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10 things I hate about you

As I was thinking about my love towards media, I remembered a movie quote that perfectly described my feelings. Therefore, I decided to adapted the poem from “10 things I hate about you” :

I hate the way you look at me, And the way you disappear.
I hate the way you know my life, I hate it when you share.
I hate your perfect algorithm And the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me scared, It even makes me cry.

I hate the way you’re never real, I hate it when you fake
I hate it when you make me think, Even worse when you make me doubt
I hate it when you’re not around, And the fact that you didn’t load
But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you, Not even close, Not even a little bit, Not even at all

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why i <3 my media

There is no need to romanticise my relationship to media, i am just as addicted as everyone else. But for now it gives me a lot of joy. Being able to share music, thoughts, art, memes, profiling yourself with a concept just the way you want it to be (even if its fake) feels absolute great, not going to lie, but even better is consuming it all. Getting lost in endless access to almost every piece of information (or personal opinions stated as facts, who is even able to tell the difference anymore), illegally streaming every damn movie or series on this planet, deep stalking the new girlfriend of your ex, online shopping for hours, watching stupid compilations of drunk people doing weird stuff, being shocked by the accuracy of algorithms and the more or less personalised ads they produce (look, this key-chain-sanitizerbottle-holder is just what i needed!). The possibilities are infinite. But who knows how this will affect us in a few years, what will it be like when we get old? Will we still post instagram stories from the retirement home? What will this do to our brains, our bodies? We will all for sure have osteoarthritis in our thumbs from scrolling for 20 hours a day at some point, but what about our mental state? What happens if we drown in consumption? But who knows if we even survive to the point of possible long term damage showing…For now i would just say enjoy it as long as it makes you happy.

But never forget to question it in the end.

Student ID: 13591630

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Why I Love Media

Media, specifically film, has always been a large part of my life. Growing up in Hollywood with a family in the film industry, I’ve always had some sort of insight into what goes on behind the scenes and what it takes for someone to actually create something. I moved to Europe when I was young and because of that I lost touch with my media centric side. Studying film in highschool allowed me to reconnect with media, specifically its production. After many years of either creating my own films or working on other’s, I’ve created friendships in the industry which I hope will last a lifetime. I have also found that through film I am able to express who I am in ways in which I don’t believe possible through other mediums. Overall, I find my ability to create media has allowed me to figure out what I’m meant to do in the world.

Baxter Tichell

Student ID: 13001264

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Communal computer

The main computer in my household growing up was placed in the kitchen, on the kitchen island next to the spices to be precise. As a child with a father who loves tech stuff, i was allowed 2 up to 3 hours of ”computer time” a day. I’d play games alone or with my friends and later on mostly with my online friends. In the beginning i couldn’t use any website my father didn’t vet first, that was no problem for young me; the internet felt safe that way and i thought every parent did that. And after two or three hours or sometimes mysteriously that particular day would the computer automatically log out and shut down: time is up. And i was at peace with it for a while, until i wanted more time because my brother seemed to have more than i did. After a bit of an argument about allowing me more time, i discovered my dad could shut down the computer from another computer in his workspace or anywhere in and outside the house really. And only then he finally told me he works for the government and his job entailed pretty much to hack the hackers that were trying to get into government databases. That was also the time i realized: he could see every site i visit or any game i play live. My father then began to ”troll” me; mid game he’d let a message pop up causing me to be distracted, he could move my controls or my cursor and fuck around with that a bit, jumpscares could pop up.. the list goes on..

When i asked him if he didn’t trust me, and if he for my saniety’s sake could not watch every move i make online

( and if he could please please stop trolling me)

he told me this:

”It’s not that i don’t trust you, and i will give you more freedom from now on, but understand this: when you were younger i wanted to protect you from anything bad online or let’s say anything…. too spicy.”

