you - you have a profile somewhere that is publicly accessible whether you know it or not.

Privacy is an illusion and the more you use media, new or old, you give up that right because you're essentially generating a digital footprint back to you that's publicly accessible from anywhere at anytime.  If you care about privacy, stop using a computer - event then your privacy may be violated.

With respect to new media, we can leverage the "lack" of privacy by generating the kind of content that enhances our public persona or information rather than detract from it. It can be a way to empower who you are "digitally" speaking. There is no real privacy in blogs, social media, twitter, Apple icloud (ask Jennifer Lawrence), digital content - can you say mashup?, etc.

Here's a question to ponder - with all the digital content that exist about you and the different locations, organizations, etc. that hold that content, who will act as the privacy police on your behalf and enforce existing (outdated) privacy laws?

We simply have a level of tolerance for what may be known about us but privacy and confidentiality are illusions!


References:

1. Nocera, J. 2014, February. The Wild West of Privacy. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/opinion/nocera-the-wild-west-of-privacy.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=2
2. Greenfield, R. 2012, December. Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private. Retrieved from http://www.thewire.com/technology/2012/12/facebook-privacy-so-confusing-even-zuckerberg-family-photo-isnt-private/60313/
3. Zarrell, R. 2014, August. Jennifer Lawrence, Victoria Justice, Other Celebs Victims Of More Leaks, Apple Denies Breach. Retrieved from http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/jennifer-lawrence-ariana-grande-picture-leak#.gpKoQ5lzaO

ADVICE

In preparation to using new media to help the college, I would first examine how the college is using new media today and how effective is it. Are there any metrics that we can review of existing new media usage? Given some of these answers we can now build a strategy and a path forward.

I would start with the leading new media category of social networking and the leader of that space is Facebook. A quick review of the Baruch page shows that there's not enough activity. Given all the weekly activity, there should be at a minimum two posts per day. One strategically posted in the morning and one in the afternoon or early evening. We should have targeted videos (welcome freshman class, saluting seniors about to graduate, etc.). We should highlight an administration or a department or a student each week and provide a brief story and link to our page/blog. This could be titled "Baruch's Person of the Week" or "Baruch's Activity of the Week". This would generate interest and following.


In addition, we would encourage people to also follow us on Twitter in case of emergency, snow days, etc. We should have a "Did you Know..." blog that gives students advice on either obvious or not so obvious aspects of the school, services, etc. This could be tied to YouTube for a quick informative video (no more than 5 minutes long - informative nugget). We should have a new student blog/page that walks them through the freshman process in a fun and collaborative way. We should have a blog/page for graduating seniors walking them through the process.

We should consider a Baruch app that would allow students to opt-in to areas of interest given their demographics, religious or ethnic affiliations, major, etc. Utilizing the website can be cumbersome at times and more so the Blackboard app. The app could have direct links to our Twitter handles, FB page, Blogs of Interest, Administrative services (Bursar, Admissions, Class Schedules, etc.). This would be more convenient than going to the website or using Blackboard. In addition, We could tie-in CunyFirst, direct access to transcripts, class schedule and history all at their fingertips in an easy and convenient way. These are some of the ways I would leverage new media at Baruch if I were hired to do so. We could use the app, and in synchronous form, FB & Twitter to highlight the activities of students in other demographics, majors, etc. to invite others who are interested. This would foster community within the school amongst the diversity.

Also, Students have enough to read and prepare for so we want the main goal of new media at Baruch to inform and to provide key services in a fun, easy accessible way. This would lower administrative costs, increase effective communications and build community throughout the school.

CREATIVITY & NEW MEDIA

About two years ago as part of a project for my English class at Baruch we engaged in a new media outlet called Storify (Storify.com). It's a website that's similar to a Blog however, it allows you to develop and publish content from other sources. The goal was to tell your story by drawing and publish content from other people. You would simply "stitch them together" sort-of-speak to convey the message that you wanted and to inform about others about a particular topic. It's a dynamic way to tell a story without using any of your own content - better yet, content that's already developed. It was an interesting use of new media and very creative.

Below is the link to the story/theme I created - Enjoy!:

https://storify.com/rsalomon/death-and-rebirth-2

CREATIVITY

New media is an engine that drives and fosters change and change is a driver and fuel for creativity. It not only informs but empowers individuals to express themselves in ways never thought of before. Blogging allows individuals to publish content, develop a following without years of journalistic credentials behind their names. Wikis allow us to present facts in new and dynamic ways. Social media allows us to engage in digital relationships with people half-way around the world. All these forms of new media has changed the landscape of communications forever. Organizations no longer have to build video libraries of content to train or inform their staff or clients. They can easily develop content and  publish it in minutes to whomever they wish. Making content freely and easily available like never before. YouTube and Vimeo (in a small degree) are fast becoming the defacto standards for communicating video content around the world. The use of Mashups are changing the way digital music elements are handled and the legalities surrounding them.

The key ingredient that new media contains is the freedom of self-expression" that it gives the average person which is at the heart of creativity.

Companies like Twitter are engaging customers in new cost effective, creative ways. They're monitoring and engaging their customers in ways that drive innovation for their company and ways that other companies from other industries can leverage. This is changing how organizations market and engage clients and yield tremendous amounts of direct client/customer information. Things that would take months and years are happening in days and weeks.


Sources
1. Frere-Jones, S. (2005, January). 1+1+1+1 =1. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/01/10/050110crmu_music

2.  Miller C., C. (2009, October). Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds have long been the stuff of dreams and fantasy. Over the last decade, it has found its way into a block buster movie and part of our social landscape. Virtual worlds can be used in many different ways. The following is a small sampling of the possibilities offered by virtual worlds:

First, the most obvious use of virtual worlds is for creative expression such as with games and online chat rooms where people may remain anonymous and engage in social interaction. The latter works well for those who are shy or introverts. It affords them the opportunity for interaction without risk. Second, it allows those disabled an opportunity to "mentally" experience an alternate reality to there own. For example, someone who's a paraplegic or disabled may leverage the virtual world experience to engage in activities that would normally not be available to them given their condition. Third, it allows organizations to test social models, theories, simulation, etc. without the astronomical costs that would have been normally realized in a real world model, which may now be done in a virtual world model and a fraction of the cost. Finally, education and training will become a great platform for virtual worlds. Professors or trainers may leverage their own personality in virtually engaging students. In addition, there may come a day when the training experience is so well done using an avatar, real trainers will compete with the computer model.

Virtual worlds allows us to be creative by removing boundaries such as time, space, material, costs from the equation of testing and proof of concept. For example, virtual worlds may be used to predict weather patterns and its impact on communities  and geographical areas  susceptible to storms. By feeding data already gathered from past storms, community response to the storms, financial challenges associated with the storm, models could be developed in virtual worlds to help prepare for future events.  This would be a great way for municipalities and government agencies to prepare for natural disasters in a way that limits risk both, especially financial, provides insight into ways to respond and help fashion policies that would better protect communities in the event of a natural disaster.

I think in the future virtual worlds will allow us to predict with more accuracy social behavior of individuals, communities and societies based on real data fed into it from past events. I think the medical community will benefit on how to provide more effective care to patients from real life simulations of crisis situations. Finally, many looking for an experience of an event (going to the Oscars), visiting a monument, etc. may leverage virtual worlds as a way to escape and be somewhere, possible with someone they've always wanted to be with. It will be a form of adventure and escape.



References:

1.  Simon, S. (2010, April). Avatar II: The Hospital. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204

2.  Itzkoff, D. (2008, January). I’ve Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life. NY Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html?_r=0