Why I Heart My Media

I must start this blogpost off with the distinction of loving and being in love. I see being in love as actively feeling affection in the moment. Those I love you moments or deep intimate moments you share with a significant other, a sibling, a parent, or even a best friend for example like a deep meaningful conversation. I am not in love with media. I do not have those deep intimate moments with media.

Instead the loving relationship I have with media is one wherein I can share, and relax and forget all about the media even though it keeps on supporting me. And it always keeps on supporting me. And when the media do not work as intended I get annoyed.

Have I been taking my media for granted?

Do I not appreciate media enough?

Do I love media, or does media love me?

The main reason I use media is as a form of distraction. When things in my personal life start to get difficult, I escape my problems by constantly watching, reading and/or listening to something. I do this to the point where I cannot even brush my teeth or make a sandwich without watching a youtube video. To the point where I cannot fall asleep unless i watch Netflix, listen to a podcast or read until I physically cannot keep my eyes open anymore.

Because of media I never have to be alone with my thoughts. This has gotten me through difficult times. On the other hand, it has resulted into me pushing my problems so far away that it took me ages to make difficult decisions (like breaking up with my boyfriend or deciding on what school to go to).

The weird thing is, Ive always been aware of the fact that I tend to do this, from a very young age. Yet, it seems i am never able to break this pattern.

student number: 14065606

student number: 13693077

The complex, yet simple nature of this question has been on my mind for quite some time, and I couldn’t figure out why I love media in the way that I do, until now. You see, I didn’t have access to high tech film cameras, or phones, or computers growing up in the early 2000’s. I had an old family camera which I would get my hands on whenever my parents were at work, I’d vlog about my day, film myself playing pretend, ask them questions about life, etc, all so that I could show them when they’d come home. My parents worked long days, and I would rarely see them, and this made me feel closer to them. In a time before social media, I would create my own world, my own safe space, through that little, old, broken family camera. I don’t remember why I began filming, but I’m glad I did, because now, I have a bank full of digital treasures which inspire me to continue creating, to this day. If I didn’t have media, I wouldn’t be able to watch myself grow up in the span of 2 hours, 3 hours, etc. My parents wouldn’t have been able to see me grow up. I love media, because it allowed me to bend time to my will, at the young age of 5.

Media, to me, are the epitome of escapism. A surreal world so close yet so distant from reality. Is it a dream or a nightmare? Maybe it is both. It acts like some sort of comfort zone at times yet a war zone as well.

On the one hand, I adore media and specifically the social interactive features it brings. I have met some of my closest friends through fandoms and online communities. If it had not been for media, I would have never met them since they live all across the globe. In addition, taking a dive in the obscure world of a film or franchise and learning everything about it is something that brings me much joy. I consider being detached from my own world and fantasising about the infinite possibilities within my imagination to be pure dopamine.

On the other hand, media has a downside. The relationship I personally have with media is quite the addictive one. I used to feel ashamed of consuming so much media all the time. However, I recently came to the conclusion that there is no shame in the consumption of the abundance of media. It is their purpose to be consumed. Nonetheless, I am aware of the sheer size of my media diet and how much “wasted” time it requires. This, to me, is where my issue lies with media. Ideally, I would make more time for doing things I love, like hiking, gardening or cooking. Media cause so many impressions and impulses that it often feels hard to resist them. Is it my job to balance this relationship out or the media’s? Some might argue that it is up for debate but since I do not get the impression the media will fix this, I will take the responsibility upon myself. 

Student no. : 13203940 – Calvin de Caluwe

One of the things I really love about media, an aspect that’s especially relevant to the contemporary digital forms of media, is the remix culture. Our ability to not only consume but also interact with our media, by copying something that contains meaning, then editing, and remixing it, to produce a ‘new’ product that conveys and expresses unique meanings and emotions that we incorporated ourselves, and can then share again with others around the world.

I myself like to do this in the form of video editing, where I too, essentially copy things from a bunch of different forms of media I enjoy, to then recompile and create my own ‘new’ media product with: a video edit.

The type of video I’ve made the most, as well as like making the most, are video game montages. I store any funny, weird, or (usually) epic moments that I experience while playing games with my friends by clipping and saving them on or to my computer. Then I take a song I like to listen to, throw everything into an (Adobe) After Effects project, and let my imagination take it away! Often resulting in a flashy montage of all kinds of moments I cherished or am proud of, accompanied by a song track to which the footage is velocity-synced, to really make it flow nicely and overall satisfying to watch.

I started (learning) video editing ever since I was 13/14. I stumbled upon it by having to make lots of video school projects during my middle and high school years, such as animated explainers, skits, fake trailers, and documentary-style videos.

What initially started as something I had to do as a chore, turned into something I became skilled at, then an enjoyable hobby, and now after around 5 years into a passion.