I have been careful with media most of my life, until i started to rebel a bit and just stopped caring for a while, which gave me freedom but also a lot of life lessons for mistakes or situations i could’ve avoided. Now it’s kind of a mix of both caring and not caring to some degree. Knowingly i might be watched or surveilled at any given moment i spend online anywhere.

[Hi dad if you are reading this: don’t forget your dentist appointment in about 9 hours from now, also don’t text me ‘thank you for reminding me’ — i rather not know if you can actually read this, love you:)]

Student number: 13930125

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Media-Trauma-Bond

A healthy relationship is defined by boundaries, understanding and open communication. My relationship with media is severely lacking these qualities. If these are the three pillars, responsible for the foundation of a relationship, my marriage with media will give our kids plenty of quality content to discuss, in their therapy sessions.

The silver lining however, is that my divorce with media will land me a sweet bachelor pad.

Phase 1: Love at first sight with Media.

Phase 2: Honeymoon phase with Media.

Phase 3: Everything is going great with Media.

Phase 4: Honeymoon phase over, how do I break up with Media?

Phase 5: If I end things with Media, they would be destroyed. Better not do that to media.

Phase 6: I don’t know how, but now Media and I are married?

Phase 7: Maybe a child with media will fix this!

Phase 8: Child with Media did not fix this…

Phase 9: Media’s mother moved in with us, now there’s two of them.

Nick Catranis – 13407368

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Why I “love” Media

Whoever controls the media controls the mind 

To me, that Jim Morrison quote has never been kind 

All the Western media shoved down my throat 

At first, made me feel like I was aboard that boat 

The boat of my favorite Hollywood movies, CNN anchors and music bands 

Till it upturned and showed me the portrayal of myself was out of my hands 

The superiority given to Western forms of entertainment and news by consumers was key

As it only heightened the inferiority they presented in brown girls like me, which I now see

I see in the vocabulary of headlines stating the “developed” world

Or in the faces of most movie heroines, their blonde locks perfectly curled 

I see it in the billboards of skin-whitening products in my home town

Glorifying the mark of the colonial world that left my ancestors in a confused frown

A television show might throw in the token South Asian character as a formality 

But my feelings of exclusion will not end till this becomes a semblance of normality

You associate my part of the world with the word “terrorist”, and that’s all groovy

But the histories of genocide and racism, those didn’t make your movie

I don’t deny the small steps towards inclusivity slowly coaxing me back onto the boat

But I refuse to fully get back on till they have drained the whole moat 

I love media that promotes all backgrounds and cultures

Not the “Fox News mentality”, because they’re all blind vultures 

Whoever controls the media controls the mind 

To me, for now, that Jim Morrison quote has never been kind 

Ayla Alam, 13835963

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WHY I LOVE MEDIA

I grew up on a small island. Though I was very privileged, I quickly realised that most people didn’t think like me. I always had such a bold view of the world; I loved my country but I had this thirst for adventure that extended far beyond it. However, I found myself being surrounded by people who could only see within the 617 km² of our island. There were two occasions where I felt like I actually fit in. First, when I would travel and could explore the world, different cultures and people. The other way, which was more accessible, is when I used media. I was able to connect with kindred spirits; people with the same dreams, values and challenges as me. I watched others who also felt like they stood out make their place in the world and become successful. It kept me going, and assured me that no matter how alone I felt, there were others like me. If it wasn’t for media, I probably would have dimmed myself to fit in with those physically around me.

In short, I love Media, because Media made me who I am, and will continue to shape me into who I’m meant to be.

Student ID : 13598457 

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Mediated childhood

Growing up, I always loved media, whether it was film, social media or music. I looked up to people in my environment and online that were successful doing what they love. 

Though media has been a great aid in connecting me to my family in hard times like my mom’s cancer who was getting treatment 1000km away from me, it was also a burden to find myself. Being in a community that calls themselves “inclusive” without doing anything about it, online platforms helped me to find people that I relate to and can identify myself through. Accepting myself was just a little easier. Though sometimes, the emphasis on being perfect, for example on Instagram, just like anyone else, made me feel like absolute shit. I regret being exposed to media so early in my life, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. 

