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

Be There or Be Square: Instagram Introduces New Sizes

Be There or Be Square: Instagram Introduces New Sizes Many frequent users of Instagram (including myself) at some point experienced the following scenario: a moment captured with the camera on your smartphone is significant enough to share on Instagram....

By Eva Hekman on 09/15/15 Comments Off

Oculus Rift: the next big leap towards virtual reality

In August 2012, the company Oculus VR set up a Kickstarter project to encourage the development of a revolutionary technological device, capable of plunging users into an immersive virtual reality. The Kickstarter rose to see $2.4M invested by 9’500...

By Alexander Guian-Illanes on 09/15/15 Comments Off

Anti-social apps: counterattacking the power of networks

We judge ourselves with the means other people have and have given us for judging ourselves. Into whatever I say about myself someone else’s judgement always enters. (Jean-Paul Sartre) In 2013, Scott Garner, an artist based in New York,...

By Giovanni Carta on 09/14/15 1

“Day 1: Tim takes a dump” – taking <i>live</i> to the next level

“Day 1: Tim takes a dump” – taking live to the next level

In The Truman Show, Truman has no idea he is being watched 24/7, until the sun comes crushing down – literally, because the sun turned out to be a studio lamp. In Edtv, Ed knows and agrees to being...

By S. Dorrestein on 09/14/15 Comments Off

YouTube | It’s gone 360º

YouTube – Home to viral sensations, talking cats, Charlie’s finger and not to mention irritating music videos – with some holding over two billion views! From its launch in May 2005, YouTube has developed, changed and re-formatted over...

By Max Cantellow on 09/14/15 Comments Off

Throwing a Life Vest at Humanity

Alan Kurdi’s Photo. A photo of a boy, lying facedown on a Turkish beach, sporting a little red shirt and velcro shoes. This was the image that circulated the world wide web last week, becoming the latest example of...

By Ysabel Camus Favis on 09/14/15 Comments Off

rMA Thesis Conference 2015: (pre)Cyberspace Perspectives on Information Technologies

The following is a modified transcript of my research presentation for the 2015 Research Master in Media Studies Thesis Conference. My thesis is an exploration of magical writing practices in contemporary digital culture. This was too much to talk...

By Rose Rowson on 05/05/15 Comments Off

Working the Social Network

“Social media is not Facebook. Nor is it YouTube. Neither is it blogging or tweeting. Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and twitter are merely platforms and channels; players on a much broader stage collectively referred to as social media” ....

By Janina Sommerlad on 10/17/14 1

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

Forget glasses… the future is smart contacts!

Eyeware devices have been around for some time with gadgets like Google Glass or BT-200; what they do is to enhance reality by projecting images into our field of vision and this can be films, videogames or the screen...

By Ana Mireles on 09/17/14 Comments Off

The Narrative Clip. Lifelogging wearables on the rise?

What if you could re-live one moment of your life? “Remember every moment” is the main concept behind the Narrative Clip, a wearable lifelogging automatic camera. You just have to clip it on and it will automatically record your life...

By Maria Belen Muñoz on 09/17/14 Comments Off

Tweet, Tweet, Buy. (Or bye bye Tweet?)

Last week I received an e-mail from Twitter with the heading ‘We’ve updated our Privacy Policy and terms of Service.’ That’s always interesting news. What was even more interesting was the easily announced new feature Twitter is testing: a “Buy” button...

By Arla Krikke on 09/16/14 Comments Off

eterni.me – I read dead people

„We all pass away sooner or later“, states the opener of the webpage of eterni.me. Only to continue with a much surprising statement: “But what if you could be remembered forever?” – With the data of your old online-communication,...

By Felix Clasbrummel on 09/16/14 2

Should companies care for social media webcare?

Who does not use social networking sites these days? For millions of people around the world social networking sites are part of their daily routine. This phenomenon has major advantages for companies; it offers them the possibility to enhance...

By Richelle Werners on 09/11/14 Comments Off

Ice Bucket Challenge: Entering a new era of viral fundraising

Approximately two months ago, another viral phenomenon started taking over the Internet: The Ice Bucket Challenge. While everybody should applaud the charitable motive behind it, I was tired of seeing foolish narcissists pouring ice water over their head and posting a video...

By Miles Zornig 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

Social Media and Sensitive Content

Since its inception, Twitter has considered itself a stalwart for free speech. It’s gotten them into some hot water in the past, including outcries over abusive Internet trolls, as well as the intricate balancing act of promoting open dialogue...

By Nora McLeese on 09/10/14 Comments Off

Has internet worsened our grammar?

Since the advent of the internet and the world wide web, it has never been easier to exchange and share information with people from all around the world. A good part of the technological inventions developed in the last...

By Josip Batinic on 09/08/14 Comments Off

What can we learn from a Facebook clone?

What is the future of Facebook? With the fast-evolving nature of new media, it is interesting to think of the possible scenarios for the further development. One way to do so is to look at a former Facebook clone...

By Polina Boykova on 09/08/14 Comments Off

Have we all become cyborgs?

Since the Internet’s first foray the world has changed drastically. As John L. Friedman explained in his book «The World is Flat» in 2006, the Internet has globalized the world in ways we could not imagine, because people now...

By May Andersen on 11/17/13 4

Genres for the Digital Hangover

As boundaries between the private and public sphere are beginning to blur. It is getting harder and harder to keep private content private. Most of the times nothing major happens when you send out a personal message into the...

By Bart Schoenmakers on 11/11/13 Comments Off

8tracks and web-radios: the contemporary music consumption is personal and social

Since the growth of the Internet and its collection of interactive platforms and social networks, the cultural industry has turned a critical corner. This statement is especially true for the music industry in term of music creation and consumption,...

By V Weydert on 10/31/13 Comments Off

Flat Genie: Your trusted resource for living in amsterdam

We proudly present FlatGenie.com, a website developed for the New Media Practices project. Flat Genie is a place to find accurate, personal, and easy-to-use information about living in Amsterdam (and soon other cities around the world). There are three...

By Joram Binsbergen on 10/23/13 1