Creativity is the backbone of humanity. It is the ultimate gift bestowed upon mankind. Creativity gives us everything we find enjoyable in life. Music, food, movies, Art, theater. These are but a few venues that are completely reliant on creativity. Even from the beginning of time, creativity has catapulted Humans as the top of the food and evolutionary scales. From clothing to keep us warm in harsh climates to tools to allow us to hunt. Creativity is the sole reason for our survival.

In today world of hyper speed computers and technologies that change in seconds, creativity has evolved. The processes of creating something have changed. Became faster and more complex. The ability to take two different things, like for example a mash up of a Disney cartoon to a popular song, such as what was done on you tube in 2007 in the article:

Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?

has made for thousands of popular and interesting videos. Entertainment has changed. The way we consume media has changed dramatically. Big companies, such as Disney, have held their properties and characters in a tight grip against outside use since its inception. But they allow these type of uses. Why? Because in actuality, if this type of video goes viral, it a a huge form of advertising that cost them nothing.

Even companies such as Twitter are smart enough to utilize its users creativity. Noted from the article:

Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers

The company changed from its bare bones services of 140 character “tweets” to offering the ever popular Re tweets and Lists. These additions were all outsourced from the creative minds of the people that count. The users!

Through all these advancements, a larger population of people are able to explore, and generate things creatively. A question that I ask is, are the things being created holding the same quality of the types of art and creative venues of the past, or has a lot of the creativity been watered down by technology? That’s for you to decide.

For many people, the stresses and limitations life has presented can be crippling. In fact, some of these limitations are in fact, physically debilitating, such as multiple sclerosis, or palatalization. In some cases, you have mental or emotional limitations, such as anxiety or phobias. In a world that already has so many obstacles and creates so much isolation, one may ask, how does one cope? Even your every day Joe going back and forth to work day in and day out, constantly yearning for a break from reality and the responsibilities it piles on you. Sure, there are hobbies one might take up, such a s knitting or collecting cards, but what else is there. Well, there is a whole new world out there as we speak. In fact, there are many. Virtual worlds such as second life is one of the largest of these worlds. It offers people who want to escape form reality an opportunity to do just that. Cant walk? Fly. Cant interact with people? Be a social butterfly in second life.

As technology evolves, additions such as Oculous rift add an entire new layer of realism so the experience. Now, I say realism with a grain of salt, however to many people, these worlds ARE their real worlds. These are the places they go to be the person they can not be in reality. But are these virtual worlds just a time killer or a waste of time. Jackie Morie, A virtual world designer in Telehealth care does not think so. In here interview with Diane Mehta of Forbes, she goes on to say “First we need to look at them critically to figure out what kinds of advances they can offer us. You can use virtual worlds in education, in delivery services, or as an advanced form of First we need to look at them critically to figure out what kinds of advances they can offer us. You can use virtual worlds in education, in delivery services, or as an advanced form of Telehealth that offers so much more than videoconferencing. Virtual worlds can give us social connectivity, built-in support groups, and ways to avoid ever being alone again. that offers so much more than videoconferencing. Virtual worlds can give us social connectivity, built-in support groups, and ways to avoid ever being alone again.”

Second life is far from the only virtual world. You have game style virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft, Mine craft, Grand Theft Auto, and many Many more. Virtual Lower East Side is another virtual world that is gaining popularity. Sometimes, as David Itzkoff of the New York Times states, Its better than the real life experience. He goes on to say “I didn’t have to contend with bouncers, foul odors and unknown substances on my shoes.”Itzkoff lives in the lower east side, but goes on to say the in many instances, he prefers to visit the area that is physically just a few steps away, right from the comfort of his home computer.

What is Twitter? I recently found myself on my morning commute to work one morning listening to NPR on the radio. The question of the topic was, What is Twitter. The main purpose of the question was to evaluate if even executives at Twitter knew the answer to this question.

Twitter is not my favorite social application at all. I don’t really know how to use it or what its about fully. I mean, yes, I use it, but very sparingly. I find myself using it the most when I WWE pay per view is on. It seems like that is the only time I can focus on what i’m tweeting about or focus on narrow tweet results.

As I’m writing this, I’m actually going through my Twitter to teach myself more about the application. It seems, and I feel silly to say this, that when you tap the search button, you can focus your feed on a specific topic or “trend”. I suppose this can be very useful if you follow these sort of things, and dare I say, in today’s world, you better!!!!

