Creative Sharing: Social Media Creates Music

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Ryan Nakada

Creative Sharing – Lil Crazed

Tools used:

Windows Movie Maker

Video Converter

My camera (Fujifilm A220 A230)

 

To make this video, I used video clips off of YouTube and used the Video Converter to cut apart the videos and extract the parts I wanted to use for it. I also have songs of his downloaded onto my laptop that I put in for background in some parts. I also took screenshots of pages (YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter) to identify the number of subscribers/followers/likes he has. My favorite part of this was going to the concert on Saturday at Baruch College and got to record a quick interview and the performance you see in the video.

 

One problem that was particularly troublesome was that the videos I recorded on my camera were not in a format that was best suited for Windows Movie Maker. The files would constantly make the program close instantly. I researched it and found out what format is best suited for Windows Movie Maker and converted my files and after that it was all smoothly running. I ran into an additional problem early in the video with the transition between the first scene and the next as you will see.

 

I created this video because the music I love is the music off of YouTube. I’ve followed YouTube artists for about 3-4 years now and many people discount the music because they think its just “some kid being a fake rapper.” But social media has made this something much more. As Lil Crazed said himself, he is grateful for social media giving him the opportunity to do what he loves. There are other YouTube artists that have millions of fans and slowly, social media lets others get to interact with these people and they make an effort to respond to any and all people, fans or “haters.” They also realize that they would not be who they are without their fans so they are always thankful to meet all the fans they can and help them whenever they can, like he did for me.

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Twitter

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Ryan Nakada

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The Evolution of Publication

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Ryan Nakada

Reading about the availability of publishing to anyone and everyone is something that I have taken advantage of due to an opportunity presented to me.

 

I agree that the availability can create a lot of (pardon my language) crap on the Internet. But through all the bad, you will find quality material that you will enjoy reading if you truly search for it. Some people are truly capable writers or reporters but as the time has changed, social media presents an opportunity to those that may not normally get that opportunity. Speaking of which…

 

I write for a site called NYYUniverse. It’s a blog site about the New York Yankees. I had a love for writing and a love for baseball so when they were looking for writers, I hesitantly applied to see if I could be a part of it. Almost a year later, I have been writing on a nearly daily basis. Watching as our following grows and knowing that I’m getting more exposure. I watched the view counts increase on my entries about each and every game that takes place and there were even some comments, negative and positive, which I took. I will continue to try and improve and without the evolution of publication, I would not have seized this opportunity that may or may not evolve into something. I’m just glad I’ve got this experience.

 

Posted in Assignments, Collaboration | 2 Comments

Wikipedia: The Judge of All Things Valid

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Ryan Nakada

The masses, composed of large contributors and minimal contributors, make up Wikipedia. So it makes sense if I were to say that Wikipedia is the measuring stick for all things popular and valid to the world. A statement that spoke volumes to me from chapters 5, 6, and 7 in “Here Comes Everybody” was that Wikipedia and all wikis, grow if enough people care about them, and they die if they don’t.

 

When I read that statement, I thought back to a Wikipedia page I saw once and it was about an unsigned singer that was solely featured on YouTube but only I knew about him and a small group of my friends knew about him so I was very surprised to see that he had made it on Wikipedia. It made me think that there may be a larger following of him than I had believed. Then I checked today, and the article no longer exists. This is when I realized that Wikipedia could easily be seen as the measuring stick for all things popular (and valid) to the world. The majority of the world is not aware of some things and therefore, the Wikipedia page remains without a large defending and supporting crowd, leading to its eventual disappearance.

 

Is Wikipedia the new judge of what is popular and valid in the world?

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The New Speed of News

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Ryan Nakada

After reading the first three chapters of “Here Comes Everybody,” I have realized that the speed of news has changed dramatically.

Information regarding anything going on in the world is at our fingertips now, no matter where we are or what the information is. Whether you are telling the world to look out for someone that has something of yours, sharing the recent baseball game’s highlights, or talking about the death of a popular figure in the world, it all has become available and I think that has its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that with it immediately available, we learn about things quicker. We don’t have to wait for news from the other side of the world to pass through news reporters and other media sources so they can tell us, we can find out with a few presses of our keyboard or our phones.

The disadvantage is that if we trust the wrong sources, the information can be unreliable. This is the reason an “amateur” is not a “professional.” Generally, a professional is considered more reliable because they have earned that title through consist quality information that is from quality sources, like direct ones. An amateur may not have those same sources available to them and their information may be better suited as rumor unless properly supported by sources too.

With all the new media available to the public, information seen from the masses may not always be true. Despite the new speed of news, information should be looked into before it is spread, you never know who will believe it.

For those who are football fans…how many trusted THIS source?

 

 

 

 

Support your statements and you’ll earn credibility, no matter how fast the information is reported, if it’s false, you will tear your credibility to shreds, no matter how famous you are.

Posted in Assignments, Collaboration | 4 Comments

Privacy and Government

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Ryan Nakada

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

I don’t find this to be true about Vegas, and maybe my New York too, after watching the documentary “Spying on the Home Front.” This documentary addressed the government’s intentions to gather as much information as they can on the general population within the United States. I felt that this documentary shined a light on a part of our government that we put out of our minds because we simply think that “we’ll never get caught for suspicious activity but I could never be associated to that.” But something as simple as a name that is too similar to a known terrorist will raise a red flag around you and make you a suspect.

A lot of the information I heard through this documentary was already some things that I was aware of but the steps that led to some of the information is unsettling. When then-President, George W. Bush, claimed that it was a “constitutional responsibility” and a necessary step to protect the citizens by gathering information on the general population, that felt wrong to me.  Those who defended this decision felt that if you were not involved in suspicious activity, you have nothing to worry about; but as I mentioned earlier, a similar name can create an association that was never intended and would automatically link you a terrorist.

As we have constantly heard regarding information that is put on the Internet, it is never completely gone. Wouldn’t that work the same way for the government? Even if they claim that they deleted our information off their system after they have cleared us of any association, is it really gone? What I found the most unsettling is that in some government official’s eyes, “everyone is a suspect” because it’s safer that way. I want to believe that the majority of the population in the United States is innocent of terrorist activity and it worries me that maybe someday someone I know, or even my own name, may be wrongfully linked to terrorist activity. It doesn’t seem like a mistake of wrongful identity occurs often but we, as citizens, are meant to feel safe here and if our own government is suspicious of us, can we feel safe having them watch over us?

Posted in Assignments, Privacy | 2 Comments

Hello world!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Ryan Nakada

Welcome to Blogs@Baruch!

This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment