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

Blog theory by Jodi Dean reviewed

Jodi Dean is professor of political science at Hobart an William Smith Colleges. She focus on the contemporary space or possibility of politics. Dean is a blogger herself and in her book she makes some points clear by...

By Floor Broer van Dijk on 09/19/10 1

Internet in Cuba: reason to be skeptic?

Last month Reuters and LA Times publicized articles about the Cuban Internet use. Both articles were skeptical about the use of Internet in Cuba. Less than 14.2% of the Cubans make use of the Internet, and most of the...

By Mathijs Voordenberg on 09/13/10 2

Harvest your crops, feed your dog, serve the dishes… socialize!

Let me get this straight. I don't have a pet. I never felt like growing pumkins. My cooking skills are below average. Does that make me socially "incompatible" with the millions of people playing Pet Society, Farmville, Cafe World...

By Ilektra Pavlaki on 09/13/10 3

Who’s stalking you on Facebook?

On the mythical algorithm that determines the selection of the 6 friends in your personal Facebook page. For a while now I’ve noticed that two of my Facebook friends were always being listed in my personal page. Now, I...

By Emina Sendijarevic on 09/12/10 4

tech celebrities vs. “real” celebrities and other deep thoughts

As I’m reading Vanity Fair online this morning I realize that I have two separate articles pulled up next to each other on my browser that are essentially telling the same story only with different characters. Yes, it happens...

By Megan Adams on 09/11/10 1

Facebook the Movie

July this year Facebook achieved a big milestone, their 500 million member-mark. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest one in the world. This success story started with Mark Zuckerberg who created Thefacebook at the...

By Jidi Guo on 09/10/10 4

Using Twitter To Support 3FM’s ‘Serious Request’ Campaign

Using Facebook, Youtube, Hyves and Twitter in particular for the good cause? It's possible in the coming weeks with Serious Retweets. The site www.seriousretweets.nl supports the yearly 3FM campaign 'Het glazen huis'...

By Elias van Hees on 09/07/10 Comments Off

Persistence of Life-Streams – An Inquiry Into the Implications of Mixed Surveillance

Here’s the final version of my thesis which covers the nature and implications of (participatory) surveillance in the field of social media, and specifically in life-streaming services like Twitter and Facebook. (PDF can be downloaded here). Introduction: In this...

By Sjoerd Tuinema on 09/06/10 Comments Off

The Politics of Social Media. Facebook: Control and Resistance

Hereby I post my MA thesis ‘The Politics of Social Media. Facebook: Control and Resistance’ for anyone who is interested in the political dimension of social media. A link to the full PDF can be found below. Abstract This...

By Marc Stumpel on 09/04/10 2

Quit Facebook Day?

24000+ Facebook users have publicly committed to quit their accounts on “Quit Facebook Day”, the 31st of May. Thousands of users will revolt against Facebook and not just for the sake of their privacy. The campaigners, from Quitfacebookday.com, argue...

By Marc Stumpel on 05/30/10 5

Social Signifiers on Social Networking Sites

The days when ‘fellas’ in high school gave their gals their class rings to establish their relationships are long gone and in its place dudes are getting away with simply changing their relationships statuses on Facebook or MySpace when...

By Thomas Wielemaker on 10/31/09 2

Interpassivity on Facebook

Social networks give online opportunities to construct social connections, stay in touch with our friends and create/share user-generated content. They are characterized by interactivity; users are capable to react to each others’ actions. However, as our connections grow, our...

By Marc Stumpel on 10/16/09 2

Second Life meets FaceBook: Why do we like being part of a virtual community?

Even though Levy‘s writing style is not my favorite (and that is probably because I am getting used to the Dutch style, very to-the-point), I still can handle it (probably because, in the end, I’m Italian and his mother...

By Marta Colpani on 10/13/09 2

Does making money make a SNS unpopular?

My gut feeling tells me that Social Network Services (SNS) do not exist because they are so great. They always provide for a basic need they fulfill, which for me has been to start a group in which I...

By Ramses Petronia on 10/08/09 Comments Off

Ning’s Privacy Issues

My background is not only media studies/theories but I’m also enrolled in the Bachelor program of Law at the University of Amsterdam. This post is about my critique on the interaction between privacy and user on Ning.com. For class...

By Tim van Essen on 10/03/09 4

Become a Fan: Facebook marketing

Facebook is smart. And they certainly are not a charity sale. In order to provide the thousands of employees with the great benefits and to keep on growing they’ll annoy their users just enough to make some money, but...

By Hania Piotrowska on 10/02/09 Comments Off

Absorbed into Facebook – Immersion, engagement and asynchronous communication

When I wake up I make myself a cup of coffee and open up my laptop. I enter the passwords to my Gmail, Youtube, Twitterific and Facebook account and until I close my laptop (on those very scarce moments)...

By Gwen Keupe on 10/02/09 2

Online representation: or how come I look sophisticated online.

Everyday it is the same routine, as soon as I open my Firefox browser the first thing I will type is the address of Facebook. To see what all of my friends are up to or what their status...

By Thomas Fonville on 10/01/09 Comments Off

Facebook THE example of data portability

Every now and then privacy issues of Facebook are addressed when a new feature, like News Feeds, show the accessibility of information. This discussion deserves to be in the limelight even when the media are not creating a hype...

By Albert Cornelissen on 10/01/09 Comments Off

Facebook vs Ning – what is “social”?

A social network is, according to Wikipedia, a social structure made of individuals or organizations, which are connected by one or more specific types of interdependency (friendship, kinship, financial exchange, sexual relationships, and relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige)....

By Jan Bajec on 09/29/09 Comments Off

How to permanently erase your Facebook account

As one of unique experiences of cyberspace and virtual environments is this feeling that you have been transported “from an ordinary into a pure imaginary space”. Real time interaction enforces this feeling by making irrelevant notions such as distance....

By Radmila Radojevic on 09/29/09 Comments Off