Digital literacy

This article is written as part of one of the courses of the BA Online Culture: Art, Media and Society or the MA Online Culture at Tilburg University. Click on the link for more info on the courses and the programme.

In this international Bachelor’s program Online Culture: Art, Media and Society (Culture Studies) the focus is on digital culture and (new) media. From disciplines such as cultural studies and media studies you study how digitalization and globalization influence our way of living. You discuss new ways of communication, art expressions as well as (social) media expressions like memes and trolls. You research how such ways of communication and expressions are established and how they manifest in, and have influence on a society that increasingly takes place online. Additionally, you actively contribute to digital culture by writing papers and opinion pieces for our own online platform Diggit Magazine.

How the QR code became a meaning-making practice during COVID-19

Article

Tinka Krikke

Laurinda Bokma

Simone Sprangers

02/05/2022

11 minutes to read

In this article, we analyze the corona QR code as a meaning-making practice and discuss its effects on society. The QR code was implemented to reduce the spread of COVID, but it's digital nature and meaning had an impact on society's resilience.

The literacy advantage of glitch text for hacking

Article

Cecile Lourens

Milo Miranda

Shakaya Janse

11/01/2023

12 minutes to read

A glitch is a system malfunction that occurs for a brief period and is difficult to debug. Hackers can make use of glitch text to get into computer systems and modify data. This article discusses the literacy advantage of glitch text for hackers.

War from the rabbit hole: the media literacies landscape of TikTok during the Ukraine conflict

Article

Ruben den Boer

Lynn de Munnik

24/02/2023

13 minutes to read

How does TikTok promote top-down media literacy policies on their platform? And how do users develop their own bottom-up media literacy practises? The 2022 Ukraine conflict offers an interesting case study.

What the Suez Blockage can teach us about digital literacy

Article

Simon Moser

Aleksandra Dimitrova

03/05/2021

8 minutes to read

The 2021 Suez Blockage may have been a disaster for global trade, yet it also provides for a splendid case study of digital literacies. This article analyzes how online groups implement their own literacies into memes related to the event.

The Era of Audio: The rise of podcasts

Article

Savina Karneva

Jekaterina Batireva

11/04/2021

17 minutes to read

This paper focuses on the growth of the podcast industry and its development over the years. It tackles the role of social media influencers and celebrities in that growth and the social effects of this new trend.

Digital literacy problem of homelessness in pandemic

Digital exclusion of the homeless in America: COVID-19's impact

Article

Leonie Milder

Jeroen J. de Wit

Isabelle Cijsouw

Lily Francois

09/04/2021

11 minutes to read

Many homeless people in the U.S. could not receive their stimulus checks due to COVID-19 restrictions, such as the closing of public spaces with internet access. How can they be digitally included in the midst of a pandemic?

Gamification in self-improvement apps

Paper

Rebecca de Jongh

Roeliena Aukema

05/10/2020

11 minutes to read

Through gamification it is possible to work on a more engaging way of learning and to truly let learners use their creative potential. Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that using gamification is highly contextualized.

Coronavirus memes: Laughing the apocalypse away

Article

Jana Nuiten

David Scholl

18/05/2020

10 minutes to read

As the coronavirus pandemic has taken hold, coronavirus memes have emerged. In memes, people find an outlet for being humorous and coping with the harsh circumstances they are living in at the moment.