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

The Paradox of Digital Infrastructures: Polarization vs Unification on Unjected

This research paper considered the app Unjected from the perspective of both margins as methods and infrastructure studies. It showcases how the affordances of the app allow for the strengthening of the unvaccinated community while at the same...

By on 10/29/21 Comments Off

Like, swipe, match… “you vaxxed?”

How Hinge and Tinder have adapted their affordances to the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic caused a spike in dating app usage while simultaneously altering the standard dating practices. To analyze how dating apps have responded to this change,...

By Simran Tamber on 10/27/21 Comments Off

One Magic Leap For Mankind: Is this visual platform the magic bullet to remote learning?

The pedagogical shift from classrooms to chatrooms, exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic, has changed education—for better and worse. This blog post seeks to explore some of these issues and how Magic Leap 1, which is a wearable head-mounted AR...

By Paul Bugeja on 10/21/20 Comments Off

BETWEEN ZOOM-MEETINGS AND SKYPE CALLS: HOW VIDEO CONFERENCING HAS BECOME THE SOCIAL GLUE OF A PANDEMIC

Communication has changed dramatically since COVID-19 spread. Many countries have adopted different degrees of quarantine and remote work is on the rise. Social contact has been dramatically shortened. In the following lines, a discussion will be developed on the...

By Sandy Rafaela Krambeck on 10/21/20 Comments Off

Only[Adult]Fans: Affording Digital Sex Work

In a time when many were either let go from their job or suffering from lack of human contact during isolation, one online service which mends both of these issues in differing ways – for reasons we will investigate further...

By on 10/20/20 Comments Off

Video Games as Infrastructures of Resistance

This blog post covers a heavily understudied area of digital activism: online video games. With people in self-isolation and trapped in their houses for over half a year now, it is crucial that we recognize the creative ways people...

By Frederikke Christiansen on 10/19/20 Comments Off

“Encrypt your face”: protestors Signal digital data privacy fears with new face-blurring feature

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, protestors flocked to encrypted messaging application (“app”) Signal to plan events and share content. In response, a new tool was quickly released that allows faces to be blurred in photos. These events...

By Paul Bugeja on 09/28/20 Comments Off

Designing identities with Memojis – Apple’s animated avatars

Apple's new feature - Memoji - allows its users to design animated versions of their digital characters, which can be later shared with other iOS device owners. What does an introduction of this affordance entail for human practices of...

By Zuzanna Kędzia on 09/28/20 Comments Off

Smoke Signals: A technical and ideological response to U.S. surveillance in 2020

Americans have a lot to say in 2020, and protests are the chosen platform of the year. With race-fueled police brutality reaching peak heights, people are occupying space physically and vocally to say their piece in the Black Lives...

By Gerry LaBarbera on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Technological Migration: New Media and the Protection of Migratory Species

Wildlife GPS tracking is becoming more common practice, helping our understanding of migratory routes. ICARUS is a key driver within these technological developments, with new media playing a vital role in their strategy to help prevent the extinction of...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Shattering a totalitarian monopoly?

This blog post covers the struggle between Epic Games on one side and Apple and Google on the other. By suing Google and Apple over anti-competitive practices, Epic Games hopes to break the tight grip the platforms have on...

By David Dijkhuis on 09/24/20 Comments Off

Tinder vs. Bumble: Can You Afford Falling in Love?

From its very beginning, “the Internet has supported social interaction and the search for a soul mate” (Whitty 212). This research explores the dating app phenomenon in-depth, comparing two popular dating apps: Tinder and Bumble. How do Tinder’s affordances...

By Joshua McDonald on 10/24/19 Comments Off

You Cannot Weigh Beauty (but Your Body can be Commercialized)

Introduction In the media women bodies are often portrayed by the preference of thin body types characterized as ideal body types (Martin et al 609). For instance, when looking at the United States, women shown on television tend to...

By Silke Mulder on 10/24/19 Comments Off

Dirty Greenwashing: How two apps cash in on the conscious consumer trend

Hashtags like #cleanbeauty, #nontoxicskincare and #greenbeautyproducts are circling popular social media platforms, displaying a recent development of the beauty industry towards cleaner, more ethical products. Rooted in consumers’ “frustration over regulatory oversight of cosmetics and personal care products” (Wanner...

By robert baciu on 10/24/19 Comments Off

A bridge between worlds – Robots as a physical platform for the digital

Robots – gimmick or game changer? The current picture one has, when the words “robot” or “robotics” are dropped, can vary widely. While most would probably imagine either Science-fiction-like, humanoid beings or simplistic and gimmicky robots that are commercially...

By on 09/23/19 Comments Off

How to be thoughtful without thinking, new app promises stronger relationships

The latest trend for the digitally immersed is having an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant app teach how to be a more thoughtful human. ‘Monaru’ is a start-up app that intends to overcome the disconnection that has resulted from constant...

By on 09/22/19 Comments Off

Red, Greyscale, Blue: Mapping Colour Intensity against Political Bias in News Media

In a world where mainstream media outlets are increasingly being bought by tech corporations, fake news sites might sway elections, and supporters of different political viewpoints rarely read sources with opinions that differ to their own, it is important...

By Sarah Dear on 10/21/18 Comments Off

iClarify: About The Control and Understanding of Our Privacy.

iClarify: About The Control and Understanding of Our Privacy. “I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS AGREEMENT, AND I ACCEPT AND AGREE TO ALL OF ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS” This might be one of the biggest lies on...

By Ilja van de Rhoer on 10/24/17 Comments Off

Is Vidme the ‘NewTube’? Why video creators are changing sides and how they feel about it

A few weeks ago on September 9, video platform Vidme’s own channel uploaded their weekly episode of ‘This Week @ Vidme’ titled ‘German INVASION’. The video refers to a sudden and significant increase of German led channels on Vidme:...

By Frederike Lichtenstein on 09/24/17 Comments Off