I will continue to explore Twitter in the next few days and see if I can look past my Jaded views. Once I can get off Snap Chat.

In this day and age, to not be a part of some sort of social networking site is almost unheard of. Teenagers, Parents, Grand Parents and even some people cats have their own social page, be it Twitter, Facebook, Snap Chat or Instagram. In many ways, through social sites, he internet has changed the dynamics of human interactions.

Snap Chat in my opinion is the most fun of the four discussed social sites. Its relatively easy to use, allows you to post  a few seconds of video, and then conveniently (for those who do embarrassing videos while drunk) deletes them after a set amount of time, I believe 24 hours. It also allows for chat, which also deletes over time and is unable to save. Many people find this very convenient. Your snaps are uploaded to your “story” and anyone who is a friend can view them once.

Twitter, to me, is my least used social app. I find it very confusing and maybe its just due to my dislike of it. Twitter allows you to post small posts of about 125 characters at a time called “tweets”. It always seems to me like twitter can never find its soul, and I only use it lightly. I may expand on this later and I’m sure many people reading this are disagreeing with my writing but oh well. Tis life.

Instagram is the simplest to use. Take a picture, use any filters you want (or None) and post it. You can comment on pictures and even upload small videos. Its easy to use, and very addictive. You can “like” pictures by simply tapping them.

Facebook is the monster of the four. It has a wealth of content and user abilities than can range from simple to in depth. It is a place where old people can see pictures of their family that never visits. You can blog, post videos, advertise your business, and so much more. It is also the widest used social app, and what I called a few years back, the “Myspace killer”. Facebook is the dominant social app, and the others have niche concepts that keep them used, but nothing has replaced Facebook yet.

Social Networking as taken over the world. What started out as a simple way to create your own little space on the internet to share yourself with the world has become a huge business. Far gone are the days of simply going to Myspace to see your friends updates. Today, when you log on to update your status or see whats new, you are constantly being monitored. Information is being gathered and profiles of your preferences as a consumer are being compiled. The more you log in, the more accurate it gets. Do you know why?

Corporations and big businesses love social media.It is a very easy way to do many forms of Marketing  research. Fifty eight percent of companies are using some sort of social media, be it Facebook, micro blogs or twitter. This number is increasing by the day. The question I ask is, is this a bad thing or a good thing?

On the bright side of this double edged sword, consumers have a wealth of information on these companies. You can look up almost anything with the right now how. Another benefit is, many of these new technologies begin to filter unwanted ads, and you begin seeing ads reliant to your desires and interest. Lets face it, advertising is not going away. At least it can be tailored to your likes and needs right?

On the dark side of this double edged sword, your information is always at risk. Your privacy is always questionable, and it constantly feeling  like someone is watching you. And guess what. They are! But here is the kicker. You want them to!!!! Yes, you. The guy posting thirty pictures of him with no shirt because hes exercising. Perfect to send health ads too. Or the girl who takes a million selfies. Lets send her some beauty ads.

In the world we live in today, privacy is a unicorn, and everyone wants to ride it, but never takes the steps to make it happen. We post every step of our lives online and big business will use that information to create more focused marketing plans, and as a future marketer, I love it!

In today’s world, we have so many options to obtain information. Two distinct ways to gather information on any given subject are either a Wiki or a Blog. Both platforms can contain valid and useful information at a few clicks of a keyboard. The question is, what separates the two? What makes them different? Which one should I use? The answers to these questions are simple. Use them both!  There is no right or wrong. Its a matter of taste and preference. Lets take a little time to separate the two.

A Wiki is in my opinion a more formal and sterile form of information. It is group controlled and edited, but the information is more straight forward. In a Wiki, you can have several editors contributing to the creation of a page. Adding information, deleting information and so on. A wiki can be a great way to look up information, just do not try to reference it in an academic paper. Professors do not like that =))

A blog is usually written by a single writer. They are solely responsible for what goes into their work. Blogs can be information based or simply personal writings. It is still a form of news, as anything that occurs, to someone world is deemed “news”. A blog also has a more personal feel to the writing. You get to experience a unique flavor of the mind of the writer. I find blogs to be more opinionated and they are a great tool for looking up specific subjects where facts might not be needed. An example is if say, I’m a gamer and want to read some reviews or gather info on a game. I might not want to use a Wiki because the Wiki will give me mostly factual data. I want information like, is the game fun. Whats the setting feel like when you play. Does it lag?

These are the differences that come into play when deciding to read or write a blog or a wiki. No go enjoy some reading!