Liam Cooke

"Having always been interested in studying the effect and impact of media on society, the Master's programme at Erasmus enabled me to pursue my goal to conduct research in this field. The fact that lectures were small and interactive meant that discussion of the literature was both interesting and valuable.

The decision to study media was not taken solely to pursue a career in the media industry but to learn more about the impact that media and mass communication have on society and business in general. I used this approach during my master thesis research which focused on user interactions in music social networks. The results from this research allowed me to compare my findings to developments in online communities and changing business models in the online music industry.

After graduation, I decided to first travel and then move to Australia. I currently work for an international research and data solutions company as an Account Manager. The role allows me to apply many of the analytical and problem solving skills which were honed during my time at the Erasmus University.

One strong piece of advice I can give to new students is to keep educating yourself and stay up-to-date with developments within the media sector. Due to the increasingly technological nature of the industry, things change fast and can have a profound effect on how we use and share media, both socially and professionally."