Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 7
Posts 1 - 7

Wege aus der Peinlichkeit

(Exit ways out of embarrassment)

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Newspaper | die Weltwoche
Date | 28.9.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, gender, misunderstanding, online dating, politeness, research/study, texting, youth
Summary | Emojis have entered our communication with no turning back but using them is a minefield of misunderstanding. It is especially risky in the initial stages of texting with a love interest: studies show that people tend to imitate the communication patterns of their interlocutor if they are in love with them. Because women are more communicative than men, they tend to be the ones who are imitated in such a scenario. But men, beware! Do not go overboard with your heart emojis, it's too girly. One should however also refrain from making overly abrupt changes to ones emoji habits as it can seem distanced and elitist if one stops to use emojis altogether.
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«Aber wenn man einmal Schweizer Freunde hat, ist es super»

("But once you have Swiss friends, it's great")

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 30.7.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | politeness, texting
Summary | Diccon Bewes, a Brit living in Switzerland has a lot to say about the cultural differences. One difference between the Swiss and the Brits is that while it may be perfectly acceptable to pop in anytime at your friend's house in Britain, the Swiss tend to appreciata a heads-up text message when one might want to pay a visit.
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Auf Facebook und Co. haben die Rassisten Hochkonjunktur

(Racists boom on Facebook and co. )

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 7.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, politeness, politics, threat
Summary | Racists are much more vocal on social media. But social media are no lawless space - actions on Facebook or Twitter can also lead to legal persecution under the Swiss anti-racism law. Ever since the advent of social media, more cases of racism lead to conviction (usually just entailing a fee).
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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

Interview: «Vor dem Schreiben sollte man überlegen»

(Interview: «One should think before writing»)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.9.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, language threat, politeness
Summary | Language researcher Christa Dürscheid explains how new communication channels influence communication style and register. While omission of formal salutation lines has become frequent, it is usually only after a few messages in a dialog thread. Most people still use a proper salutation for first-contact messages. The general relaxation of formality in written communication does not mean that our language is decaying but that we adapt the social situation to the medium.
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Schriftliche Forschheiten: Vom Niedergang der Höflichkeit

(Written briskness: On the demise of politeness)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.9.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, language threat, politeness, school, texting, WhatsApp, word/writing
Summary | Communication researchers agree that politeness in professional writing has decreased with the rise of digital communication. Rules of formal writing are omitted: what was“Honored Professor So-and-so” is now a simple “Hello”. Both students and also professors are reported to have a relaxed level of formality in email exchanges. This is usually seen as an influence of texting, where traditional messages of respect are omitted, but it can also be argued that the new brief communication style is a form of respecting the addressee’s time by writing efficiently.
Image Description | Photograph of a female texting; the shot does not show the person's face but emphasizes the phone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone, text

Ständig unanständig

(Constantly rude)

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Newspaper | Beobachter
Date | 10.7.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | politeness, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | People, especially younger generations, have become less considerate of their environment in a variety of ways. One factor causing this decrease in politeness is the smartphone. People are consumed by digital content and less aware of their actual surroundings. For example, when immersed in their smartphone, people might not see if somebody on the street needs help or if another passenger on the bus can’t sit down because one’s bag is on a seat. Personal meetings have also become less focused.
Image Description | Illustration of a cafeteria scene where young people are eating and using their smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

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