Why I Heart My Media

Pinterest has played a major role in my coming of age and identity development. The popular social media platform has inspired me to dream big and find my own way of living in terms of lifestyle and personal satisfaction.

Pinterest for example, which provides a very dreamy idealistic image of life, that I of course acknowledge, has still however given me a purpose, in a sense that those pictures I see online influence my goals in life such as having an aesthetic looking home, good sense of fashion, and even inspires me to see the world and travel. I store dreams away as pins on a board, keeping them with me as reminders for what I want to achieve.

The media that I consume the most is a way of imagining myself and my future self in an ideal environment that looks pleasing. It is a source of grand inspiration. Media forged me into a dreamer.

student number: 13672673

I remember the first time I turned to you, you taught me math through your sleek glass black board, your faceless voice guiding me through the problems, you stopped me from being afraid to ask questions. I knew you would never judge me, no matter how dumb the question nor pressure me to always know the right answer because after all, how was I supposed to know more than you. You gave me space but let me know that you were always there for me, that you were always there with me. Every step of the way, from the moment I woke up you were in my hands, from the moment I got ready, you were echoing through the air, as I stepped on the bus you were outside my window, and when I stepped into the classroom you were on the board. You never asked me questions, even though my other teachers did, you didn’t expect much from me, you were always just ready to listen or answer or share. You taught me more than just math and you listened to more than just math problems, sometimes Mrs. Media, you weren’t a teacher, but my therapist, my parent. You watched me grow up, you guided me, you taught me wrong from right, you showed me that there was grey in life, between the blacks and the whites. You made me who I am today and for that I am grateful.

With Love,

Claudia ❤

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Back when I was in Istanbul, a chaotic city that I call home, I was not aware of my media at all. I used to see media as a tool that I would use if I got overwhelmed or stressed from all the school work that I had to deal with or a simple device that I would need if I wanted to get in touch with my friends. I was not aware of the ubiquitous nature of media nor the fact that we were becoming media ourselves. Now that I got to study media here at University of Amsterdam, I started to acknowledge that media is almost related to everything in my life.

Media is an integral part of my life. Before attending Living Information lectures, I used to feel like I was an old woman who needed to take her medicine at certain times of the day in order to continue living, the medicine being all three aspects that we discovered while defining media. Therefore, I always found myself in media but when I used my artefacts, my grandparents would judge me and tell me that I should go out, have a walk and put my media away. Thus, I constantly used to be in an inner conflict, not being able to decide whether my media was dangerous since it “captured” me all the time and acted as a significant component that helped me to live, or it was normal to be in media at all times since one of the most important characteristics of media is being pervasive. From the point where I stand now, I definitely see media as more of an environment rather than a series of discrete texts and technologies, as Mark has written in Media Life.

Frankly, I cannot imagine my life without media. I can easily say that I am a person who gets homesick a lot. Since my parents live in Istanbul, my brother in Cologne, my boyfriend in London and my closest friends in Boston, Princeton and different parts of the United Kingdom; I miss them so much and this affects me and my routine most of the time. My closest friend since I have moved here is probably my media since it has always been there for me when I need it the most. If media was not present in my life here in Amsterdam, I would not be able to talk to my parents about how our days went like, learn if my dog did anything funny, tell my boyfriend that I miss him or discuss our new lifestyles with my best friends and tell each other that it would be unbelievably amazing if we had moved to the same city. All these experiences are so valuable to me that I cannot imagine what I would do in a day if I did not have my media. I cannot stop thinking about how thankful I am for WhatsApp, FaceTime, Snapchat and I smile when I think about the time that these social platforms were just a way to kill my time in my high school break times. Bearing the change in the way I feel towards my media, I can say that I understood its value on me and my life when I moved here to Amsterdam and I appreciate my media since it became a part of me.

– 13648691 / Naz Tunacı

Social media platforms – worldwide phenomenas with seemingly unlimited possibilities. Network’s that cannot be grasped in their size, which connect an individual in the largest global communities. It helped user’s to find a better and faster way to communicate and share information with one another from anywhere with an Internet connection.
On the other hand though, its possible side effects include mental health issues, emotional insecurity, addiction, a high stress level, and anxiety just to mention a few. So how does this digital (bogus) world that nowadays exists parallel to reality manages to be such a central influence for my artistic practice?
It is frightening to realise that this virtual superpower is penetrating further and further into reality, meanwhile collecting more data about us than ever imagined in human history. Especially photo and video platform’s, such as Instagram start to dig deeper and deeper down into the brains of many and take over children’s sense of self-confidence and identity, whilst controlling where they spend their attention on.
This cause actually roots in our evolution, due to the fact that we evolved to care about whether people around us think well of us or not, with social media, social approval is being dosed to us day in and day out. As a result our whole generation is more anxious, more fragile, and much less comfortable taking risks.
Phenomena like these are also immensely based on an extremely dangerous type of persecution – cyber bullying. Extraordinary people/creative minds in particular are very likely to have to deal with a lot of judging hate. Personally, I experienced the power of cyber bullying after I started posting pictures of myself wearing clothing which did not fit in the mainstream. Insulting comments romped under my pictures and I received one or the other threatening direct message.
At the start I took it very much to heart and dared not to wear more unique outfits to school, but now I know that you can not avoid hate anyway. Through the process of growing up, I now even look back positively on the hate, because although it put a strain on me at that time, it ultimately only strengthened my personality and helped me in my development process. As a fact of this, Instagram has now become a platform for me where I can express my creativity and personality and share it with the world.