In conclusion, I love media but I hate myself.

student id: 13660586

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My hypocritical use of media

Like most people, I find media a hugely helpful tool in the student world but it has slowly dominated my life. I have become addicted to Netflix and communication apps, especially after my move to Amsterdam. I distract myself from important things such as work, as well as my own emotions through media.
Media is a massive part of my life, and although I am happy about it, I wish it wasn’t so accessible and such a fundamental part of our society. Though, saying this will unfortunately not change my relationship with media.

13589911

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Media?

I love media when it’s useful, but I’d rather meet and speak with friends, family or fun strangers without it. I do love a good movie to watch on a rainy evening or listen to loads and loads of music for every mood. I do see all the benefits of media and could not live without it, but sometimes I notice myself wondering what it would be like if I grew up without it. That idea has something nostalgic and authentic about it.

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A love hate relationship

My media and I have an ambivalent relationship. On the one hand I am drawn to it, depend on it, dissolve in it and able to express myself with it. On the other hand I avoid it, shut it down and get angry. It is ambivalent and can change from one moment to the other. Maybe in some cases it is not even about the medium itself but the things in it. People saying anything they want without holding back. Irrational opinions with bad argumentation, videos or images which I want to distance myself from as far as possible. I am exposed to both, the good and the bad, not knowing what I will see next. I am mainly talking bout social media here. The “fakeness” the pretending just triggers me from time to time and makes me quite sad, feeling we are living in a dystopian world where we have become the media itself and are only able to live and express ourselves through it.

Other mediums give me such much. Music, films, photography and their capacity of artistic expression can bring me to life, I indulge in them.

It is an ambivalent, however not a relationship that should be underestimated. The word Media is broad and with everything that it embodies, it definitely has a lot to offer.

Matz Bech 13908839

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Why I Heart My Media

As for why I love my media is such a simple yet complex question. The possibilities in the media are limitless for everyone. Growing up, I always found it difficult to make friends who would take care of me, and some of my “friends” often made me feel very insecure until I started to believe the things they said. But as I got older, I started using social media more often, especially Facebook. I created random fan pages about things that I found particularly interesting and fun at the time, and people my age started looking at these fan pages even if they had notably poor and shoddy content. Some of them wrote me such nice things that at some point we started texting me on Messenger. One of these people objected to me, we had similar interests and issues, and overall, I felt that this person fully understood what I was going through. We often called each other on Skype, played video games online, or just chatted all night. It went on like this for about three years before I finally convinced my mother to take me to the city where she lives. After talking to her for so many days, months, and years, I wasn’t the least bit nervous about meeting her for the first time in real life. We had a lot to talk about when we first met, and she was just as great on the internet as she was in real life. This whole experience made me realize that without social media I would never meet one of my best friends for whom I am strangely grateful. 

 On the other hand, I think the Internet can be a very hateful place. I have come across many bullying posts, hurtful messages, and generally horrible things that have been said about me or someone I knew. On the outside, it may seem like these things never hurt, but on the inside, there is always a part where we wonder if these things are true, and then we go ahead and reconsider. But the truth is, only what we think about ourselves matters. Most of the people who write hurtful things on the Internet are much more insecure and have to project them onto someone else. 

 I think the media has ups and downs, but everything has ups and downs. As much as I love my means of communication to make new friends, stay up to date and share with the world what makes me happy, sometimes I feel an immense amount of judgment and hatred, but then I realized what makes me happy is was more powerful than any hate.

Student number: 13918028

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Love letter to my all-time crush

I fell in love with media few days after I was born

It could have been 4 or 6 or 12 but key point is- I was torn

Torn on the idea that media could be my life

Of course, I didn’t know then it could also become a strife.

Good? I grew up knowing all the time what my friends do:

Just send me your location and I’ll come visit you!

