Why I Heart My Media

There are numerous reasons behind my love for Media (as a practice) – it helps me keep in touch with my family and friends regardless of their physical distance from me, it helps me find my way around an unknown city, it helps me learn new skills, make friends, so on and so forth. But there are two reasons which make me cherish Media, as we have it today, increasingly more.

First, it helped me (and others who have grown up similarly) truly become a global citizen while completely being in touch with my roots and culture. I was lucky to have spent a major part of my childhood living in a foreign country and being exposed to a myriad of cultures. It is due to media that I was able to connect with the people around me, despite being from various backgrounds, and learn about their values and beliefs. The same Media also helped me stay in touch with my relatives in India and understand the ideals treasured in my culture.

Second, it is because of Media that I am able to study here at the University of Amsterdam as an international student. It is through media that I was able to discover my passion, the many opportunities for me to study abroad and even my applications were sent through Media.

If I think back through my fun childhood incidents, there are very few which do not involve any form of media, as odd as some might find it, Media has, in a way, shaped who I am today and will continue affect my life as long as I remain an active user.

Naina Parasher (11681977)

The reason why I love media, is because media connects the whole world. For example, every year I’m going to an international ecumenical youth community in France, called Taizé. In this small village, about 2000 youths are joining every week in a year to connect with each other, have discussions about Christianity, find rest or simply for a joyful holiday. A huge amount of time in Taizé is spent making friends and getting to know people from different nationalities and cultures. After this week, everyone is adding each other on Facebook (although the Germans don’t because Facebook is as I heard not that popular anymore in Germany), Instagram, Snapchat and so on. This is an incredible way to keep in contact with people you’ve met and share memories together. Two years ago, I met two Spanish (or do I have to say Catalonian?) boys from around my age. We stayed in contact through Instagram and WhatsApp, and with all the riot around the Spanish government and the Catalonians, I was very interested in their opinion about all this insurrection. They told me everything about it and were very happy that people actually were interested in their story. The fact that we are able to have these conversations through social media is awesome. This is why I love media: to stay connected and have a living media-relationship with people around the whole world.

Tjarda Waleson

The main reason why I love media is because it creates a way for people to connect all over the world. It is a gateway for family and friends to stay in touch when they’re in different countries. It also allows you to connect with people you don’t know who have the same interests as you do. It creates a feeling of togetherness, of belonging which is a great thing because the real world can be a tough place. I also love media because it gives you the freedom to express yourself whichever way you want.

Yvvy Beekmans

I know that media are us. We do love ourselves, don’t we?

I love media due to that fact that it gives me space to evolve. It provides information that sometimes can’t be easily found in real life and I can relate to, making it part of me as a person. Therefore, it shows people that they’re not alone and that they’re understood by others even though “the others” are mainly to be found and seen just in the digital world. Media is like a soothing second mother who makes it easier for you to go through life, just like a guiding light. You are provided with this feeling of safeness, but you also need to be careful when putting your trust in her considering the fact that you’re not related by blood.

By being human beings it’s in our nature to want to share things and to be interested in people. Besides the basic communication that has evolved a lot through the years leading to online social interaction, media has more to offer. But it is hard to put it into words when you think about its vastness. What I love the most about media is that it gives me a “teaser” about the world before discovering it myself. It communicates with you indirectly and offers you artworks, books, music, films, new technologies… As a result, it makes the universe more approachable, easier to reach and understand than ever before.

~ Ioana Pintilie

Media brings ups and downs with it, but somehow the ups eventually always outway the downs. If we use media the right way, then it becomes a usefull tool to enjoy the nice things in life. I really like how media brings us together and it makes a worldwide connections so much easier. We can travel the world by sitting in our living room, we can talk with our relatives while eating breakfast and we will never be bored on the toilet again.

Ofcourse people can lose themselves in the confusing world of media, creating a facade full of lies they tell the world and themselves. As long as we focus on the ups of media, then it becomes a source of happiness.

I believe that media is slowly becoming a part of us humans, and as always this brings good and bad things with it.

Jonas van der Ziel

I heart my media, because they give me the opportunity to learn new things and to get creative.

Yentel Boot

Why do I love media? Well, the biggest statement I can give about that is that it makes me more than I think I could be without it. For me, media are all about the opportunities they give me when it comes to making contact, acting online and finding out more about myself and the world around me.

