Why I Heart My Media

I love how much I can do in media. I love that I can express myself through it, connect with others, and be entertained. However, sometimes I feel like I can do all those things without media, and that media is hindering my real life experiences.

I dont think i love media.

The feeling i get when i am on vacation, disconnected from my known reality while exploring another place is something i look forward to. Those are the moments i dont think about refreshing a page to see if theres something new or stalk my ex’s new girl all the way to her first post in 2017. I get sort-of happy knowing i dont have unlimited data in another country because it leaves me no other choice than to look up from my screen. In everyday life i couldnt force myself to do it, ”regulate my screen time” or delete instagram. Its not like i haven’t tried but lets be honest it doesn’t last very long.

Theres no real way of escaping this addiction to Media because growing up with it or rather INTO it, its managed to not only create and grasp my insecurities but to soothe them at the same time. Its hard to manage or control this addiction since noone taught me how to. Everyone is just as clueless on whats healthy and what isnt; just as you start to get used to it, Media will find another way to become more intrusive leaving you unprepared – once again longing for a vacation.

I love my media because I think it’s a creative outlet. Not only for myself, but for so many others. I like to create my own content, and by doing this show the world who I am. But besides that I also really love to see the creativity of others. There’re so many different ways, on so many different platforms where you can be creative. There are people who make music and stream that. Others post their outfits on instagram to give inspiration to their followers. So many different ways in which the media can be a creative outlet. There is something for everybody. And that is why I love media so very much.

Very early on in my childhood, I was introduced to the amazing and epic stories that are told through video games. At first, it seemed like just harmless, dumb fun. Shooting bad guys, stomping on enemies heads, just another way to waste time and have fun with my friends. However, at a certain point, I realized that there was more to these games than what they show you on the surface level. I realized that these experiences were shaping the way I saw the world, the stories and messages from these games inspired me to always push further, to never give up. The medium of video games touched me in a way other media has failed to, it truly made me feel like I was an actor in my life, that I am the one with ultimate control with what I can do.

These feelings came to me when playing through “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess”. When I finally came to the end of the story, I realized how much of an effect my character (Link) had in the story, the friends he had made along the way, the lessons he had learned, the emotional moments he had; they were all mine as well, it felt like I was having all these experiences with him. I felt like I had also changed with the character. The lesson I learned was that of courage; sometimes, you need to be brave and go straight into the unknown, facing challenges head on. You need to be the actor in your life, you need to be the one making decisions, because if you don’t, noone else will for you. The sword has no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage

This childhood experience has effects on my life even to this day. I now have even started to form a career in video games, playing competiviely, using media to promote my image, and constantly trying to push myself beyond my limits. I push myself to become the best in the world in the game, even though now it seems like an extremely long and tough journey. The character I use in the game (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) is the same one I connected with early on in my childhood, Link from “The Legend of Zelda”. We continue to grow together and push our way to the top even today!

Every time I am nervous of my next match, or exam, or doing something I have never done before, I know to push forward and take on the challenge, despite it’s potential difficulty, because I know on the other end lies great new fun experiences for me, as well as new lessons to learn that will help me grow as a person. This is why I love the media that is video games.

“Courage need not be remembered, for it is never forgotten”.

Dit zijn enkele redenen waarom ik wel en niet van media hou.

Ik kan contact houden met mijn familie en vrienden, wanneer ik niet bij hen in de buurt ben. Zo was mijn beste vriendin in groep 8 verhuist naar Singapore. Door media en de telefoon werd die afstand toch gelukkig wat kleiner, omdat ik elke dag met haar kon bellen.

Een andere rede waarom ik van social media hou is, dat ik me er meer veilig door voel. Zo kan ik iemand bellen als ik alleen in de avond over straat loop. Als er iets gebeurd kan je ook snel de politie inlichten. Deze veiligheid, van dat iedereen constant weet waar je bent, kan ook negatieve gevolgen hebben. Je weet precies wie met waar is en wanneer. Je kan hierdoor fear of missing out krijgen. Daarnaast is het ook weer heel leuk om je herinneringen vast te leggen op social media zoals bijvoorbeeld Instagram of snapchat. 

Kortom, aan de ene kant hou ik van media het geeft me de mogelijkheid lekker op de bank tv te kijken met vrienden, de informatie op te zoeken die ik wil of contact te houden met vrienden die niet in de buurt wonen. Aan de andere kant lever je een gedeelte van je privacy in en niet iedereen wordt daar gelukkig van.

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When I examine my own personal relationship with media, I feel that I am different compared to everyone else. However, with customizable features, different media devices and everyones unique ‘online persona’, doesn’t that make everyone different? While this is true, when I think about what I use my media for, I can clearly see the distinction. For example, the minority of my time is used for social media. I check them a few times a day, I rarely post (story or feed) on any of the platforms, and I rarely take pictures. I usually use most of the platforms for the messaging features.

I do not judge other’s for using social media at a higher level than I do. In fact, I felt judged for not using media as much. As many people use social media to determine their own first opinions about someone, that is relatively hard to do for me. However, I feel that I would rather have someone judge me in person where there is no anonymity, and allows me to show my best feature…. my personality!!

I think I will begin to use social media more in the future, but I am happy with myself that I have not conformed to using it heavily because that is the norm. I love the way the world uses media, but more importantly, I love the way I use media.

Student ID: 13117998

Do I Love media? It is a really difficult question for me because the media gave me anxiety, hate, depression but also happiness and a lot of motivation. A few years ago social media were for me the place that gives me complexes. I was so focused on all those beautiful people and their perfect lives. It was hard for me to accepted how do I look and how my life looked like. I lived in this bubble where I thought everything needs to be perfect. There started depression. Happily, with all the help from family and friends, things got better. I realized how social media are fucked up, how much damage they can make. With time media started to change. Now definitely we can see more real and not perfect people. We got used to being imperfect! Also, I gained more power as a young woman and started to feel more like myself. I am confident and not scared anymore to show everyone what I look like and behave in real life.

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Disha Jaiswal

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Random reasons why I love my media:

• I can play games on my phone while on the toilet
• A pug on tiktok determines how lazy/active my day is going to be (bones/no bones day with Noodle the pug)
• I have an app that counts my steps and gives me random vouchers just for walking (sweatcoin)
• I only have to think about things, and ads for these things will appear (makes online shopping so much easier)
• I can put my phone on airplane mode after sending a risky text
• Buzzfeed quizzes
• Siblings or dating insta account 

Overall, I’m happy to have media in my life. Even though sometimes I wonder if media have a bigger, more overwhelming impact on my life than they should have, I wouldn’t have it any other way. In a way, it’s just like real life relationships;  they’re never perfect and it’s important to set healthy boundaries.

I feel like media has never prevented me or stopped me from doing something that i want to do, on the contrary, it usually pushes me to do things and enhances my experiences. So in conclusion, media are pretty cool 🙂

Yes. I used to create female personas online and talk to other people, especially other males.

And I do identify as a he. And I know how bad all of this sounds: ‘you’re playing with others emotions!’, ’this is just a fraud’ type of bad.

But hear me out. I did not do this for money. I did this as a mere attempt of seeking attention. I was once curious why girls will never worry about having no one to talk to.

Now obviously we know this is just not true. But I learned it by creating a Twitter account using my friends photo, blend into multiple teenage communities and several nightless trials of sexting with dudes over 30 y.o.

My recklessness was worth it. I now learned we are all the same online —regardless how you think you might be different — you are not.

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