Why I Heart My Media

In the traditional sense of love, that is. Which, if I truly step back, is quite the peculiar statement. In many ways, all that’s bad in my life has in some way stemmed from or been agitated by media. And let it be known, I’ve never been one to look on the bright side of things. I mean, hell, I’m more depressed now than I ever have been. Seeing the bright side to life is barely even a possibility anymore. So why do I have this positive view on media? I know why everyone tells us to be afraid of it. I know how shitty media can be. But, due to the sheer fact that everything I adore in my life right now is intertwined with media, well, I can’t just ignore that. I’m in a long distance relationship with my girlfriend, so without video calling I wouldn’t have the ability to talk to the one I love most in this world. Film, television, music – those sensory jewels are a part of me. They are what I hold closest to my heart in the midst of an otherwise unappealing world. A tasteless world. When I follow a recipe and cook up a fine meal, I have media to thank for that. When I order a pizza from the comfort of my apartment, I have media to thank for that. 

There’s this grand delusion surrounding media that it is inherently evil. It ruins relationships and it ruins lives. I won’t deny the possibility of that, of course. It would be foolish to go against such a prospect. But, it would be equally foolish for me to turn a blind eye to the many, many wonderful things media has brought and will continue to bring to my world. To our world. 

I am wholly – and undoubtedly – indebted to media.  

Student ID: 13920995

My relationship with the media changes as it comes. I would say that it is a really complicated, but easily explainable one. I love the media, sometimes I hate the media, other times I am really excited about it, another time it annoys me. For me, my relationship to media reflects my own relationship with myself. It works as a mirror, but of course nothing is as simple as being put into words. This metaphor is not a constant. It does not reflect my state of mind every single minute of every single hour of every single day. But mostly it feels like it is a part of me, a braver or more explicit one. That is the main reason it feels like mirroring, because eventually my use of media is me being myself in a specific environment. And thanks to the technologies and futuristic minds of scientist, I can explore this little “being” which exists and appears throughout media and that it is an experience worth appreciating.  

Petra Firbasová 

Student ID number: 13963902 

There are lot of reasons why i love media (there also few why i don’t like media). The first and most important reason is that it makes environment. This environment can be safe space for a lot of people.

For artist to express themselves.

For people that are lonely and want to connect with others

For long distant relationships to talk ‘face to face’

…

But this environment can be also be exploited for many other bad things.

Student id:13765914

Normally , I would not judge things based on the “good and bad” standard. But my feelings towards media is rather negative. Even though media make communication more convenient, the fact that people are so addictive to social media makes the nature of media toxic. I used to spend most of my time on Instagram, and then found myself achieving nothing at the end. The frivolousness and narcissism behind every staged photos make me sick. Additionally, the fact that media corporations intentionally use algorithms and filter bubbles to trap users on their platform makes me feel like I don’t have free will. To illustrate, my idea might not be my real idea, but the one recommended by social media. Ironically , the more I study about media, the more I want to stay away from it in real life. However, I feel extremely privileged to access media literacy education and to have the opportunity of being critical.

Mandi Li

Student number: 13572083

A main reason I enjoy media is through the content I can consume in particular entertainment content. I so easily get access to so many beautiful creations such as animations, aesthetic youtube videos, or just wonderful series. I like how the content shares different perspectives and experiences of the world around someone. Further I am often inspired by content to create more myself such as drawings or my own media and forms of expression such as clothing styles.

Media can be a lot. Literally. It can be fun, jolly, heart-warming, heart-breaking and even gut-wrenching. But most of the time, it’s just a way of wasting hours and hours. Am I saying this is bad? No. While using media, we are constantly learning new things. Those ‘things’ can mean anything. New words, new cultures, new things you hate, new things you love, new artists, new facts. And who will argue that learning is a bad thing? Social media has made us believe that spending a lot of time on that particular media platform is a thing you must not do and even something you should be ashamed of. But everyone deals with things in their own way. What I do is not much different than the rest of us. I watch endless useless YouTube videos and drown myself in my favourite music to cope with everything I don’t want to think of for a moment. And even in that very moment, I learn new things. I learn that with media, you’re never alone. And that’s why I heart my media.

student number 14037246

Love is a broad concept; everyone thinks about love in a different way. But I’m just stating the obvious. 

Hate is the opposite of love, yet some people perceive love as a feeling of hatred. What is the actual definition of love? Is it having a great passion for something or someone; or perhaps feeling some kind of way for something or someone? There are many different ways to which you can define ‘love’ and every one of them can be true. 

You can’t talk about today’s generation without mentioning the media; it’s everywhere. People either hate or love the media. The media can be great for certain things such as uploading memories that you don’t want to lose or sharing funny posts with your best friend, but the media can also be an unwelcoming place for some people which makes them ‘hate’ the media. The media can be a safe place for you to share memories with family and friends, but it can also be dangerous if you’re sharing ‘too much’.

I personally have a love-hate relationship with the media. Some days all I want to do is be on the media, other days all I want to do is switch off my phone and disconnect myself completely from the media. One of the reasons the media makes me happy is because I get to stay in-touch with my friends when I’m not with them. Friends I haven’t seen in a while, but the media gives me the opportunity to keep sharing the memories with those people that I couldn’t experience them with. The media is also a perfect place for people to share happy moments of their life, which is also something I enjoy doing sometimes; it’s a way of staying social.

Even though the media makes me happy, it also makes me ‘angry’ or ‘hateful’ sometimes. Many people are arguing against the fact that the media is an addictive place to be in andeven though I love the media, I still prefer ‘living without it’. Of course it’s impossible and I wouldn’t be able to completely live without it, however, I do prefer socializing with people in person. Socializing with friends where you can see their facial expressions and know how they’re feeling the moment you have a conversation. With this said, I do believe some people can be ‘addicted’ to the media to a certain level, but personally, I’m thankful that I am not.

The media sometimes gets me angry at the fact that all some people do is spend their entire day on the media, which in my opinion, is not healthy. But most importantly, I get angry when not every person in the media gets treated the same. There is a lot of cyberbullying going on, and that is one of the reasons many people think of hatred when it comes to the media; and I agree. 

So do I love the media, or do I hate it?

At times I feel completely happy in the environment of the media, but other times, it gets me angry at the fact that it can waste my time when I should probably be studying rather than watching videos that aren’t relevant to anything. So as I said before, I love the media, but I also hate it.

13584782

Media has made it very easy for me to keep in touch with my family in Curaçao. Because of media I have constant communication and access to my family back home and therefore have a lot less anxiety about moving to a country I have been to twice.

Media has led me to having lots of friends and contacts all over the world. By language apps, social media etc. I’ve been in contact with some friends (all over the world) for years. With others just a few months. In this way it’s very easy to make the world ‘smaller’ and to actually gain a lot of knowledge. It’s interesting to learn about someone’s culture, language and lifestyle. It’s different yet so similar. We’re all still having the same problems.

Student Nr. 13936999

ID 13577581