Why I Heart My Media

Everything about media is great. Sure, there are downsides, but everything in life has downsides. Who does not love media? You have video games, music, Netflix, YouTube and so much more. Besides there is an endless range of possibilities with media. There is now art (NFT’s) and money (crypto) and i’m pretty sure there will be a life in media form (VR). I hope, someday, to become part of inventing one (or more) of these endless possibilities of media.

Student: 13897942

Since my early teenage years, I have always conceptualized love as a spiritual, internal, and intimate construct among people, our environment, nature and its livings, and the Universe. Even though I acknowledge that I can love others profoundly, the path towards self-love and self-affirmation has been marked with many setbacks and self-doubts.

I heart my media because it constantly reminds me to love myself. I first encountered media when I was six years old. My father was amazed by Lady Gaga’s music, so one evening he introduced me to her art by showing me a Youtube music video of her song “Bad Romance”. This was the very first time when I saw a music video. This was the first time when I was on a social media platform. This was the beginning of my relationship with media, ironically marked as a “bad romance”.

Life can seem complicated and troublesome for young adults. The media has been with me through all these difficult moments of my life when I was questioning myself, searching for my purpose and my voice. Media ignited my aspirations by giving me a platform to speak up and to express the most intimate thoughts, provided me with support from social media communities, fostered and nourished my spiritual world with daily yoga and meditation videos on Youtube. Thus, my relationship with myself is relatively linked to my connection with my media – both go hand in hand with one another and consequently fulfill my world.

The relationship that I have with myself sometimes seems like a “bad romance”, similar to the one I have with my media. The self-comparison to strangers on Instagram, frightening news reports about inhumane actions in our society, and cyberbullying are inevitable parts of this relationship, and it has an immense contribution to the uncertainty and powerlessness that I constantly feel. Similarly, my anxiety, unconscious decisions, and insecurities create the same pattern. Therefore, the intimate, personal, and spiritual relationship that I strive to have with myself constantly overlaps and coincides with the one I seek to have with my media.

But I repeatedly remind myself that love has many sides, and I consciously choose to experience all forms that this love takes. 

Student id: 13959018

Love…it is a very complicated and diverse feeling. I may say that I LOVE my family, I LOVE sunny mornings and good coffee, I LOVE watching brilliant movies with my friends and I LOVE the sound of waves on the seashore.
I LOVE enjoying those moments for myself, however, society shaped me as a person who also LOVES to share them with someone else. It’s because I want to give someone a taste of the happiness that I felt in these moments. Give a photo that will make their life better. Even narcissistically feel that someone is thinking about me because of the content I am posting. My knowledge about media changes hand over hand. This is something that I use on an everyday basis, but it doesn’t become more knowledgeable, or I may say discovered. It becomes intrigues. The development of social platforms and technology gives me the ability to stay in touch with my loved ones. It gives me inspiration for new coffee drinks. It provides me knowledge about outstanding movie productions which can change my perspective on looking at my life and my dilemmas. Furthermore, it influences the choice of my travel destination. I LOVE media because they make me aware of what I like and also how to live my dreams. As a young woman who is trying to find her way of living, media are essential to get inspired, be open-minded and stay connected with the world.

Lilla Markiewicz, student ID: 13534351

My love for media might have begun with the games on Nokia’s Blackberry prototype, which I truly adored at the time of my late childhood. Yes, its games such as “Bounce” and “Nokia Snake” caused me to have recurrent insomnia and even eyesight problems, but that is the part I am willing to forget. At least it gave me joy, during the late evenings, to secretly and silently curse under the bedsheets (so my mother wouldn’t hear me) after losing a game.

The next thing I remember is the time when my father installed the internet on the family’s single computer. It was so beloved that we even had made a timetable when it was somebody’s turn to utilize it. Whilst I used it, I made the most of it. Generally, I was learning lyrics of rap songs on Youtube. I recall jamming with Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, imagining I am indeed “Young, wild and free”, even though I had no clue what I was rapping about. My family didn’t tell me either.

The first time creating a Facebook account was the beginning of my social media addiction. I loved the birthday wishes posts, tagging my all 40 “friends” on a random picture, sharing a cheesy quote on my “wall”, and sending a text to 10 people in order to have a lucky day. After Facebook, I had an enormous crush on Instagram and a slightly smaller adoration for Snapchat. It is crazy how these social media apps sucked me in and it is horrifying to think how much time I’ve spent in them. 

Lonely togetherness. News fatigue. Oversharing. Disinformation. The monotony of social media. Boredom. Overload. That is what sometimes now I feel in media. Quite differently from my childhood times. 

Although occasionally I catch myself feeling hatred towards the ubiquity of media and feel coerced to touch my phone screen every half an hour, I still encounter feelings of assuredness, safety, tolerance and serenity in the online world. Perhaps it is the fact, that everywhere I go I am in a way united with humankind via a plastic machine in my pocket. 

