Alex Casazza Blogs

For this assignment I created a Bitmoji on snapchat. I went on snapchat, went to create Bitmoji and started creating my virtual avatar. It first asked what skin color, then the shape of my face, hair color and style, body shape, eye shape, and then I got to pick out my outfit. The process was really easy and fun! The Bitmoji is used within the chats on snapchat and it my avatar when people look at my profile. It adds another element to the app and makes it different than others like Instagram and Facebook. Other sites display an actual image of the person as their profile picture. By having an option to create an avatar, makes it a fun and different experience and allows the user to be creative.

The article called "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From It's Followers" talks about how companies like Twitter come up with new ideas and features through the users, not the people that work for them. Sites like Twitter allow users to share their opinions and ideas in a thread and other's can respond, challenge or add to their ideas. More opinions, allows for more creativity to be shared and if Twitter hears an idea they think would benefit their site, they will try to apply that as a new feature. Another company, Lego, has created a site called Design byME, where users can use Lego's design software to create new models and then Lego will sell those models. This ultimately makes their consumer's feel more involved with their company. I think it's smart for Lego to do this because basing there products off of the ideas of their workers may not work sometimes. The user's may come up with more creative designs and ideas that may be different and more well recei...

The use of virtual worlds are becoming more and more popular in today's society. Virtual worlds are a representation of the real world, but in the form of a computer based simulation. Many of these virtual simulations can be used in a person's home for purposes of entertainment. One use in the article called "At Hearing, Real and Virtual Worlds Collide", a virtual depiction of the Rayburn House Office Building was displayed on the walls so people in real life could see the crowd that had logged on to see the event take place. Some advantages of this technology is that it can improve activities like gaming or military training purposes, medical training for diagnosis' and even psychological therapy uses. Some disadvantages could be the amount of time it takes to recreate a virtual environment. Even when recreating that environment, things like lag time, lack of acuity, and overlooking of basic laws of physics can be disadvantages. In the article "Going to the ...

When I first visit Twitter, I notice many words. It reminds me of a blog where people are connecting with each other, having conversations, sharing opinions and expressing oneself. When I go on Facebook I notice something similar. Many people posting statuses, showing their location and where they've been. Facebook differs from Twitter in that you see more pictures being posted and people being tagged in other's photos. Both applications have bios on the user's profile, but Facebook goes more in depth with contact information, family & relationships, places you've lived, and life events. I also visited Instagram, this was much different than both Facebook and Twitter. Instagram is all about photos and videos. There is very little writing, mostly just photos with a small space underneath to write a caption. I also visited Snapchat, which is very different to all three of these applications. Snapchat is an app made to communicate with friends or family through photos ...

In today's society social networking can have great impacts on businesses. It's an easy and convenient method for consumer's to use their voice and let it be heard by the companies. In the article called, "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting", it talks about sites like LinkedIn, that have made professional job recruiting an easier method to look for candidates. "Using LinkedIn, Steckerl says he can scout a group of job candidates in just half an hour". This site has made searching for professional candidates that fit the description recruiters are looking for, an extremely quick process. It also reduces the amount of resumes and candidates that apply that don't qualify for the position they need, because each LinkedIn profile has a space where they put their qualifications, achievements and experience. Recruiters can look at a candidates profile and determine whether or not they qualify based on what they have written on their page. O...

According to the reading, “How to Use Wikis for Business”, a wiki is defined as the simplest online database that could possibly work. The most popular form of a wiki today is called Wikipedia, where millions of users have been to gain insight on different topics they searched. It’s a source of information that can be corrected or edited by other people. Blogs are platforms to express feelings or opinions. According to the reading, “How can we measure the influence of the blogosphere?”, blogs have demonstrated influence, and have the power to affect events. Many users go to blogs to read other people’s opinions and participate in the conversation. Even though one of Wiki’s main characteristics is anyone can edit information, that can however lead to false information being displayed. Blogs are more for enjoyment and entertainment, with many leaving comments or opinions. Wikis are more informative and helpful for research purposes.         ...

When deciding which topic I would like to do research on, the first thing to come to mind was social media and it's effects. Being a user of social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, I was curious to see what kind of behaviors or patterns may be caused by social media. We live in a society where social media is taking over and used everyday, so I think my research will be helpful, especially to young adults because in my opinion they use it the most. I'm going to research positive and negative effects of social media, look at some studies or research projects that have been conducted, and find some possible solutions or alternatives to using social media so often.

Welcome to my blog! I can't wait to start posting!