New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

Extend the Flawless Beauty: Facetune Video Further Goes against Beauty Activism

With TikTok becoming increasingly popular in people’s daily life, such global prevalence of applications that focus on instant short video feeds indicates that people’s quest for a flawless face and a well-proportioned body shape no longer stops at still...

By on 09/28/20 Comments Off

Talkspace: how reliable and responsible is mobile psychotherapy app?

Just two days ago, Apple started its sale for the company’s latest smartwatch Apple Watch Series 4. Boasting the new ECG sensor and much improved health functions including fall detection and emergency SOS, Apple claims its newest device to...

By Jason Park on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Reading News From Knowhere in the Post-Truth World

Misinformation is one of the global risks outlined by the World Economic Forum in their Global Risks 2013 report. The world is grappling with the viral spread of unvetted information in a hyperconnected world. News media are implicated in...

By Darsana Vijay on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Financial superpowers? Cryptocurrency and the next generation

Pigzbe, a digital piggy-bank has just appeared on the market, with one goal: introducing children to the world of cryptocurrency. Filippo Yacob, CEO of the company, claims that this device will give a new generation of children “financial superpowers”....

By Anastasia Pelini on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Plastic never goes away – Can apps contribute to avoid plastic pollution?

Video: Plastic Pollution Coalition – OPEN YOUR EYES The Plastic Age There is more plastic in the sea, than stars in the galaxy. Each year, 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans, and by 2050,...

By Clara Bläser on 09/23/18 Comments Off

ArtPassport: A Digitalized and Democratized Experience of Art

As media technologies and practices continue to advance, the art world is simultaneously facing a metamorphosis that presents new challenges to not only what constitutes art—but how art should be experienced. ArtPassport is one such example of an app...

By Anya Doshi on 09/23/18 Comments Off

SleepScore Max: Are Big Data the New Digital Doctors?

In the present media landscape, big data has revolutionized the way in which we regulate, analyse and influence data across several industries — one of which is healthcare. With the ability to monitor patients based on sensors embedded in...

By Anika Doshi on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Natural Cycles: Where pregnancy meets privacy

People use apps on a daily basis, or as Apple would say: “there is an app for that”. Apps are used for checking weather forecasts, reading the news and even finding – online – love. Nowadays, apps are even...

By Donna Wielinga on 09/24/17 Comments Off

“Clue”: Are period tracking apps reinforcing gender norms?

About 9 months ago a close friend introduced me to ”Clue”, a mobile application she claimed to have changed her life. It is a menstrual cycle tracking app that allows you to follow your periods, ovulation and other aspects...

By Yarden Skop on 09/24/17 Comments Off

Goalpost in the Ozone: The Deceptively Good Intentions of #Climate

As far as scientific consensus goes, it’s tempting to label the ‘debate’ around climate change as being over. However, to do so invites complacency, a willingness to delegate responsibility to a far-off unknown authority. News organisations, politicians and activists...

By David Molloy on 09/24/17 Comments Off

Pokémon Go: A Blueprint for Augmented Reality?

July 2016, a cultural zeitgeist dating back to the 90s was unleashed upon the world with renewed and unprecedented vigour. Pokémon Go fever swept the world – at its peak in mid-July, it was estimated that over 45 million (Griffiths)...

By Rhubini Kunasegaran on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Amazon Underground – the app store insurgent

Recently Amazon launched a new app store Amazon Underground for Android users, which replaced the Free App a Day program. It features not only items from the Amazon shopping app and the whole catalog from its app store, but...

By Radina Teodosieva on 09/17/15 Comments Off

Paper Based Print to Counter Digitalization

In an age where paper based prints are diminishing and digitalization is the ever winning cheaper option, there is luckily always a countermovement. This month Recently, the mobile-to-magazine app for iphone, was debuted. The new app for iOS is...

By Lara Molendijk on 09/16/15 Comments Off

Training Wheels

As one of the cultural capitals of Europe, thousands of international students (2,000 at the University of Amsterdam alone), new residents and tourists convene in Amsterdam every year. Unfortunately, not everyone who comes to Amsterdam has the typical Dutch...

By Auke Akkerman on 10/17/14 Comments Off

“SOMEBODY”. Because “Texting is tacky. Calling is awkward. Email is old.”

By encouraging real-life interactions between strangers, Somebody is one of the most interesting apps launched lately. While messaging becomes an ordinary activity incorporated in most people’s lives nowadays, the artist Miranda July, in a partnership with the fashion brand...

By Gabriel Reis on 09/18/14 Comments Off

Could Snapchat’s new feature challenge Facebook’s dominance in terms of trust and privacy?

What’s the next Facebook or is there one? Ask many, including John D. Sutter (2012), who suggests that this question is not only wishful thinking, but an increasingly likely reality. Jamie Turner argues that although Facebook is still “king...

By Agnieszka Walewinder on 09/18/14 Comments Off

Should we keep our emojis in check? Emojli doesn’t think so

On August 29th, London-based app developers Matt Gray and Tom Scott released an application that could possibly redefine the way we communicate through our digital devices forever: Emojli, a social network, where users can only communicate by using emoticons, or...

By Miles Zornig on 09/18/14 Comments Off

Instagram and Hyperlapse: Anticipated Memory

Social networks have a huge impact on how their users perceive their lives and what happens to them. Different networks influence different aspects of our lives, both social and cultural. Instagram, one of the most popular networks today, meant...

By Markéta Horázná on 09/16/14 Comments Off

Let’s go out for digital dinner

iOS Application developpers seem to learn fast from each other these days; in a short amount of time, many applications for pairing wine with a main dish have been developped and its content has been extended. For example, on the application market were...

By Wouter Klaase on 09/16/14 Comments Off

“Yo”. The most stupid app ever or a useful new platform?

Thinking about the best way to connect with people? Don’t think much, just Yo them! With one tap on your phone screen, you can send a Yo to someone. And yes, a Yo is just that, a Yo. “It’s...

By Gabriel Reis on 09/11/14 Comments Off

One Word May Become Revolutionary in Media

Media as a form of communication has become ubiquitous within modern society. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube are often considered a part of daily-life and allow users express their own thoughts and opinions to readers, friends, followers...

By Sage Stargrove on 09/11/14 Comments Off

Getting to know Amsterdam through festivals

Hopefully the new international students already got a glimpse of The Nederlands and noticed that is not only a country filled with tulips, windmills and grazing cows. No, the Dutchies also have a lot to offer regarding art and music: a little under...

By Safia Akkus on 09/08/14 Comments Off

Beamer + Art + Space x 1 night

What is BYOB? Bring Your Own Beamer is a concept originated by Amsterdam-born, NY-based artist Rafaël Rozendaal. Since the first event in 2010 in Berlin, the idea has spread to many cities worldwide, reaching upwards to 150 editions. In...

By Paula Carmicino on 10/12/13 Comments Off

The Innocence of Infographics

Interactive infographics are becoming a major trend in data visualization. Infographics are a relatively new way to simplify complex stories, data and findings. They can be very useful in organizing a large amount of information in an easy...

By Sander van Haren on 10/08/13 Comments Off