Reading and writing in online culture

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.

Between Truth and Fiction: Rethinking the world through fanfiction

Article

Femke Pulles

31/05/2023

8 minutes to read

This article talks about how people use fanfiction as a coping mechanism, while fanfiction can also have an effect on the real world. It makes the line between truth and fiction blurry, so how does fanfiction connect fiction to the real world?

The poster for Goncharov, the fake Scorsese film

Goncharov: Tumblr’s greatest mafia ‘movie’ and social phenomenon

Article

Anna Skorodihina

17/03/2023

9 minutes to read

This article looks into Goncharov (1973), the fake mafia movie fully fabricated by the users of Tumblr. Asking the question of what this phenomenon says about the state of our current society.

Pulse's main character Kudo Michi looks back at a human-shaped ash stain on the wall

Techno-horror and Hauntology: Pulse’s cry for help in a technologically dependent world

Paper

Paige Christianne Andres

08/04/2022

8 minutes to read

Pulse explores themes of the unknown and loneliness on the Internet. This article explores how this film uses techno-horror and its ghosts as a metaphor for our perception of and attitude towards technology, the Internet, and the unknown.

Can’t Help Myself – How a Relatable Robot Offers a Critical Reflection on Modern Society

Paper

Iris Olde Hampsink

23/02/2022

11 minutes to read

This paper discusses the diverse range of meanings and interpretations that can be discovered in/ projected onto Sun Yuan & Peng Yu’s artwork Can’t Help Myself by providing the reader with various points of comparison.

Hollywood product placement to Influencers and para-social relationships

Product Placement: from Hollywood to Social Media

Article

Nathalie Schabio

31/10/2022

12 minutes to read

This article provides an analysis of advertisements in the field of entertainment. Its focus lies on how Influencers make use of para-social relationships to manipulate their audience for advertisement on social media.

Ratatousical: what the TikTok musical says about society

Paper

Emma Wieringa

26/04/2021

9 minutes to read

During the pandemic, people have had a lot of extra time to start (creative) projects, such as creating a musical on TikTok about Disney's Ratatouille. What does this musical reveal about our society in times of a pandemic?

The post-normal era, uncertainty, and irony politics

Article

Lisa van Turnhout

28/02/2021

10 minutes to read

After decades of crises, normalization and fatigue leads to young people radicalizing online. Irony politics is a way of adopting new political narratives after the political middle has failed to give answers to these crises.

The rising responsibilities of Twitch as a social platform

Article

Marloes Schraver

26/02/2021

12 minutes to read

A short article analyzing the responsibility of social platforms like Twitch and the politics this responsibility is connected to. Written with a focus on social media platforms' ability to censor without much repercussions.