Al Ibraimov's Blog

In order to show how new media and various types of platforms has been helpful in making content and expanding our creative abilities, I've made a video of Apple's Animoji that everyone has on their phones. Animoji was created recently and it was sort of an expansion of regular emojis where people can create their own faces and appearances or simply use different characters that Animoji has to offer. Recently, Apple integrated Animojis to Facetime where we can chat with people while using one of the funny appearances that we ourselves created. My video is basically a lip reading of the song Happy by Pharrell Williams. In the music video, there are many people from different backgrounds and cultures which I tried to also demonstrate in my video. I also used Apple's iMovie to make the video and included a globe in the beginning to show how many options the app has to offer. Hope you enjoy!

In recent years, various platforms of new media has allowed people to foster creativity in many ways and dimensions. Making videos, bloopers, vines has been very popular amongst all ages and groups and with the variety of media platforms it became much more accessible leading to people vividly express their creative ideas. I would like to point out YouTube, a huge platforms for videos and especially for people creating their own content. Make up tutorials, video gameplays, clips have been getting millions of views. I'm shocked how much of a huge business the videos of toys for little kids became generating millions of likes and of course dollars. In "Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?", it states how people have been making mash ups of famous cartoons and creating their own videos changing the ideas and content while making it more fun and entertaining. I personally always prefer to watch videos like those for entertainment, and some of the...

Virtual World has been one of the very developed and charismatic  inventions in the our generation. Every year it has been growing and reaching more audiences. It's an avatar based space (virtual reality) where people can engage in activities, play, sing, explore and pretty much enjoy the entertaining and sometimes educational content. I would like to point out that Virtual Reality isn't just for gamers, by now its abilities have certainly expanded. In Stephanie Simon's article "Avatar II: The Hospital", she mentions the ability of VR to teach and improve medical training. While wearing the VR headset, many professionals can improve their skills and their abilities to react to emergencies and unexpected events. I totally believe it's possible having tried the VR myself and witnessing its detailed and endless potential. Another example is in Dave Itzkoff's "I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life" article, where he describes the club sc...

In comparison to Twitter, a Blackboard discussions seem to be more formal. We conduct discussions with fellow classmates in a very serious professional manner. Your input is read by classmates and each of us can go in depth on certain topics. Comparing to Twitter, I feel like I have to proof read and go over it twice before posting it. Blackboard discussions also allow us to write as much as we want whereas on Twitter there is a limited number of symbols.  When it comes to Twitter vs an in-class discussion, Twitter offers more chance for people like myself to express an opinion. Sometimes a person is either shy or not comfortable with a certain topic, so he/she'd feel better writing it online rather than speaking up in class. On Twitter, it's certainly easier to back the points you make. You can quickly find a link or a reference and attach it onto the post. Everyone's post will be seen where in class sometimes it's difficult to hear everyone out. 

My four social networking sites are Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. I use them all on a daily basis besides Twitter. I'm not such a big fan of Twitter . I think with the recent updates of other social media sites, twitter became less attractive. Also, personally I don't like writing my opinion and putting it out there to the world where in reality no one really cares. The platform I use the most is Instagram . It offers so much whether it's news, entertainment, or simply stay in touch with what's going on with family or friends. The explore page determines what kind of content you follow and makes the list based on that. And I just like pictures with captions rather than just someone's thoughts typed in 250 symbols. I still use Snapchat , even though lately the amount of users has been declining. Main reason is due to Instagram pretty much taking every jewel Snapchat had to offer like filters, archives, location stickers etc. I use it because I like how...

Social networks have become a crucial part of our lives in the last decade. Besides using it for socializing and entertainment, businesses in particular use social networks to promote their services and products. Today it has become sort of mandatory for businesses to have a social media presence. The reason is simple; that's where people mostly are during the day and it's very easy to catch their attention and potentially start a relationship with new customers. We, as consumers, also greatly benefit from their presence in our pages and pop ups. It means we can easily access necessary product or information, or even request service. The fact that our social networks are all about updated content, business provide their clients with sudden updates and changes. While the social networks are a great part of our society and helps in so many ways, there are of course, just like with anything else, negative aspect of it. Recently, there has been major news outbreak about the inva...