The private life in a digital world

This course is part 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 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.

Two screens showing the BeReal notification

BeReal: How Authenticity Turns into Violation of Privacy

Article

Anna Skorodihina

22/09/2023

13 minutes to read

This article looks at how the new social media platform BeReal structures its app to enforce what is called an expository society through behaviour modification and how it plays into societies of control, compromising user privacy.

Apple's surveillance system in contemporary society

Paper

Gergana Mihaylova

29/05/2023

12 minutes to read

This article discusses how Apple surveils its users and influences their behavior through their multiple devices, violates their privacy, and exploits their data.

Ring Video Doorbell: privacy invasion delivered to your doorstep

Paper

Ruben den Boer

16/11/2022

13 minutes to read

Ring Video Doorbells ensure security for homeowners. Through a discourse analysis of Ring Doorbell videos posted on TikTok, this article answers the question: which privacy issues do video doorbells raise for the person on your doorstep?

How WhatsApp's privacy policy raises major concerns

Article

Nathalie Schabio

30/01/2023

15 minutes to read

This article looks at why people use Whatsapp given the privacy concerns around the platform. Read the article to learn about the connection between the expository society, the lack of privacy, and participatory surveillance.

Samsung Health: How self-tracking trivialises our ethical concerns

Article

Angela Veltman

06/02/2023

11 minutes to read

The high level of data sharing has become a common practice. This essay examines the Samsung Health application and its benefits and disadvantages on the users, using gamification, behaviour modification and surveillance capitalism.

The trade-off between privacy or public health

Paper

Noa Reijnen

16/05/2022

10 minutes to read

This paper aims to analyze how De Jonge and the Parliament have approached and reacted to a data breach at the GGD. The underlying question of this case is whether the Dutch society should value privacy or public health more.

The CoronaMelder app: an internalized violation of privacy?

Paper

Ilse van Knegsel

03/11/2021

14 minutes to read

CoronaMelder is a hot topic, but the Dutch are not very willing to use the COVID tracking application. Is this because of privacy violations or do we not care about our privacy anymore?

The post-digital infrapolitics of Jurgen Conings

Article

Lisa van Turnhout

20/07/2021

10 minutes to read

The infrapolitics of Jurgen Conings in a post - digital and post - Christchurch world show social media leads to both more surveillance and more anonymous opportunities at the same time.