Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 9
Posts 1 - 9

E-Mails für verzweifelte Teenager

(Emails for desperate teenagers)

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 13.1.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, email, Facebook, youth
Summary | The volunteer project U25 provides peer counseling for suicidal teenagers. All volunteers at U25 are between 17 and 25 years old and they get extensive training before they are given up to three cases at a time. They exchange emails with the suicidal peers trying to counsel them into psychological stability. The volunteer counselors are not allowed to give out their cell phone numbers or befriend clients on Facebook for their own protection.
Image Description | Image of one volunteer counselor with a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, male(s), TV

Das Problem mit dem ;-)

(The problem with ;-))

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 3.2.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, emojis, misunderstanding, politeness
Summary | First emojis have appeared in official writing: the Norwegien government included emojis in one of their letters. Norwegian linguists are critical of this saying that we need to establish rules about emoji use first because they are easily misunderstood. Emojis have entered our everyday communication so profoundly that we now read even workplace emails without emojis as rude.
Image Description | Getty image of a Macbook keyboard with emoji keys.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, emojis

Zeit der Handy-Verbote geht zu Ende

(The time of cell phone bans is over)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 8.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, school
Summary | Bernese city schools want to purchase one laptop or tablet for each student. The new cantonal curriculum wants new technologies to be integrated in class work projects. It is important that students learn to work with new technologies from an early age because they are becoming increasingly important. The only problem is that such a renewal would be hugely expensive.
Image Description | Keystone image of two pairs of students using one laptop each.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s)

La tentation de la déconnexion

(The temptation of being disconnected)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 17.1.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, email, smartphone, threat
Summary | There is now a general feeling of overdose or "virtual burnout" with new media. This feeling touches both private and professional spaces. A professor a the University of Neuchatel condemns this phenomenon which can have bad consequences at work. Nowadays, even if we leave our office, our work does not stop; we can still receive emails and feel like we have to respond right away. Some companies have rules: for example, no email after 6 p.m. and during the weekend. This digital overdose also hinders our personal relations with people.
Image Description | Digital image with new media use statistics, and icons related to new media.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

Des camps de désintox pour pour accros au smartphone

(Rehab camps for smartphone addicts)

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Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 12.3.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, brain, childhood, smartphone, technology-free, youth
Summary | South Korea is one of the most digitally connected countries. As a consequence, 1 out of 10 children is addicted to internet and other digital devices. Rehab camps for young internet addicts is supposed to help children live without digital devices. In those camps, children go hiking, play guitar, and read paper books. Rehab can be tough; it is almost the same process as for alcoholics or drug addicts. At the end of the camp, those young people know how to appreciate real life and have to find out what the causes of their escape to the virtual world are.
Image Description | Photograph of young people in South Korea playing video games in a room full of computers.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, game, male(s)

Schreiben: Die Handschrift verkümmert

(Writing: Handwriting is hampered)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.3.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, texting, word/writing
Summary | We are living in an age writing renaissance; no generation before us has written this profusely. We are always texting someone or updating our social media statuses and yet, ironically, we are losing a staple of writing culture: our handwriting. Researchers are debating whether this is a problem or not, but the fact is that many neuroscientific studies show that humans learn better while writing by hand rather than typing. The abbreviated, informal, emoticon-filled writing style of WhatsApp and co. may be corrupting writing culture at large.
Image Description | Photograph of a young child (girl) typing on a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s)

Bis das Handy uns scheidet

(Till the cell phone do us part)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 14.12.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | privacy, smartphone
Summary | Smartphones have opened up a variety of possibilities to cheat on one’s partner – physically as well as emotionally. Apps like Ashley Madison can connect people who would like to step outside their relationship. Sending flirtatious messages or nude images can feel like betraying one’s partner. Although smartphones make it easier for people to cheat anytime and anywhere, they also help people getting caught since online activities leave a digital trail. There are some apps that allow people to hide their digital activities and other apps that allow them to spy on digital activities.
Image Description | Illustration of Adam and Eve on their digital devices (smartphone and laptop).
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

Multitasking ist ein Mythos

(Multi-tasking is a myth)

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Newspaper | St. Galler Tagblatt
Date | 13.12.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, school, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | A group of students from the College of Economics in St. Gallen (HSG) have launched a campaign to encourage fellow students to put their smartphones away during lectures. Having a smartphone available all the time significantly distracts students from the task at hand. According to a study, every hour spent studying with a smartphone at hand includes 36 minutes of smartphone activity.
Image Description | Photograph/digital image of two monkeys taking notes in a lecture hall.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

Schulmädchen im Internet

(School girls on the internet)

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Newspaper | die Weltwoche
Date | 12.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Snapchat, threat, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Teenage girls still live struggling with the same pressure as earlier generations; the only difference is that now social media are here to enhance them. The number of followers quantifies popularity and the longevity of content online can easily ruin somebody’s reputation for good. Having an account on WhatsApp, Snapchat, and other social media is compulsory at ages as young as 11 years old unless one wants to become isolated.
Image Description | Illustration of a girl and her digital devices; she is surrounded by elements representing social media and internet life.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), smartphone, social media

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