Living a life is all about making choices, so does living in media. We make choices about what clothes are we going to wear today, what food to eat for breakfast, who we are going to hang out with after school… Every decision we make shapes who we are. In other words, we are shaping ourselves by making choices between so many options. In terms of media, it is more like we are programming ourselves, by choosing following what news platform we want to receive daily news for on social media, which key opinion leaders’ posts we want to see when opening Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Or more personally, what songs for our playlists, what photos we choose to share on social media, what side of us that we choose to show to the public through media. In the end, the multiple choices we make are not just shaping ourselves, but also the reality we live in. We are making our own matrix. But are those choices really all of them? Are those decisions really made by ourselves? Is all of those choices making us feel in control of our lives just an illusion and the algorithm is what is really behind and takes control? Maybe in media life, we do not really own choices, but unconsciously program ourselves to fit in the reality that someone else provides.
Do I still love media? Yes. It is not about taking back control of our lives from the algorithm, being cynical about living in an illusion that media nowadays created, but realizing what really matters is the human behind the algorithm, humans live in media. The most important part of my love for media is the faith I have in human beings, that we could still make our lives better living in media.
Student number: 13913565
Why I Heart My Media 