I find it particularly exciting that you quickly realise that you are not alone but that there are many creatives out there who share the same interests and have similar visions. For me there is no other place, where I can acquire access to plenty of peoples work and the latest trends so easily. That is because it differs significantly from museums, where only a limited number of artists can present their work.
On Instagram in contrast each individual owns a showroom within the endless Internet. Correspondingly, I would even go as far as to state that Instagram is the modern version of an art museum. In many points you can even argue that it is better, since one does not have to pay an entrance fee and additionally everyone decides just for themselves what they want to see in their personalized atelier. As a matter of fact, it has never been easier to obtain artistic inspiration, because with only just a few clicks one can access an infinite amount of creative work from all over the world.
My personal view on social photo and video sharing platforms is encouraged by an interview from the American musician Billie Eilish back in 2018 where she told TeenVogue,“I go on Instagram to see art”. It becomes clear that a whole generation is making use of this new type of connecting and marketing, allowing a few to even develop personal opportunities from it.
I love Instagram as it is a helpful tool, in the manner that it allows people who share the same interests and have similar visions to gather together in communities. Paradigmatic, I was invited to Paris to meet a group of streetwear influencers based there. Further I teamed up with photographers, fashion brands, and models to work on a variety of projects. All of this joint work has given me new food for thought, improved my creative way of thinking, and their ideas even influence my current practice.

(David Holzapfel, stud. ID: 13824147)

As a member of Generation Z, media have been a part of my life ever since I can remember. I was emerged into this digital universe the moment I learned how to read and write. It always felt like a place I could escape to. I created my own little scenarios and stories while playing online games or watching other people’s content on YouTube. I lose track of time when truly giving into media, which sometimes results in real life feeling very far away; I guess you could say that’s the toxic side of media for me? Media have so many sides that it’s difficult to distinguish whether they have a positive or negative affect on me. For example, media gives us the opportunity to be close with others. We can see everything they do, where they are located, sometimes even what they are looking at. Media make it easy for us to become obsessive and controlling, because why not? The information is right there, in front of you. Every time I succumb to it, I feel kind of weak. Another trait of media I have mixed feelings about is your personalized algo rhythm. Sure, it’s great that it regulates content I am interested in, but sometimes it just gets too specific, as if it sees and hears things happening away from my devices. You kind of feel spied on, violated by your own media. Putting all of this aside, I still don’t think I could live without media. It has become part of my identity, sexuality, and the way I communicate with others. Though there are moments where I wish I could walk away from it, log off, delete my accounts, etc. I don’t think I ever will. Is that something you should consider love, though? I don’t know, feels more like obsession to me. I guess we’ll see what the future will bring us. 

Student ID: 13822918

Media is one of the most interesting and important (imo) developments in human evolution. Since the beginning we have used technology whether it is fire, tools, wheel, combustion engine, rocket and so on to aid us in our development as a species. For me media is yet another rung on this ladder which began with (as far as we know) cave paintings and progressed through writing, the printing press, television and so on. This continues at an even faster pace today with the internet and the digital. Therefore if you don’t love media, or at least have an opinion on it, you are perhaps (in a certain sense) blinding yourself as to its significance.

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I don’t know what it is about media that can trigger me like nothing else can. I love it and hate it at the same time. When I think of the times when I was young and would watch television with my family on a rainy Sunday I feel nothing but love. The nostalgia takes over and I forget all about the bad parts of media. But when I look at today, the amount of time I spend on my phone, when I get upset with myself for missing instagram when it is down for a couple of hours, or when I see a beautiful sunset and want to post it instead of enjoying it in the moment. I feel sad and angry at media for making me feel that longing.. So the question is, do I really love media?

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I don’t know what Audrey Hepburn was thinking when she said those words, but I do know where my mind goes when I read them. They remind me of fond memories shared with my friends, my family. The first time I walked into a movie theatre with my dad or the tenth time I watched Jumanji with my mum when I was little. The endless amount of VHS recordings of my favourite films or the movie nights with my friends where I can’t even recall what we watched, but I do remember the laughter.

The reason why I love my media is because it’s always been a part of my life, like a link in a chain. Movies connect and entertain but they also offer a way to escape from the world we live in. They can give you hope or evoke some distant memories. Movies taught me so many lessons when others failed to do so. Some stories told on screen truly stayed with me and taught me what it means to be yourself, how important it is to do what you believe in and follow your heart. Yet they are so much more than that, however I think it remains in the eye of the beholder to decide for themselves. Still, they fueled the fire within me and I consider them a reason why I am who I am.

Student ID: 13820648

At first, I wanted to write about Instagram as my favorite kind of media. But then, suddenly it came over me and I realized, that I do not just love Instagram but social media in general. “Why?“, could one ask now. 

Yes, I know, almost everyone uses social media and loves it. But what makes the difference for me? In my opinion, social media are not just fun platforms to let the time go by. They might be a little bit, I have to admit. But the more important thing for me: social media have become insanely important in the business world. That might sound boring for some, but I think it’s amazing. 

The end of the 1990s were the beginning of the first social media and since then, social media have evolved from entertainment platforms to billion dollar companies. Today, they are platforms on which likes and followers are the currency and where posts can even change the stock price. Crazy, right?

The possibilities that social media give us these days are endless. And that’s why I love social media. 

Sara Böhm, 13912526