For me, Media is a part of my life, I interact with it every single day, ranging from youtube to facebook to video gaming altogether. Media to me is a combination of the devices themselves to the infinitely stretching entity that we know as the media. It is a tool to help us unite with one another, to learn from each other but also to reach out and to be heard. People say that there are a lot of dumb people online, well yea that seems true but those people were always around, the only difference between now and 30 years ago is the fact that we can see them on a daily basis all over the world. This, however, is contrasted by the amazing people that we find online. I personally have met some of the funniest and kindest people online ever through video gaming. It’s a culture to me now and the unity and the creativity that people share online is exactly why I heart media.

By: Brian Arxhoek

I tried to choose one of the components in the taxonomy definitions of media: media as artefacts, activities and social arrangements. However, the definitions seem intertwined in such a way that I cannot choose one, neglecting the other (or I can blame on the zodiac: I’m a Libra).

My media provide me abilities, possibilities, they cheer me up, make me look at things in ways I never imagined before (and often contradict myself. I mean, reinvent myself). What not to love about it?

I cannot remember the moment when the habit of checking my phone first-thing-in-the-morning and last thing before going to sleep began. I check my smartphone – an artefact, and, thus, media – to see whether I slept through my alarm or if I have any important message received or to send, i.e., media as an activity.

During the day, the habit of checking Facebook on my notebook or any other device slips in. To me, Facebook, Instagram and other social media are present in my life, as a guilty-pleasure activity; to fill study breaks and to escape moments of profound boredom.

Not a long time ago, I would still buy paper maps to use in day trips. Since my larger data package allows me to exploit Google Maps, I don’t consider going back to paper maps or bothering strangers on the street.

I love that I can post beautiful photos of trips and places and have my photographs. I love expressing myself and soften my ego with receiving likes and comments. I love media because at the same time it makes me desire the next amazing gadget I will not be able to live without; that offers new functions that I do not even know I need. Reviews and other product information, just a click-away, allow me to see otherwise; media enable me to reflect and make informed choices.

Media allow me to connect with my beloved ones, making the distance seem less hurtful. In any moment of my (or their) convenience, we can share messages and pictures, send audios or call.

I love how easy media has made it easy to find tickets to anywhere and plan getaways that fit in the budget. It has never so convenient to find well-recommended and safe places to visit.

Learning a new language and sharing (and reading) experiences of what books to buy, courses to follow and so forth, evidence how media have changed the perspective on how I connect with the ever-unfolding world. Media have changed my social arrangements from only sharing information and knowledge with people I know to taking part in a more extensive network and body of knowledge.

Yes, I love my media. And from this love, media has become my object of study. Love that I did not know how nor when it has begun but that it has consolidated with time. The relationship is getting more mature, but not in any way less beautiful or significant. Time has brought us intimacy, some disappointments, broken hearts, excitement and I know media will be there for me. Anytime, anywhere.

– Flávia Stienstra

Media connects people on an emotional level. Trough sharing of sad and more happy moments on a social media platform like Facebook, we realize we are not the only ones who struggle at times. Sharing pain relieves pain, sharing happiness multiplies happiness. Need to get your wisdom tooth removed? Nervous? No problem, there a plenty of forums discussing the topic which can help you prepare for this very moment and overcome your fear. That’s why I love media.

Sumejja Sabic

I ❤ my media, because media enable me to do loads of things. First of all, I am able to finish this assignment at approximately 2:45am because of media, even though I’m really tired and just want to go to sleep. Secondly, because of media I can always call my parents when I’m not sure why it’s taking so long for my water to boil or when I don’t recall how to cook fish sticks properly. Furthermore, media make sure I never truly feel alone, because even when I am physically alone, I know that there’s someone I can call, send a text to, Skype with, send memes to, etc. In conclusion, media just make my life a lot nicer and I really couldn’t go without them, even though I now know how to boil water and cook fish sticks.

Annabel Boriglione

Media creates opportunities; it can give us the chance to shape things the way we like them to be, it can give us ways to be seen and heard, but to me, most importantly, media can provide an escape. I’d say an escape from reality but then the discussion might arise of what reality truly is and whether there still is a real reality. And although that discussion is equally fascinating, it’s not what I want to write about right now. Perhaps it’s better to say that media can provide me an escape from the way I live throughout my days, and by that I mean the daily slur of waking up, getting ready for my duties for that particular day (whether that’s school, work or other activities or responsibilities), doing all that good stuff and then go back to sleep just to wake up again and repeat. I consciously chose the word ‘slur’ because that’s how routines can feel sometimes. I like variety so I find that fixed routines often bore me, but media helps to spice things up. All sorts of media do, but there’s one I’m particular fond of and that is books.