At last, a joke: Which social media platform do vegans hate the most? Google meet.

Student ID: 13658166

My perspective of media as well as my love and appreciation of it changes throughout every stage of my life.

I remembered when I was a young child, I did not have many friends and I lived in a house deep in a small alley back in my home country. I preferred to stay in my room watching movies and Youtube videos of people doing creative activities. Since then, making handmade arts and crafts has been one of my most favorite hobbies.

When I went to primary school, I found an interest in listening to international music. I remembered not having a smartphone back then, so I listened to my favorite songs multiple times and tried to write the lyrics by pen and paper. Media, considering as a means of entertainment back then, not only helped to develop my English ability (I was able to learn many new words from writing songs lyrics !) but also raised my dream to study abroad at an early age. 

I received my first smartphone as an award for passing the entrance exam to high school. Only by this time did the amount of time I use media increase intensely. I started using social media platforms to communicate with friends and stay connected with them even from far distances such as now – when I am studying abroad in the Netherlands. 

Media are indeed very intimate and approachable from my point of view. 

I now realize that media has essentially shaped my life. This includes my relationships, my work, my hobbies, interests, my studies (of course!) and many more. For example: I met my current boyfriend through media and we fell in love because we both share a profound love for certain media.

I grew up with strict caretakers. I wasn’t allowed to play outside with the other kids and live a life without media. I’ve always preoccupied myself with all sorts of game consoles, computers, tablets and smartphones ever since I was a mere child. Media has made me who I am now, and I wouldn’t be the same person without it. I would, without a doubt, be a completely different person if that were the case.

I used to think very black and white when it comes to (social) media, but Mark Deuze really pushed me to think further than that. Media is not necessarily a good or bad thing; it is just the way it is and it’s up to me to convey meaning it it.

To be part of this world where we live in media is such a fascinating thing. I’m grateful that I get to experience this life.

Student ID: 13852906

There are many reasons why I heart media, but also why sometimes resent it. I believe, love for media started when I was a child with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Or the youtuber Roman Atwood, who always made me smile. However, it also made me feel and sometimes even now makes me feel like the world that media created is too superficial. 

For me, love is a complex word. We have all created our own definitions. For me, it’s a pile of emotions, where you can find words like cheerfulness, but also hate. It is also the past, the present and even perhaps the future. There are many forms of love, and my relationship with media is bittersweet.

Most of the time, I embrace media. It’s an escape from one reality to another, as well media creates memories, and it’s something that is part of us, it represents who we are. In my mind, media grew up with me, the content over the years changed, and it made me realize that living within media is also maturing, which I believe is why I heart media.

When, a close family member passed away, media helped me cope with that, it made me realize that I wasn’t the only one going through it, and it taught me a few important lessons. This was the moment, when I knew that media is not only scrolling on Instagram or watching YouTube videos for fun. 

On the other hand, I sometimes perceive media as an environment where the notion of the real world is pushed to the side. Sometimes, I see influencers posting their best-looking pictures and creating an illusion that they are living a dream life, which many teenage girls crave. And it makes resent them, because I remember when I was 14 years old and saw these ideal posts, it made me feel bad about myself. And I know I wasn’t the only one, which makes me want to scream and tell that media is not perfect, that it is also messy, like we are.

At the end of the day, I believe I heart media, because it is part of me, my life. It grew with me and continues to do that every day.

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I love media, it enables me to keep in touch with family and friends from anywhere. Perhaps the biggest challenge of studying abroad is to be separated from family and friends for a long time. Because of jet lag, my parents’ schedules are completely different with mine. Luckily, I can use social media such as WeChat, Message, etc. to leave a message to them, and they can send a message back to me when it is convenient for them to reply. I think such social Apps allow me to share my life with my loved ones anytime, anywhere. Now social media can not only send text messages, but also send pictures, voice messages and make video calls. I think these softwares are realizing our online life to the greatest extent.

Student Number: 13716115

I only love my Media sometimes. I love my Media in moments in which it helps me to overcome boarders. 

There are limits to life. There are limits to human existence. Media seems to be able to effortlessly overcome these boundaries. Not only in a crazy sci-fi sense, but in everyday life. I am currently in a long-distance relationship. If I want to see my partner, Media makes it happen. If I want to see what my friends in a different country are doing, social media makes it happen. But what is my problem with it? Why can´t I say that I am overwhelmingly in love with Media, that I am wearing rose colored glasses and that the beauty of Media overshadows all its flaws? It is hard to make sense of my feelings, but I assume it is because of some (especially social-) media aspects that have affected me very negatively in the past. I have the feeling that social media puts more limits to my life than there needs to be. 

Why do I have to look like Kendall Jenner? Why do I have to post a fit pic every day? Why did I technically not go on vacation if I did not record every second of it? Being active on social media is so encouraged in the youth of society: express yourself, be whoever you want to be. But what if that’s not me?

With Love,

L

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