CIS 3810
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
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
Sunday, April 19, 2015
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
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
Saturday, April 18, 2015
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:
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:
- 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
- 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/
- 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.
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.
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