Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 17
Posts 1 - 10

'Siri, I was raped': Study finds smartphone assistants unable to respond to help in a crisis

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 15.3.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, research/study
Summary | Smartphone personal assistants have been tested and they seem to be unable to respond well to help in a crisis (e.g. suicide, rape, abuse). Developers need to do more in order to improve those personal assistants.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen displaying the message "what can I help you with?", woman hiding her face with her hands, man speaking to his phone, man hiding his face with his hands, a woman's hands using a smartphone
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), male(s), smartphone

Byte-sized guide for parents on how they can keep their children safe online this summer

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 3.8.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, cyberbullying, privacy, research/study, threat
Summary | Parents want their kids to be safe online during the summer. A research shows that 8 to 16-year-old kids will spend about 130 hours on social media during the summer break. The article offers some tips to keep children safe (e.g. privacy and location settings, play together, how to deal with trolls and sexting, get children to play outside).
Image Description | Photograph of a kid holding a tablet of his/her lap, a kid's hand on a lapop, video about the Pokemon Go game, hand holding a smartphone, Minecraft characters, a little boy hiding his face, young woman making a face, two hands holding a smartphone, a child using a tablet.
Image Tags | female(s), game, hand(s), male(s), smartphone, tablet

The Facebook Breakup

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 13.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, Facebook, research/study, threat
Summary | Many studies have been published about whether Facebook makes us happy or unhappy. Studies with both conclusions exist. They agree that Facebook notifications can cause a hormone release that boosts feelings of happiness for a moment, like all other addictive substances. Facebook has teams working on solustions on how to deal with accounts of users who pass away or how to assist people with avoiding their ex-partners on Facebook.
Image Description | An illustration of a vacuum cleaner vacuuming a broken heart, a team of designers working at Facebook, motivational posters from Facebook, and a smartphone showing the post-breakup settings Facebook offers.
Image Tags | Facebook, female(s), male(s), smartphone, text

Are teenagers having less sex – and is social media the reason why?

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 10.3.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, social media, youth
Summary | Teenagers are having less sex; is it because of new media? One theory says that it might be because young people spend more time in their bedroom in front of their screen and less time socializing and getting drunk with friends. The drop in teenage pregnancies is also accompanied by a drop in teenage drinking levels. A US report claims that teenagers spend 9 hours each day on social media, and kids between 8 and 12 spend 6 hours online each day. Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, and they even coined the word 'sekkusu shinai shokogun' which means “celibacy syndrome”.
Image Description | Photographs of a boy looking at a tablet, girl wearing sunglasses (we can see the Facebook logo in the reflection), two girls sitting back to back using their smartphone, classroom with students and teacher
Image Tags | Facebook, female(s), headphones, male(s), smartphone, tablet

In the Apple Case, a Debate Over Data Hits Home

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 13.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, politics, privacy, research/study, smartphone, threat
Summary | Apple's refusal to aide the FBI with breaking into the phone of the San Bernardino attacker has unleashed a political debate among Americans. IT experts as well as lay people report that they have had discussions about the topic with other people, some say they have had fights over Facebook with family members about the issue. Polls show that the American people are hugely divided on the topic: 42% think Apple should cooperate with the FBI while 47% support Apple's stance to protect user privacy.
Image Description | Getty image of a protest crowd showing a man holding up his smartphone with the text: "Don't turn our phones into FBI drones".
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, text

At C.D.C., a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 1.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | (mental) health, brain, childhood, research/study, smartphone, threat
Summary | A controversy has sparked over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's health recommendation regarding cell phones. They had reviewed research on brain tumor risk connected with cell phone use and decided that the data were not convincing enough. Their recommendation was that cell phone users need not be more cautious with cell phones than other daily lifestyle choices. However, the research is also not extensive enough to disprove an increased risk of brain tumor with high rates of cell phone use, especially for children. In response to the backlash to this recommendation, their stance was revised a few times so that it now states that the C.D.C. does not recommend caution but other organizations do.
Image Description | Reuters image of a crowd and one man speaking on the smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Die Jungs von heute können einfach nicht mehr flirten

(The boys of today just can't flirt anymore)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 7.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | online dating, research/study, smartphone, social media, youth
Summary | Young people nowadays cannot flirt anymore. They are constantly tied to their smartphones - 57 hours per week a recent study says - and do not pay attention to what is going on around them. They are more comfortable communicating via a medium than face-to-face. Many girls lament on social media how there are no available boys. Young boys should look up form their phones more often - the girls would be grateful.
Image Description | Getty images of young men and women with and without smartphones.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Britain's iPhone generation might be tech savvy but they don't know how to change a lightbulb

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 21.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, threat, youth
Summary | The younger generations have trouble doing simple household tasks like changing a light bulb, bleeding a radiator, or putting up a wallpaper. They are however far more competent in using new technologies. Some run to their parents when they need something fixed around the house but the parent generation also runs to the younger one when they need help with their technological devices.
Image Description | Getty images of a woman holding a smartphone and of a man changing a light bulb.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Digital friends making you lonely? Here are 9 things to do other than check Facebook

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 2.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, Facebook, research/study, social media
Summary | Recent statistics say that more young people feel lonely than old people - despite those active social media lives. Psychologists are eager to explain that social media activity cannot replace real human companionship. There are many things one can do to exit the social media anxiety habit: joing a class or club too meet new people or to see good friends on a regular basis, have phone calls with friends, spend weekends with friends, learn to be happy while being alone sometimes - this can be achieved by meditation and mindfulness.
Image Description | A series of Alamy images showing a woman using a smartphone in bed, a woman holding a smartphone with a laptop in the background, and various images of social activities with no technological devices (dinner, birthday party, wine drinking, gardening class) as well as a man using a laptop and smiling while talking on the phone and a woman meditating.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), hand(s), male(s), smartphone, WhatsApp

Here’s A Clear Sign You Might Be Too Dependent On Your Phone

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Newspaper | Huffington Post
Date | 26.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, threat
Summary | American researchers have conducted studies confirming that "device dependability" is a real psychiatric illness that leads people to perceive phantom buzzes from their smartphones, i.e. to hear a notification when there is none. Most individuals affected show neurotic personality traits and/or feel anxious when separated from their smartphone. The condition is supposed to be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychological Association and the researchers hope that this will raise awareness of the dangers of smartphone dependability or addiction.
Image Description | Getty image of five race and gender diverse young adults holding smartphones in front of an orange wall.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

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