About My Term Project

As this is an online class, I find it quite appropriate to obtain my research from the internet instead of the traditional method...books from the library. Although, for me, the library will never be replaced, we live in a day and age of modern technology where information can be easily accessible. You can now access the Britannica Encyclopedia online on whatever subject imaginable. Instead of trekking around these heavy books, you can print the information out, copy it as a document so you can open it anywhere with access of a computer.

I "googled" and "yahooed" information on Shutterfly or anything relating to digital photography in order to obtain scholarly articles as well as information pertaining to my project. Additionally, I went onto Shutterfly's website to view their company profile along with other information in support of my paper. Additionally, I felt that the best way to further understand first hand about Shutterfly, I interviewed friends and relatives who have had used their website from the initial beginning until now. They provide good feedback to why they use this site along with other similar sites and inquired what keeps them interested in using these sites.

As a photography enthusiast, I thought it would be great to understand how far photography has come from using a film camera to now using a digital camera. I grew up using a film camera in which you would have the roll(s) of film developed by a photo lab and/or print shop. Back then, you can store pictures by keeping the negatives but now, you can store the pictures on memory cards or any other methods. Of course, by shooting with the roll(s) of film, I am very conscience and conservative on what I do and do not take. However, the fascination with a digital camera is the ability to take as many pictures as possible and still have the ability to immediately view them and easily delete them if not acceptable. Plus, I have the accessibility to upload them onto a camera and quickly sent to friends and family for viewing. Not to say that regular roll(s) of film can do that now if you request it.

Digital Photography/Processing must be considered new media as it has and continues to evolve with the times. Shutterfly started as merely as a storage site for photographs, and now, not only can you store photographs, but you can interactive within the site (i.e., upload songs, videos, provide comments, etc.), print out photographs, make albums and send them to whomever you like with the click of a button...in the comfort of your own home.

Privacy

A major part of New Media discussions is the issue of privacy and confidentiality. Social networking sites and blog sites are in particular the center of attention at the moment. Children and young adults are in particular vulnerable to the dangers that lie and wait on social networking sites. Children don’t think, period. They post personal details, photographs and intimate details that should really only be shared with very close friends. People who wish to do them harm use false names and details pretending to be of similar age to the child. This then leads them into a false sense of security and it’s not uncommon for a child to arrange to meet this stalker in person. The ease of internet access makes it much harder for parents to keep track of their child’s online activities.

Wiki So Far

So far on Wiki I have completed the required assignments but have yet to put anything of my own. To contribute to our ever growing class Wiki, I have plans to do something in the sports section. I follow a lot of sports and in particular football (soccer) and golf. I will look at the effect new media has had on them and what the benefits are for the fans.