I have many international friends whom I would have never known if it hadn’t been for social media sites. I am able to talk to them when I don’t know who to turn to, and the other way around too. Besides that, my grandmother is in the hospital right now, and if it wasn’t for media she would feel so much worse than she does now; me, my family and her friends are able to send her texts, photos and videos to keep her involved in the world outside the bed in that boring room.

Through media, I can also make a difference for other people: I can let an artist know that I loved a piece they posted online and make their day a bit better, send someone that seems interesting a friend request which can evolve into an amazing friendship (like a friend in Germany, I have never met her but we have known eachother for 3 years now, and can tell eachother everything), or support someone through patreon or gofundme to improve their life in the most amazing ways.

And of course, I use media for entertainment in the form of music, videos, photos, stories, and more. These are the things that make up a big part of who I am, though they do not completely define me. But it is an amazing feeling to find a new band you like, an inspirational person who changes the way you look at things, or even a word you had never heard of before that describes exactly what you are feeling and why, and helps you understand more of yourself, other people and ultimately, the world around you.

So all in all, media plays a huge roll in my life and it will for the rest of it, and I accept that. I have grown up and evolved along with it, and I can honestly barely imagine it not being there to help me or let me help others. And even though the future of media is uncertain, I can hardly wait to get to know more about it and about myself.

Esmée Wittebrood

As I’ve been sitting here wondering why I actually like media I realized that I actually don’t love it. I consider it more like  a double-edged sword. A sword that you can still wield as you please, to  build your image, connect with friends, watch movies or read a newspaper. The thing is though that, the more you wield that sword, the more used to to it you get to keep it by your side. I think that a lot of people lost their way with media consumption. Don’t get me wrong, media is sometimes a lifesaving tool that contributes to modern culture and has immense implications. But I think people need to recognize the value of living in the moment. As cheesy as this may sound, or even hypocritical since I basically study this, I think people need to lay everything down for a couple of hours a day. Just enjoy the simple things, drink a good wine, talk with your friends in somebody’s living room with some cake, have a satanic ritual even, I don’t judge.

All in all I think I like media for the big moments like Julian Assange, how twitter saved people during the big internet shutdown in Egypt six years ago, but also the Tank Man, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Things like that you know? Where you can feel humanity through the screen.

Félix Rollinger

It’s hard talking about media without sounding like a cliche. Anything you can say has probably been said a hundred times before. But in a way, that is what I find most comforting about media; there is always a community to be found. No matter what it is you want to discuss, or explore or just appreciate, there is going to be a group of people online with similar interests and opinions as you.

Personally, my first experience of finding an online community was when I was around 14, confused and lost about who I was. Growing up in India, my exposure to anything LGBTQ+ was limited to negative stereotypes and judgment. So naturally when I began to question who I was, I became scared and defensive, not knowing who I could speak to about it. Around the same time a friend had added me to a Facebook group for young fans of anything from the so called “geek culture” that I was a part of. However I soon found out that the online friendship that people formed on there were not limited just to fandoms but also included their personal, day to day lives. It was no different from the friends I had at school. We spoke everyday, like I did with my friends at school, and we supported and relied on each other, like I did with my friends at school, and it was on that group that I was able to make friends who, for the first time, finally had this ‘alien’ aspect of life in common with me.

At the time it seemed a bit insignificant, but looking back now I realise just how much this online community amongst media helped me gain confidence in who I am and what I am. It is the same confidence that I rely on now to face any hatred or bigotry I am dealt out in the real world. And that is exactly why I heart media, because I know that somewhere there is another little girl, doubting herself, hoping she’s not a bad person and soon enough she’ll find her community online, who may accept her and treat her well even if the ‘real’ world around her doesn’t.

— Ashna Wiegerink

I heart media for everything what I am capable of on this exact moment. While I am writing this blogpost online for school I am getting a sight from the movie that my boyfriend is watching next to me on the couch and I am texting my friend about that really good Korean place since she asked me where she should eat. Media is indeed anywhere, anytime and anyplace. My boyfriend for example isn’t Dutch (I am) and we’ve maintained our relationship on a longdistance online, a big reason why I love media since I love him ofcourse. The movie my boyfriend is watching, Lucy, contains a lot of media features aswell. I mean this girl is litteraly turning into a computer. And I happened to find out about that Korean place trough Instagram and now I am passing it on trough whatsapp, the Korean place must heart media aswell in this case. I can conclude that I have to thank media for a lot of big and small pleasures in life. One of those small pleasures has to include gathering information online, I mean for who isn’t a good snooping session a small pleasure?

Rosa Lekatompessy