Why I Heart My Media

For me, media is a form of relaxation as well as a way to express myself. If I have had a busy day because of work, school or social gatherings, I am exhausted afterwards, and so I use media to relax. For instance, Netflix or other streaming services enable me to watch whatever movie, television programme, or series I would like to watch. As much as this is a form of relaxation, it is also a temptation because it is very tempting to watch a show or movie instead of doing the things you actually need to be doing like schoolwork.  

I also use media to express myself. I use apps like instagram, and snapchat to post certain pictures and videos that make me happy. This way, I can create an archive with all my favorite memories and I can share them with my friends as well. The downside however, is the fact that while I am on instagram I encounter a lot of “perfect” photos that other people post. These photos sometimes make me a little insecure about my own pictures, but I try to remember that most of these pictures are highly edited to look a certain way. 

Student number: 13835106

Do I love my media, or do I resent it for preventing me of living my life to the fullest?

I see my media as a way to escape my everyday life. Films, music and all the social platforms give me comfort when I need it most. After a busy day, a hard exam, an argument I had with a friend – all I want is to shut off my mind and dive into the world of my favorite tv show, YouTube channel or my Tiktok page. I can do it from the comfort of my own home, without ever feeling lonely, sad, angry, or judged.

But by doing this – am I missing out on what is happening all around me?

Am I missing out on spending time with my family, who can help me with my problems and lift my bad mood? Am I missing out on talking to my friends, making new memories that I can reflect on in bad times? Am I missing out on traveling the new city I just moved into and creating my own little adventures? Am I missing out on taking care of myself?

Am I using media as a distraction from reality? or is the media giving me things that other people, or even myself, can not provide me?

Student ID: 13695517

8 years ago me and my 3 best friends met each other in high-school for the first time. You could say it was love on the first sight. Due to studying abroad, doing voluntary work or au Pair, none of us is in our home town right now; we are spreaded all over the world: Amsterdam, Windhoek (Namibia), Santa Cruz (Teneriffe) and San Francisco (USA). Being friends for such a long time and having them around at any given moment makes it very difficult to accept the fact that we probably won’t see each other for several months. But we figured a way out how to stay connected during the period of time and to keep everyone always up-to-date. We created a shared instagram-account of which the 4 of us have the log-in. It is a private account where only our closest friends are following us and can see what each of us is experiencing in their day-to-day life. Somehow it also creates a feeling of experiencing the stuff all together because we so many details of each other’s environment. I just love how we found ‘our little space’ on this platform to share everything and anything we want!

Student ID: 13572482

My love for media is a rather ambivalent one. 

Now I could argue that it is my primary form of communication with the world, with people, with places; and in today’s day and age… who doesn’t love their media? 

It’s almost impossible not to feel your heart sink when you can’t feel your phone in the back pocket of your jeans. Or to get tremendously agitated at the news of Kanye still not releasing his album several weeks after his promised release date. Maybe even taking a seat on a long metro ride and realising you left your AirPods on your bed. Our lives revolve around this media era. Which for me, is a blessing and a curse. 

Simply diluted to layman’s terms, sometimes, I hate how much I love my media. 

Sitting at my desk, studying for an exam, yet yearning to pick up my phone (which was shoved under my pillow on silent to avoid distractions) and make sure I have no notifications or I haven’t missed out on any major events. It’s not just my recent memories that hold significance, I can think back to being a child, waking up from my nap and walking into my mum’s room, climbing under her duvet and watching Winnie the Pooh. A safe space. 

Now, my love for my media is also demise. 

Student ID: 13659960

There are many reasons for which media bring me joy in everyday life. I am surrounded by them and choose to use them for entertainment all the time. They help me with sadness, during my worse days and coping with the problems of adult life and I appreciate them for that, but lately, I understood I love them for one particular reason. The one thing I don’t think I could live without. That is my family and friends. I moved to Amsterdam about a month ago and the first week of being alone without anyone I knew, may as well be called the worst week of my life. The quietness of the room, no one to talk to after living with family for so long. Separation, feeling of being left alone in my new situation and there comes media, one in particular: skype. I could see and hear my sister again and for a moment it seemed like she was here with me, sitting right next to me and not thousands of kilometers away. For this time I felt at peace I felt the closeness of the people I loved even though they were not close. I owe it to media; skype, WhatsApp, and all those other ways I could communicate with people I left behind, showed me that I can perceive my dreams and reach for my goals, and still feel connected to the people most important to me. Although, I can’t go home and eat dinner with my family or go out with my friends from my home country. I can just take my phone into my hand and for a moment it will seem like we’re in the same room and nothing really changed. Even though it did. I love my media for keeping me in touch with the ones I care about and at the same time being able to be here in a new place so far away from them. I love them for taking the feeling of loneliness, even if it’s just for a moment.

Media makes everything easier. Without Google Maps, I’ll have to waste at least half an hour struggling to figure out how to get to the city center; Without WhatsApp and Instagram, I probably would only have few friends who live in my neighborhood because I won’t bother traveling thousands of miles just to keep updated with my friends.

I do have a story to share about media.

I was once bullied in middle school by the “cool kids” in class. Those boys were really mean. They kept telling me that my eyes are too small, my forehead is too big, my legs are too thick, I’m too fat (even though I was around 40kg)…As a result, I was really lack of confidence in school. Plus, I was in a boarding school, and during the weekdays they take our phones away from us so my middle school life was generally no social media.