My passion for video editing also fueled my appreciation for film and animation since I became more aware of the (creation) process and techniques that are used to create and convey forms of meaning, which partially led to me deciding to study Media and Culture at the UvA; to learn more about media, why I love it, and continue harnessing my creative skills to hopefully find a fulfilling career in media…

Side note: I really loved making the creative assignment for the Media Aesthetics class, I edited a fake found-footage horror trailer with my project group entitled ‘The Attic’, you can click here if you’d like to give it a watch! 😀

Evan Groeneweg, 13548107

I really loved media from a young age, but unlike the children nowadays, I started loving media through books. Most children nowadays are already addicted to phones and stuff at like 2 years old, but when I was young I read a lot of books. Since I was 6 years old, I went to the library every Wednesday with my mom. I was really sad every time we had to leave, because I couldn’t choose which books I wanted to bring. I only could borrow 10 books each time, so I read like 4 books at the library itself.

When I grew up my interest started to switch from books to social media and TV. I really love using media and being able to meet new people through media. I also really like that I am able to just talk to everyone I know at any time. I talk a lot with my friends online and I also met my boyfriend online. So I really love my media.

On the contrary, I sometimes wish I could just take a break from all media. I feel like the pressure sometimes just gets too high and I need to take a break. Even though I feel like I need it, I think it is impossible to actually take a break from all media. When I would really take a break from all media, I think I would miss a lot of things. Maybe that is also a kind of FOMO and I just need to do it, but first I need to gather the strength to be able to let go of media for a couple days.

But even though I would really like to take a break from media sometimes. I  will never be able to live completely without it, because I just love it so much.

Studentnumber: 13972200

Imperfections, inconsistency, toxicity and most important… comedy. Everything that you need or don’t need it is there. Why not to love it? If you ever feel bored and need to find a place where a laugh is unavoidable, just browse Facebook or Twitter, I’m sure there is plenty of “gold” to be found.

Media has always been a part of my life, a huge part to be more precise. I always remember with joy every second spent either on Call of Duty, Counter Strike or Minecraft. The laughs, the memes, the “I don’t want to play this anymore” or smashing keyboard moments, everything was there. I think a lot of people can relate, that even if you hate media with a burning passion, you are still here to read my opinion about this, so, is it really hate, or just “hate”?

A lot of questions to be asked about media, and how media, and why media, but one answer is for sure. Everyone; me, you; love media and that cannot be denied. Just enjoy the time here and… being a “zombie” is kind of cool.

If it wasn’t for the media, I wouldn’t have been able to move out of my home so easily. Everything is solved with just a click. Do you miss your parents? Click! video call. Do you need a new bank account? Click! you’ve got your appointment. What about health insurance? Click! it’s done. 

Besides getting things done with just a click, the media eliminates distance, makes planning easier for everyone and can bring people closer. It also helps with not getting lost! When I first moved to Amsterdam, everything looked the same. If it wasn’t for google maps, I would’ve been wandering around for hours trying to find my new apartment and I would definitely always be late to class or plans with my friends. 

Another reason to love media is music and movies. No matter what I do I need noise in the background, otherwise I’ll feel lonely. Whenever I need to relax, I listen to music. When I’m happy, I listen to music. Even when I cook or clean my apartment, I listen to music. Now that I mentioned cooking, thank god media exists! If I couldn’t google recipes online, I would be living with just pasta and rice or I would’ve burned the whole building down. And trust me I know how overwhelming and stressful social media can be. People knowing what you do, where you are and who you are with, but sometimes it’s fun to see what your friends or other people are up to. Let me also mention that when you do something you’re proud of, it is always nice to let people know. It’s ok to sometimes brag on social media. Everyone has done it. 

Media has a huge impact in my life. It has actually become a part of myself, which is kind of scary to realize and admit but it’s the truth. If it wasn’t for the media my life would’ve probably been chaotic, or at least less easy than it is right now. 

Student number: 13582836

The first thought popped in my mind was: “Do I reaaally like (my) media or am I forced to like it?”

Media has been in my life since I was born -like literally, I was born into a family who live in media to their bones.-

My grandfather was a journalist who was a threat to the politics in where he lived and was an extreme inspire to me to express myself as unfiltered as I can be. My father is a professor with enough writing abilities to publish a few books which shows the ’negative’ parts of social media and how it affects people -which is quite ironic considering his child is getting into the industry he shitted on- and lastly, my mother is a passionate film graduate who introduced me with different ways of thinking when it comes to films/movies. 

When I look back and think about my family, it seems like I was kind of forced to live in and like media, however my answer is: I sometimes like my or any media, uncoerced. You can see the reason of word ‘sometimes’ and ‘the why’ below:

Why I like: I like my media when I produce what I like, when I get to see -rest in peace- my grandfather’s letters, memories, photos and articles. I like my media when I share the moments I enjoyed and when I see the moments enjoyed, I like it when it is used to spread awareness or to share significant information. I like my media when it inspires me and my inspirations become a media.

Why I don’t: I don’t like media when it is used to bully people -especially kids. I don’t like my media when its overused, leading me to miss what’s happening around me, and I don’t like it when it spreads radiation which can destroy your sleep schedule and can even cause cancer! -I googled it.

However, when I read what I wrote, it is obvious that the media isn’t the one to blame. It is us. It is up to you to allow your media to ruin or enrich your life. (And I allow both :)) Anyways, I guess I kinda ❤ my media.

Student ID: 13835734 Ela Zengingonul