Masters of Media

Selling Sexualities: The ethical implications of Grindr’s new advertising tool

The gay dating app Grindr is trying to reinvent itself. In a mission to leave behind its image as a hookup platform, Grindr Inc. has launched several new projects, including the LGBT-themed magazine INTO, anti-discrimination campaign Kindr, and the...

By Max Rogall on 09/23/18 0

Wonder or Worry? Google has a new human-sounding Assistant!

We can see AI at work everyday in the form of virtual personal assistants, which are embedded in almost any smartphone today. Whether its Alexa, Siri or Google Now, these virtual assistants have made our everyday lives simpler and...

By Sohini Goswami on 09/23/18 0

Stop trying to script my life

The colonization of the empty state and nudges as contested territory. On another day at the office, something remarkable happens. I manage to clean up my entire email inbox. Not being the kind of person whose inbox is often...

By Sanne Stevens on 09/23/18 0

To what extent is digital media influencing human-to-human relationships?

Sex or companion dolls are becoming more and more part of society. What are the triggers for this trend? Do companion dolls offer their users positive imaginary tools that are being diminished by modern technology, such as social media?...

By Sophie Wandzilak on 09/23/18 0

Is IGTV set to tilt our perception of online videos from horizontal to vertical?

IGTV is a new feature within the main Instagram app, as well as a new standalone app of its own, dedicated to the sharing of long-form vertical videos. What does this mean for online video-sharing platforms, like YouTube? Are...

By Lucas Prado Amaral on 09/23/18 0

The only way to save the Internet is to claim it back from Big Data

Sometime in November, the proportion of humans on earth using the web will exceed 50%. Close to 4 billion people will have become internet “users”, bringing with them 4 billion sets of data. Tim-Berners Lee created the internet and...

By Lucie Chateau on 09/23/18 0

AI IS WATCHING YOU

Artificial Intelligence is, and actually always has been, a hot topic of debate. In the computational sciences AI is conceptualized as the study of intelligent agents. The computer perceives the environment and consequently performs actions that are expected to...

By Robine Hartman on 09/23/18 0

Love at Stake? Facebook Is Entering the Online World of Dating!

Are you ready to leave behind your one-night-stands and start a meaningful relationship? Well than thank God, Facebook is here to help you! When Mark Zuckerberg, a co-founder and the current CEO of Facebook, said during the annual F8...

By Anna Teresova on 09/23/18 0

Amazon-Go stores – A critical analysis of the cashless stores of the future

Recently, Amazon opened its second cashier-free Go store in the United States and announced the planning 3000 new ones by the year of 2021. Other companies, such as Tesco and Ikea are planning on testing such cashless systems as...

By Maria Stenzel Timmermans on 09/23/18 0

Monopolies of Knowledge Facilitated by Black-Box Algorithms

Whether you search for something on Google or Twitter, or scroll down an Instagram or Facebook feed, a vast amount, if not a majority, of online content is present to users via algorithms. These algorithms, the code of which...

By Holly Foxton on 09/23/18 0

Blockchain- next step to ensure internet voting’s credibility?

Tsukuba -a Japanese city- is testing a blockchain based voting system to encourage citizens to vote on different municipal projects (O’Brian). It is a welcome move, a move that at first sight allows for a smoother and more secure...

By Hanna Jemmer on 09/23/18 0

Controlled Wombs: How a Hip Contraceptive App Reinforces Binary Gender Roles

Natural Cycles is a digital method of birth control cleared by regulators both in the US and Europe. It claims to be a hormone-free alternative that brings a new level of accuracy to fertility tracking. But is it made...

By Victoria Andelsman on 09/23/18 0

Can we “unplug online”? The Paradox of Meditation Apps and Mindfulness

In our digitized world, people long more and more for taking a step back from social media and the overload of information to focus on their ‘inner self’ and guess what – there’s an app for that! Using...

By Annika Heinemeyer on 09/23/18 0

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 0

GDPR Data Portability and the Semantic Utopia

Since May 2018 you can do a “data subject request” under EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Within 30 days you get all the data an organization have on you. You should also be able to move data from...

By Joel Galvez on 09/23/18 0

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 0

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 0

The Elephant in the Room: Privacy and Zoo Animals (and Humans Too)

ABSTRACT – Would you want your whole life broadcasted, without you knowing it? Thankfully, humans have rights protecting this from happening. As concern over privacy grows, paradoxically the trend to watch other animals online increases. Are we biased when...

By Daniëlle Bakker on 09/23/18 0

TimeFlip: You are only as efficient as you track your time

Multitasking is not for everyone. However, sometimes there is no other choice and it becomes a necessity. Many time tracking software solutions have tried to make multitasking easier, but more often than not these software end up stopping your...

By Jade Favre on 09/23/18 0

AR – the Way to Go When Art is Lost in a Fire?

The inferno that recently destroyed over 90% of Brazil’s National Museum’s collection has once again shown how ephemeral physical objects are. In order to preserve cultural heritage museums generate digital archives, but what about exhibiting lost art? Is augmented...

By Lisa Schlichting-G.E. on 09/23/18 0

CareAI: A Solution for African Healthcare?

The concept of artificial intelligence as we know it today first appeared in 1956, however, it was Leonardo Da Vinci who initially set the stage for the development of this field with his sketches of Robots (Hamet and Tremblay). Since...

By Anja Duricic on 09/23/18 0

From Instagramming to Insta Shopping: Is this the Future of Online Shopping?

Online shopping is a term that we have known for a long time and with the digitalized progresses in the commerce sector the whole shopping experience is getting to a next level. So, what does shopping have to...

By Merve Özüner on 09/23/18 0

Facebook’s ‘Rosetta’ System: A Form of Safety Implementation or Data Exploitation?

Facebook has announced its latest technological development, code-named Rosetta, which detects and recognizes texts in images, as well as videos. They claim that it’s for the benefit of the social network community because of the safety features it provides...

By Layal Boulos on 09/23/18 0

ProPublica is Re-Purposing Data for Social Reforms

Whether you were scrolling through your Facebook news’ feed or simply reading tweets about the most recent political scandals, chances are you have been exposed to contradictory information, and even ‘fake news’. On the internet, anyone can spread dishonest...

By Laurie Le Bomin on 09/23/18 0