Social media contributed a lot to my confidence build-up. After I graduated middle school, I started to spend a lot of time on media, from TV shows, Instagram and TikTok, I gradually learned my appearance is not as bad as the boys told me I was. I learned how to do my make-up, how to dress nicely, and most importantly–how to love myself. I started to post photos of myself, and with every like I get, I get a little bit more confident. By the time I graduated high school, I was much more popular and nobody could relate me to the humble girl who doesn’t dare to look at anyone in the eyes in middle school.

To a great extent, social media changed my life.

Student ID 13582569

Sometimes it’s hard for me to differentiate what is media and what isn’t, because in a way, we are all affected by media and we all contribute to media, even if we don’t know it. I remember being little and looking at TV infomercials, i wondered how people were so gullible to believe everything they saw on their big flat screens, ironically, not even a half decade later I found myself buying products i didn’t really need because a fitness vlogger on YouTube recommended them. I found myself judging my face and body because I didn’t look like other girls my age on instagram or other social media platforms. However, around 2018, I remember downloading TikTok and following people who didn’t make me feel bad about myself, people who preached about loving yourself the way you were and spreading kindness to others, that’s when I truly appreciated media, because even if in the outside world, i could look into a mirror and cry, I felt like I always had a safe space to go back to. A space that wouldn’t encourage unhealthy eating habits or toxic mentalities. I have to say, it’s hard finding the people you want to show up on your feed, but it’s important to make sure they are making you a better person.

student number: 13505920

Media is manipulative. Not all people can distinguish what is exactly good and bad from the media, especially the news which influenced people’s thoughts imperceptibly.

When national hatred become common in one country, when people defend their country without any judgments, I will believe that the media contribute a lot.

ID:13707213

Do you love your media? You don’t know? Then please let me tell you about my media.

Media is a love-hate relationship I never knew I needed, that is until now. Accepting or not, my life has mostly (and subtly) intertwined with media. Public media, digital media, you name it, are all part of what shapes me into who I am now. Let’s start from the beginning. Actually, let’s start with why and how my relationship with media is complex.

I love it.

It’s easy to say, because I do, a lot. I was born into media. I was born in an era when media was widely accepted and almost a norm. It slipped into my life smoothly like how guys slide into girls’ DMs. “Don’t skip breakfast”, mom always told me that (she still does now). Now we know that notion came from an American cereal brand for their marketing campaign. But I have to admit it helps me with my eating disorder, since mom would occasionally call to check if I have had my breakfast, and so I cannot skip meals, starve myself, develop digestive issues,… (or that’s what I thought).

I’m literally 8874km away from my family. Imagine not being able to FaceTime or send iMessages and having to write letters, what an unwanted scene. Indeed, hate it or love it, media brings convenience and instantaneousness. I could be walking down the streets of Amsterdam, seeing a breathtaking building and calling family instantly to share the moment. They could be there (well, virtually) with me to witness, to feel and sympathise with me. How could that NOT be absolutely amazing?

Teenager, young adults, we don’t call and text messaging as often as we used to anymore. All can be done via social media. Friends can see my life today, what I eat, where I go, what I look like, how I feel,… It’s just that easy to connect. I’m not disclaiming physical interactions, but sometimes due to geographical distance, it’s sufficiently ideal to log into social media and communicate. Please, no prejudice.

I hate it.

Now this is where things take a turn (into the love-hate relationship). I mentioned my eating disorder above, which, funny enough, somewhat happened along with the introduction of social media to my life. I didn’t need to see pictures of celebrities to feel bad, influencers and even some of my friends’ photos alone can make me question my physical appearance. Quite frankly, I have been obsessed with food since I was a child. It was positive at first; I ate what I wanted, feeling the pure joy food brought to me. You guess it, I inevitably became a chubbier kid than most of my peers. After social media and during eating disorder, the obsession with food became my enemy. I either starved myself or stuffed myself with food, I thought about eating every second of my life. “OMG skinny legend”, “How can you eat that much and still look slim?” I was delighted to finally hear that. I degraded myself looking at others, I prided myself upon being called skinny, I indulged in the virtual recognition, that all happened on social media. Of course, had I used media more wisely, I wouldn’t have overcome that terrible time. But it is undeniable I was partially (or greatly) affected by media.

Some of my friends were the victims of cyberbullying. The platforms have the ability to sometimes take things too far. What started as a small argument became a fight of offending and insulting, so much so that their families got involved. It was certainly disappointing and hurtful to watch that happened. Stop hiding behind those keyboards and the computer screen, kids.

Platforms pick up, continue, and step up the trades of fame, money, and images, for the better or worse. Instagram becomes a tool for self-promotion; influencers promoting products (that they probably never use). Youtube fights between creators (James Charles and Tati, for example) are sometimes just an act that are put on to attract more attention and popularity. Tiktok is known for being the cradle of weird, inappropriate, and even dangerous trends (black-out challenge). Where do all of that lead to? Fame and money. What do they cost? Images, ethics, sometimes even physical health. I hate it when things like these continue to flourish, whereas my friends and family gradually adopting them. There are good content and bad content, yes, but the latter seems so overwhelming these days it’s hard to un-notice it.

But I cannot escape it.

Just like every love-hate, toxic, manipulative relationship, we don’t break up (that is, me and media). Ever noticed how there is a ME in MEdia? That’s how involved I probably am in this sphere of chaos. And I’m happy with it. I do hate it, and I was hurt by it, but that doesn’t stop me from continuing to embrace and understand it. Just like how relationships take time, I’ve got a lifetime of being in media to study it.

Do you love your media now?

Stacey Phan – 13884980