Bad? I got my first school boyfriend and we broke up before we started

And people all of a sudden debated the reasons we parted.

But 18 years into my life I had to move out from home,

To start a new life and feel like on a constant roam.

Media reached out to help and taught my mom face time,

My father learned the online banking and my brother to send memes.

It was hard but it felt better to be calling than alone,

And the long rides to university did not feel so unknown.

I learned streets and translated items at the shop,

Cause once media gets started, there’s no way you can press stop.

So this may not look like real love letter,

Maybe more of a thank you, it got better…

But this is real, it’s a heart-filled piece

Of how media made my problems all come at peace.

student number: 13591711

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Love-hate relationship with media

You know that feeling when you are going on a long trip and you have to take a ten-hour flight or sometimes even more…

We all prepare for a trip, packing up everything that we need.

The thing is, I personally also mainly prepare for the fact that at some point during the trip I won’t have a stable wifi connection.

So I kind of pack my phone for the trip too, downloading all sorts of media : some new albums on Spotify, tv shows on Netflix, podcasts, online books…

However what I end up doing every single time is packing too much. I just end up listening to my favorite songs and scrolling through my pictures full of memories, freeing some storage for the memories to come.

I’m basically “cleaning” my phone like I would clean my room. 

Now, being on a trip offline is one of the few acceptable reasons for not replying to messages immediately or even being fully updated about what is going on on instagram. Here, I’m not even talking about it being socially acceptable, but being personally acceptable for me to be disconnected .

The disconnection is a pleasant sensation that sometimes can feel like an urge. I guess we all have this “craving” sooner or later to be disconnected.

In the end, even if our media are good time fillers when we don’t have anything else to do, they tend to be a way to present. 

So at the end I love my media but sometimes I just need to get away from it, almost like a very personal relationship …

Student ID: 13565737

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Why I heart my Media?

When I start thinking about why I actually heart my media, I even don’t know to what exact point I need to go back in time to answer this question. Maybe, this love story started with the first memory of my parents turning on cartoon tapes for little Elizabeth. Or, maybe it warmed to me when I created my own YouTube channel for giving a thumb up to Gangnam style. 

Alas, we’ve outgrown the fairytales. For us, adults, whose hearts were entirely broken and even destroyed, love is not only about adoration. 

Sometimes my heart is fraught with hate. All these things I see every day become incredibly nauseatingly and ironically I feel like starting the war against the machines. I want to crash my iPhone into the smallest pieces possible, delete all my clouds and data from the Web and ride off into the sunset without leaving any clues about how the world can see me again. 

Sometimes I feel like losing all possible feelings towards media. Our relationship reminds a boring routine and I experience a bad lack of serotonin. Even handpicked memes become incapable to please me. But albeit I can not and do not want to imagine our “break up”.

I do not have the heart to say it is a big part of my life, cause it is life itself. It gives me smiles, it gives me tears, it gives and simultaneously takes away everything I want and need. The most paradoxical thing across the globe. Exactly as the human brain, which is the only organ that studies itself. 

And my dear media has a similar approach with dealing this shit. 

Yelyzaveta Terentieva, 13352393

The two sides of Media

I think it is a gift what the media achieves in the intelligence of the new generations. The world is becoming accessible and also easier to discover. It gives education more opportunities to evolve in their system.

Time has been important in the advancement of media. Hundreds of years ago people would not have imagined where we are today with our technology and media. Yet today it is normal to have a robotic device in your pocket that connects you to the whole world.

Yet there is also a downside to this. The developments in media and technology have made humans much more individualistic. Each is focused on himself and on his own successes. This also leads to people using the media to pretend to be different than they are. This is a major drawback that the new era has brought with it.

