Number of Posts: 7
Posts 1 - 7
«Jemandem zu sagen, er solle sich ficken, ist ziemlich schlimm»
(«Telling soeone to go fuck himself is pretty bad»)
Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 5.4.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | anglicisms, language threat, research/study, texting, word/writing
Summary | Linguist Elisabeth Stark is research texting communication with a corpus of 18000 text messages and even more WhatsApp messages. She says that about 2-3% of the words are anglicisms and that their amount does not seem to be rising rapidly - the word "fuck" for instance is still too strong for most German speakers. In German, sex is too taboo for taboo language. Her data also shows that Swiss people choose the local dialect rather than the standard variety when texting. Most people's langugage competencies are not compromised by this informal communication, most can adhere to conventions when a formal register is appropriate.
Image Description | Portrait of the interviewee and a Keystone image of a protest with a sign reading "fuck".
Image Tags | female(s), text
Pourquoi il ne faut surtout pas finir ses textos par un point
(Why we shouldn't end a text with a period)
Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 10.12.2015
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | punctuation, research/study, texting
Summary | The University of Binghamton conducted a study and revealed that text messages that end with a period are considered less sincere and mean. The exclamation mark is seen as a more sincere option. The period has an expressive function.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman looking at her phone and looking perplexed.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone
La letra, con ‘smartphone’, entra
(The letter enters with smartphone (pun with "la letra con sangre entra"))
Newspaper | El País
Date | 27.10.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | grammar, research/study, social media, spelling, texting, threat, youth
Summary | Spelling and grammar are having a hard time in today's society; there seems to be too much lenience with regards to writing rules, which may be due to an incorrect use of new technologies. People should know when it is appropriate to use a specific register. It is okay to write a text message with abbreviations as long as users are able to change register and adapt their writing in an exam for example. A professor in Valladolid claims that handwriting as opposed to digital writing can be the solution to spelling and grammar mistakes. Social media and the way we write on those networks have a major impact on our writing skills. A study showed that the mistakes young people make in their writing assignments come from our habit to constantly write quickly and be spontaneous on social media. Those mistakes are mostly due to a lack of attention. The study also showed a positive aspect: with social media, we write more.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of four young people using their smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), male(s), smartphone
Thou shalt not end a relationship by text: Psychologist reveals the 17 golden rules of 'digital etiquette'
Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 25.2.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, social media, texting
Summary | Researchers provided a list of 17 rules that users should follow. For example, they should not end a relationship by text, or overshare on social networks. Also, they should not post anything online or text someone when drunk, emotional, or angry. The research shows that users spend an average of 4 hours on social media every day. A psychologist claims that relationships have changed in the digital age.
Image Description | Series of four photographs: woman crying and using a tissue while looking at her phone, woman lying in bed sick with her phone in her hand, young man drunk using his laptop, and two young women smiling and looking at a smartphone.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), smartphone
Want your texts to appear sincere? DON’T use punctuation: Researchers say full stops make messages appear less trustworthy
Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 8.12.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | language threat, punctuation, research/study, spelling, texting
Summary | A study revealed that text messages that end with a period are considered as less sincere. In text messages, people use punctuation and emoticons to convey emotions and social cues. Also, the language of text messages has a serious impact on the English language. New words (e.g. LOL) have been added to the dictionary, people don't use hyphens anymore due to laziness, deep thoughts and ideas are summed up in 140 characters, and our smartphones correct our spelling so we don't have to learn how to spell words.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman using her phone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone
Les jeunes parlent romand
(Young people speak Romand (Swiss French))
Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 18.5.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, research/study, texting, What's up Switzerland, WhatsApp
Summary | Interview with Federica Diémoz at the University of Neuchâtel. She talks about a study related to the different expressions used in the Swiss French part of Switzerland. People also use their local expressions in text messages. The "What's up Switzerland" project is going to analyze WhatsApp messages. From what researchers have observed so far, people sometimes use regional expressions and don't always write the same way. They also add emoticons and images that replace words.
Image Description | Photograph of the interviewee, Federica Diémoz.
Image Tags | female(s)
Schreiben: Die Handschrift verkümmert
(Writing: Handwriting is hampered)
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)
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