Masters of Media

Co-star: Personalized astrology as a form of communication

Astrology, the study of cosmic objects, human patterns and seasonal shifts, has been practiced for decades, predominantly in three different cultures, Western, Hindu, and Chinese. For some, it exists as a coping mechanism to cushion uncertainty. However, for others,...

By on 09/28/20 Comments Off

“‘Making bag on OnlyFans!’ Gen Z & the mainstreaming of porn”

One million bucks in one day or the story of porn becoming a legitimate career “I made 12K in a month with OnlyFans” is the proud opening line to one of ShanghaiShawty’s YouTube videos, where she lets the users...

By Tom Brok on 09/28/20 Comments Off

Why Venezuelans are ganging up on Old School Runescape to combat the effects of an economic crisis

As the economic crisis gets worse, some Venezuelans look online to play video games. By selling the in-game gold for real life currency, they make a living. Recently, the Venezuelan players of Old School RuneScape have formed a big...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Deplatforming and the rise of the alt-tech video hosting platform BitChute in 2020.

Since YouTube is actively deplatforming creators whose content violates their community guidelines, these creators migrate to alternative platforms. Their harmful and hate speech filled content find a new home on the alt-tech platform BitChute. This essay explores the relationship...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Ecosia, the search engine for a sustainable future

What is it ? And why is this so cool ? Ecosia is a search engine, created by the German entrepreneur Christian Kroll in 2009 and was subsequently nominated the first B Corporation of the country. As a corporation this status...

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How One Browser Extension Raises a Sword Against Fake News

Identifying media biases as a corrosive influence on the consumer, the browser extension TrustedNews aims to fight it at the point of delivery.

By Neelesh Vasistha on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Covid-19 Contact Tracing Apps: a Threat or a Solution?

In the last few months, we have witnessed a new wave of technological innovations with the goal to help contain the Covid-19 pandemic, including contact tracing applications developed by numerous countries to track the contamination cases and help identify...

By Kenza Sabri on 09/27/20 Comments Off

No card, No Phone, No problem! Alipay: Pay with your face, A balance between convenience, security and privacy

Can you imagine that you are able to pay without mobile phones, bank cards, and cash? Alipay made it happen in 2017, and it provides the facial recognition payment that lets people make payments by scanning their faces. In...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Picturing visual search technology

Visual Search affords searching with images instead of words. How is this computer vision kind of technology used? Applications range from marketing, to car parts and health care. Debate arises on security and privacy issues.

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Doctor Who? How the automation of healthcare, through smartphone apps and digital biomarkers, is reshaping our understanding of ‘health’.

For almost a century, our desire for automation has shaped the way we communicate, operate, and manage our lives, and now, it is shaping our understanding and relationship with healthcare. ‘Digital biomarkers’ are the new wave of big user-generated...

By Matthew Marshall on 09/27/20 Comments Off

OnlyFans: The Digital World is Changing Intimacy

We are all somewhat familiar with online intimacy; couples who met on Tinder, friends who get freaky on Facetime, loved ones who connect on Zoom from across the globe. However, in the age of COVID-19 where social distancing...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Spotify Playlists Are The New Genre

When thinking of streaming music, Spotify will probably come to your mind immediately. The platform allows its users to browse for new music as well as it suggests new songs based on their listening behaviour. However, it seems that...

By Loulou de Regt on 09/27/20 Comments Off

High Fidelity: 3D audio space as an antidote for Zoom-fatigue and a medium for organic interactions

A virtual 3D audio space opens up a whole host of questions regarding high-level affordances. Can media such as this space afford something resembling natural communication? Has corona crisis changed the way we view new media objects and why...

By Karlygash Nurdilda on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Online Activism meets Digital Gaming: Protesters are now taking to the virtual streets

Online activism has allowed for many positive changes to occur within socio-political sectors via social media campaigns and online petitions; now, digital gamers have taken an interest in activism. The innovative form of online protesting has caused quite a...

By Frederikke Christiansen on 09/27/20 Comments Off

The Music Industry’s Latest Anti Capital-ist Movement: A New Form of Communicating Vulnerability and Authenticity

Minimalist typography has been an ongoing trend in online communities for many years, however, as shown by the recent incline in female artists releasing all-lowercase song titles, it has also been adopted into the music industry. The reasons for...

By Alejandra O'Connor on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Supercell’s Brawl Stars; a step towards an ethical Freemium design in Mobile Gaming?

Supercell released their newest game, Brawl Stars, in December 2018. Its' business model marks a shift towards a more ethical design of Freemium games.

By Victor Loye on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Letterboxd: A transformation of film criticism culture in the digital age

It’s 22:30 PM on a Friday night and you have just come out of the latest blockbuster that has been released in the cinema. Do you have to wait until tomorrow’s newspaper to read your favorite critic’s take on...

By Irem Ergul on 09/27/20 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

Life is not a game or is it? The rise of Fortnite and it’s real life battles

Fortnite is a cooperative, battle royale style, online video game, released in 2017. The game has gained huge popularity and has made Epic Games, its developer, billions of dollars. It has also brought about a new way for people...

By Ilian Velasco on 09/27/20 Comments Off

What is VK and why could it be a social media platform of the future?

What is the best and most well-known social network of all times? Most of the people would say Facebook. But what if somewhere in the land of forests, snow, and, of course, bears exists a social media platform, which...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Call to think: Twitter and Facebook urge users to fact-check information

Abstract:Aiming to nudge users in the right direction, Twitter introduced pop-up notifications if users want to (re-)post a news article that they have not opened yet, prompting them to be more aware of the content they are circulating to...

By Lara R. 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

Social Media Discrimination: TikTok as a platform that was openly hiding disabled people’s content.

What is TikTok? In the 21st century, we have witnessed the birth and rise of a diversity of new social media platforms, which all aim at bringing all people together and let them share themselves, their views, and their...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Robots in the newsroom: how robots change journalism

With the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, robots are entering the world of journalism. They do not longer function only as an aid for journalists but are also able to write news articles individually. What kind of...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off