Narek Mnatsakanyan

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My media

Why I love media? Maybe it is because of the little things that keep me sane. For example when I don’t remember my friends birthday it always reminds me a day before. Or when im feeling bad, Snapchat reminds me of the same time previous year when live was great. When I miss my grandma I can just FaceTime her on the other side of the world and see her smile which lights up my day. It’s all the little things that matter and would be missed without. That’s why I love my media, because the little things matter the most.

ID: 13237314

12986836

I have my snap maps off and don’t post too much on social media. But every couple days or so I will glance at my snap maps to see that some of my long lost but very good friends are in town. This has allowed me to reach out and reconnect with such amazing people. This wouldn’t happen if people weren’t so willing to constantly display their location or if this form of social media wasn’t invented. So thanks snap chat

Reconnect

Media has been a great asset to my relationship with my distant relatives and my immediate family. Being very conservative people they would always reject the opportunity to connect to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, studying in Amsterdam is the best thing that happened to the relationship with my parents. Weirdly enough, but moving almost 2000km away from my family united us greatly. In order to keep in touch they started using all sorts of social media.

So many things they couldn’t or wouldn’t ever say to my face are being sent in a simple telegram message. Funny enough, I am now studying various possible reasons for them to act this way. Even though I am yet to find out whether anything has changed in live conversations, them joining social medias has been nothing but amazing.

A Fine Line

Sometimes I couldn’t hate my media more. As I scroll and check and watch and complete all of these silly tasks, I sometimes find what I am doing and seeing to be superficial or pointless. When it comes to this point I realize that it’s time to shut off my device and do something else. In this moment of realization a feeling of humiliation creeps in. Why am I investing so much time into something that isn’t helping me grow or learn in any capacity? However, this is where the fine line comes in because I love media for this exact reason. The pointlessness and lack of meaning feels like an escape or a break from any fast-paced environment. In a society where we are constantly pressured to be doing something worth while all the time, it feels good to do absolutely nothing. And the pointless aspect of some media provides that. This is not to say that media, generally speaking, is pointless. Which is another reason why I love it. I believe that it is crucial and essential in terms of bringing people together and sharing with each other. It’s similar to a certain type of relationship I suppose; although I can despise it at times, for me, the good that media has done outweighs the bad.

ID: 13767445

Why I love Media

Why do I love media? At first I didn’t know how to answer such a broad question but I guess it boils down to the fact that Media has always played a vital role in maintaining the relationships to those I love most in this world. I come from two different countries on two different continents so whatever home country I was living in I have alway been away from half of my family. 

Some of my earliest childhood memories include skyping with my father while he was in Jakarta and my mother, sister and I squeezed in front of her Computer in our Apartment in Berlin. The bad Audio and always pixelated Visuals do to wifi connection being our main Problem when trying to spend quality time together.

 Later when we moved to Indonesia the only way of communicating with my grandparents was over the phone or over Skype. Media has always let me stay connected with my family and it allowed my father and Grandparents to watch me and my siblings grow up, even though we didn’t live in the same country.

When I was in Primary school the decision was made for us to move back to Germany which made me really sad, because I would have to leave all of my friends behind. So I begged my mom to let me make a Facebook account to stay in touch with all of my friends from school. So at the age of 10 years old I was making new friendships at my new school in Germany as well as maintaining all of my old ones online 10.787 kilometers away. 

My Sister who is the closest person to me, lived in a different country for 5 years and we became even closer than before over whatsapp video calls, voice messages and videos throughout the day of what we were doing. It’s the most familiar relationship I have and it benefited greatly from being able to communicate through Media.

I love Media because it represents Love, Possibility and Connection.

ID:13932829

Media Changed My Life. Literally.

