Number of Posts: 7
Posts 1 - 7
"Wie ist das bei dir?"
("How is that for you?")
Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 14.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | misunderstanding, online dating, politeness, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | We are more connected than ever nowadays. There should be no room for alienation in relationships with all those media available to us to communicate. WhatsApp even lets us know when our loved ones were last online and when they read a message. This may sound good at first but it can cause a lot of misunderstandings and jealousy when partners do not respond to messages right away.
Image Description | N/A
Mein bester Freund ist jetzt ein SMS-Butler
(My new best friend is an SMS butler)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 28.1.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | emojis, Google, marketing, politeness, texting
Summary | A new text messaging service is available: an SMS butler. It is an actual human who can be contacted via text message at all times to perform little tasks like find out some simple information (that one is too lazy to Google) or order pizza. The former taks is free, the latter one costs a little extra. The butler takes a provision on services that require payment. He is however always very happy to perform his task - whether he gets paid or not. This is indicated by the obligatory smiley face attached to every message.
Image Description | N/A
"Wer ist eigentlich dieser Wifi?"
("Who is this wifi anyway?")
Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 21.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, Facebook, politeness, privacy
Summary | It can be infuriating to try and teach one's parents how to use the computer, the internet, or Facebook because they are so clueless. However, there is no use in getting angry. After all, they managed to stay patient when we learned to ride a bike. Young children today can use modern technology before they can speak. They will be teaching us new technology one day.
Image Description | A man using his smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone
Hausdurchsuchungen wegen Hass-Postings auf Facebook
(House searches because of hate posts on Facebook)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, politeness, politics, threat
Summary | The Bavarian police have issued multiple search warrants for the residence of people who have posted hateful comments on Facebook. In light of the recent refugee crisis, online hate has skyrocketed on Facebook with many people glorifying the Third Reich. Users who witness such behavior online are encouraged to report it both to Facebook and to the local police. Facebook has however been doing a poor job in keeping hate language off their platform.
Image Description | A tweet by a German government department explaining what a hate post is.
Image Tags | Twitter
Das ist der wohl obszönste Username im ganzen Netz
(This is probably the most obscene username on the internet)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.6.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | censorship, politeness, privacy, research/study, social media, threat, word/writing
Summary | Many news media sources now tend to quote opinions from social media users rather than do polls out in the street. It is not uncommon to see an opinion of the "common people" in a newspaper article quoting an obscure social media username. The difference to the traditional technique of asking people on the street is that journalists needed to obtain consent of the people to quote them. One woman has now found a way to avoid being quoted without her consent: she chose a very obscene username including four words which are inappropriate enough so that they would have to be censored in a newspaper.
Image Description | N/A
Heute: Anrede
(Today: form of adress)
Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 18.2.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | email, marketing, politeness, word/writing
Summary | The German distinction between two different registers for the secon person singular pronoun seems to have deteriorated online. The polite form is hardly ever used online, for instance in email communication as though the digital medium makes it okay to suspend all rules of politeness. Even online companies gear their their online marketing communication towards digital intimacy (using "Du" instead of "Sie") so that users/customers are more friendly and forgiving of their company.
Image Description | N/A
Erfolgreiches Netzwerken geht auch ohne Facebook
(Successful networking is possible even without Facebook)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 6.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, politeness
Summary | Facebook enabled event organizers to reach thousands of people. Because of these masses of invited people, accepting an invitation stopped being binding. Now the trend is towards smaller, more exclusive events for networking. Accepting an invitation to a smaller event is more binding and networking works better if the company is overviewable.
Image Description | A Getty image of a cocktail party and a portrait of two network specialists.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)
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