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

Have No Fear…Facebook is here?

Since its February 2004 debut, Facebook has evolved from an online yearbook for Harvard students into a daily ritual for 1.32 billion daily active users as a resource for everything from status updates to the latest world news to...

By Abby Listerman on 09/25/17 Comments Off

Yelp for Humans: Technology Gone Wrong or Sign of a Dystopian Future?

Peeple, an application described as “Yelp for humans” launched in 2016, despite being mired in controversy. Even ‘Black Mirror’, a popular dystopian TV series, aired an episode about an app that was eerily similar, cementing Peeple’s distinction as nightmare...

By Derrek Xavier on 09/24/17 Comments Off

Forever Alive: Facebook’s Death Policy and Memorialization

55 is the average age for people to make their will, according to a certified notary. The management and distribution of properties, money and important documents are the most common possessions in these wills. No one ever asked this...

By Drea Rodriguez Cervantes on 09/24/17 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

Uncredited Cruelty: Examining Anonymity’s Role in Cyber-bullying

Many platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google thrive on both the business and social models that accountability is important. From a business aspect, the data becomes more valuable if they can identify exactly who you are. From a...

By Whitney Koontz on 09/24/17 Comments Off

Gab.ai: Freedom of (conservative) speech?

A few weeks ago a Norwegian journalist posted the Pullitzer Prize-winning ‘napalm girl’ photograph on Facebook. But instead of founding the intended discussion, he found his account suspended and the picture removed. The picture contained nudity, which may not...

By Joep Voorn on 09/22/16 Comments Off

The Rise of the Emoji’s. Final goal: World Domination.

It seems almost impossible, a life without these creative, colourful and sometimes confusing characters. There is no easier way of texting – even for those who aren’t used to modern smartphones – and it seems like...

By Mintsje deWitte on 09/22/16 Comments Off

Discovery in a Snap

Imagine if I took a polaroid of myself, let you see it, and then after (maximum) ten seconds took it away from you. You might find that strange, annoying even. Then, imagine if I, or your favourite brand (Adidas)...

By Kat Milligan on 09/21/16 Comments Off

#CopyPaste – The battle between Instagram and Snapchat

There is a battle going on between Instagram and Snapchat.. but who is on the winning hand? A-team Instagram is a mobile phone photo-sharing, video-sharing and social network service. It enables users to take pictures and videos and...

By Arabella Memdouh on 09/21/16 Comments Off

This is for your “real friends”

Tired of having to deal with that many people on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and what more? Enter Camarilla, it’s a social media app that will allow you to have up to fifteen connections. You might think “Only fifteen?! That’s not...

By Steven Gielen on 09/20/16 Comments Off

Activism via social media is only a digital graffiti?

Recently it has become an online trend to be socially active and involved in public issues. This kind of activism is thriving: like if you care. Immediately there are hundreds/thousands/million likes and comments under a post that suggests supporting...

By Lina Ku_inskaite on 09/20/16 Comments Off

Prisma: The Photo App With Its Own Charisma!

All the Instagram addicts must have already tried out or, at least, come across with artsy photos badged with the #prisma hashtag. For those of you who (strangely enough) haven’t seen or heard of it before, Prisma is...

By Christina Panteli on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Bad News for Facebook

In the past couple of weeks Facebook and its content-monitoring policy as well as the changes made to its Trending Topics section made the headlines over and over again. These headlines have led to many opinion pieces and several...

By Ecesu Erol on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Spy me, please!

A project, brought to you by Afra Suci Ramadhon, Alina Niemann, Kimberly Leerkes, Kyra Teklu and Radina Teodosieva The exhibitionist beginning Several weeks ago we were presented with an assignment - to create a new media project, intervening an...

By Radina Teodosieva on 10/16/15 Comments Off

Putting the Face back in Facebook

“Mark Zuckerberg is promising Facebook users a new button to express an emotion other than “like”. It’s being referred to as a “dislike” button, though Zuckerberg says it’s going to be a tool to express empathy, rather than contempt.”...

By Atossa Atabaki on 10/15/15 Comments Off

Been There Done That – Fake Your Way Around the World

Nowadays our social media are everything. We’re constantly thinking about a witty comment to tweet, we’re on the lookout for picture perfect lattes to post on Instagram and our life events are instantly shared on Facebook. We live in...

By Lieke Kersten on 10/15/15 Comments Off

The end of Secret, the end of anonymous social media apps?

How to stay anonymous on the web? It sounds like a trick question when the web constantly tracks your online behaviour and requires you to upload a user account on nearly every website you visit. However, the solution seems...

By Laura Nusser on 09/16/15 Comments Off

Facebook Jumps on the Bandwagon!

Facebook Notes has been long forgotten over the years as the company’s main focus was to distinguish the platform from other what seemed similar ones in the past days. Today the company (Facebook) seems to have grasped the importance of...

By Ash Monzer on 09/16/15 Comments Off

“Buy buttons”: Is this the new shopping mecca?

If you just rewind back to the past, freeze your memory in the ‘90s and try to recall the retail websites of this era, it will be obvious how boring and indifferent purchases could be. But it was time...

By Christina Giannouli Kyrimi on 09/15/15 Comments Off

“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

What’s it like to BeMe?

Curated Self-Publishing Scrolling down the Facbebook or Instagram newsfeed you see all these nice pictures and videos of beautiful and happy people going out for dinner at fancy restaurants with their lover or travelling around the world with their...

By Felicitas Deiler 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

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