It’s probably not the first thing people think of when they picture media in their head. I suppose you could say it’s a more traditional and old form of media and most people these days associate media with technology and internet and all fun stuff. Yes, I’m aware you can read a book online, but when I say I’m fond of reading, I mean reading a physical book. To me, there’s something soothing and magical about feeling the roughness of the paper, being able to touch the ink with your fingertips and hearing the sound of the pages turning and rustling that swiping on a screen, has yet to achieve (for me at least). That, in combination with the beauty that is language, creates the ultimate escape and safe-zone for me. And language too by itself is of course a form of media. It still fascinates me how our alphabet has only 26 characters, but yet with those 26 characters you can create entire new worlds with entire new realities, people and stories. I believe there is so much power in words and it’s underestimated sometimes. Language is a form of art and by extension, so are books.

Books can appeal to anyone. Even though not everyone likes reading (or they just think they don’t enjoy it but perhaps they haven’t read the right book — and with right I mean a book they can lose themselves in), they might still like the story or the message that is being conveyed.

Books are something to lose yourself in. You can probably tell that I love fiction books, because they can give you an alternate reality so different to your own, an alternate reality you didn’t even know you wanted until you were in it and experiencing it. That’s ultimately what a good book should do: make you forget your surroundings and give you new ones.

Books are so personal too. Recommending someone your favourite can even be scary, because it almost feels like giving away part of your soul. It’s opening up even though you don’t always realise it. Books can shape, consciously or unconsciously, what and how you do, see and think about things. They can play a part in shaping you the way you are. They integrate in your personality.

Books can give you the option to live in more than one reality. I can never get bored.

Yasmine Peeters

The main reason I love media is the fact that it opens up the world to us. We have the whole world inside our pockets. Back in the day, when smartphones weren’t invented jet, we’d have to save all the information we needed in our heads. For example, if we wanted to travel by train, we’d have to remember departure times. Nowadays we can look up departure times on 9292. We don’t have to remember anything, because all the information that we need is available through the internet.

This opens up the world to us, because it makes it possible for us to explore the world spontaneously. We don’t have to be afraid that we get lost, because, in a world with internet, it’s almost not possible at all to get lost.

It makes life a lot more interesting, because you dare to do things, you would otherwise never dare to do. For example, last weekend I decided that I needed a haircut. I was feeling lazy, so I didn’t want to go to a barber. So, I took some clippers and scissors and went to town on my own hair. A few minutes in, I came to the conclusion that I was, in fact, NOT a barber. My hair looked even worse that it did before. But panicking was not necessary, because the internet is full of haircutting tutorials! Now my hair looks pretty decent, if I say so myself.

I wouldn’t have done that if it weren’t for my love, my rock, my anchor, media. It makes life an adventure and I can’t even imagine how boring my life would be without it.

Timo Boer – 11702710

I Heart My Media because it allows me to have easy and effortless contact with people even on the other side of the world. It enables me to be in contact with the people have met and I can still somewhat particpiate in their lifes through social media like for example, Facebook and Instagram.

I also Heart My Media because it makes me a more aware and educated person. For example I saw a lot of news stories first on Tumblr. When Russia invaded the Kremlin I first saw a post about it on Tumblr. Or stories that are not deemed ”interesting” enough for mainstream media I learn about them on Tumblr. It may not be as reliable but most of the time you get a more personal view of the situation or event.

‘’Why are you studying Media?’’ is a question I get a lot. There’s one Dutch sentence I often use, it may not be very extensive, but it is very true. ‘’Media- is alles (-is everything)’’. Imagine living in a world where Media is so powerful, it can make some unknown guy one of the most famous singer in the world. Or imagine living in a world where through Media political wars are declared. Imagine being a little girl in a poor neighbourhood in East-Africa, where only Media in a local Internet shop can open another world for you, so you can dream and start thinking about your future. Media has power. And we as people, if we like it or not, like power.

‘’Today, our life will remain incomplete without media. For example, it provides an easy means of communication where people are able to contact friends and family from another side of the world. At the same time, media like television, radio and the Internet enhance our knowledge by providing access to information from all over the world. We can also receive different types of news or daily events through media, almost instantly, for example, through the Internet.’’

”The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” – Malcome X

I heart Media because we are Media

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