We all hate them, the little Instagram ads that pop up and make you want to buy random stuff you don’t really need. Back in November 2019 the same thing happened to me. While I was innocently swiping through my Instagram timeline an ad for a Bartending School popped up. And for me being awfully impulsive in my decision making I basically let that Advertisement on Instagram change my whole life, with actually taking the course I saw on Instagram. It was one month filled of learning stuff about booze and meeting cool people from all over the world, it was honestly amazing. But when I did the course in January I wouldn’t have assumed that just two months later the whole world would go into a lockdown because of a pandemic. So, basically I had a new found passion, but no way to actually work in a bar, because you know… Covid. So I did the same thing as most other people and raised my screen time by an impressive amount with spending way too much time on Social Media. Then lockdowns where lifted and guess how I found my new job. Like honestly guess.
If you guessed through an Instagram story, you’d be correct. That event was not really all that life changing though. Just the second time Instagram had something to do with where I’m going with all of this. Just wait for it. It’ll make sense in the end.
Months and months passed until I saw another Instagram story. It promoted a mentorship program. Obviously I tried to get in because by the time I saw this special little story, we had already reached the second lockdown. So no more bars. Again. Long story short, I got into the program, met my mentor, who was coincidentally the owner of my favorite bar in Amsterdam. So we got into contact, obviously over Instagram, and soon enough I moved to Amsterdam and started working in her bar. Looking back, I live in my favorite city, working in my dream job, in my favorite bar, because a 7 second long Instagram Story.
What I’m trying to say with this is, that we spend loads of times with media. Sometimes we actually notice it, and sometimes we don’t even realize that the billboard from across the street just made us look up this one new album on Spotify. Every day of the week Media has an influence on us. It can affect our mood, our style and even our life decisions. Without the seven second long instagram story or that one minute bartending school advertisement, I would not be sitting here to write this blog post, in fact I probably wouldn’t have moved to Amsterdam in the first place, and this is why I think this is the most impactful time in life, that media had an influence on me. Because Instagram changed my life. Literally.

13629050

Why I Heart Media

Media is a major part of life, at least mine. It impacts and can impact so much that it becomes its own part of life, whether for an individual or a community. Food, water, shelter, media. These are the only essentials for human life in the modern world.

I heart media because of its complications, its controversy and its power. It inspires, motivates and betters the world, yet it also controls, manipulates, lies and ruins. It transforms personalities, lifestyles, morals, beliefs and habits. In itself, media is a language. It is a body, an ecosystem, a civilization. It feeds on its preys and spits back out food for them. We hate it and love it. It is everyone’s proudest and most shameful addiction. 

I heart media because it is the most human part of me. I want to be part of media like it is part of me.

Media: the bridge we can’t see or touch

Why I love media Blog post Oct 22, 2021

The reason I love media is because of the endless knowledge and information I can find on the web, social media, artefacts and many more. It is overwhelming the amount of information and knowledge one can retrieve thanks to media.

Media allows a massive group of individuals to collaborate, share ideas and create & share content from all over the world in a matter of minutes or even seconds.

It acts like a bridge, the same way Avatar Aang is like a bridge between the mortal world and the spirit world, Media acts like a bridge between the digital world and the real world. It connects everything and everyone simultaneously.

Student Number: 13687107

Why I Love Media

Around a year ago a friend of mine introduced me to a program that he downloaded on his computer, called FL Studio. With this program you can make music in your bedroom, without having to use equipment such as real instruments or having to rent a music studio. I immediately fell in love with making music on this program, so I downloaded it for myself on my own PC. The first couple of months of making music didn’t go very well. I didn’t like most of the music I made and I was unexperienced. But as time went on I liked more and more of the music I made. At that time I learned about how people are putting their music on Youtube calling them ‘type beats’. These are beats with a specific style of a certain artist which other artists can use. I also learned that people are making money by doing this and that some of the beats are even used by the biggest artists today. So I decided to give it a go and post my beats on Youtube. The first thing I noticed was that a lot of other Youtube producers were commenting on my videos, leaving positive feedback. This showed me the communtiy with people with the same passion and dreams as me: making music and becoming big one day. I love to see how this makes people connected with each other.

Last week I sold my first beat for $75. I hope more will follow in the future.

Student ID: 13454463