Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 30
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

Smartphone users beware - your battery could be leaking details about you online

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 2.8.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | privacy, research/study, smartphone, threat
Summary | According to a research, your phone battery level could be used to track your online activity.
Image Description | Image of a low battery next to a warning sign, iPhone displaying a low battery, hand holding a smartphone displaying a game
Image Tags | game, hand(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

Hey Siri, Can I Rely on You in a Crisis? Not Always, a Study Finds

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 14.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, artificial intelligence, research/study, smartphone, threat
Summary | Researchers have tested various artificial intelligence assistants like Siri and Cortana to see how they respond to emergencies. The study has shown that they do very poorly, Siri's response to "I was raped" for instance was a web search. Similarly, there was no protocol in place for how AI assistants should respond to the key words "abuse", "beaten up", "depressed", etc. Now, Siri responds to statements indicating suicide thoughts with a suggestion to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Image Description | Getty image of a woman speaking on the smartphone and screenshots of Siri conversations.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

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

Sexting fears as more than a quarter of PRIMARY SCHOOL children have sent rude or sexually explicit messages

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 7.2.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, sexting, threat, youth
Summary | A study questioned parents and primary school children about sexting or sex and new media. Shocking numbers of children in primary school have already made experiences with sexting. Considerable percentages of parents do not monitor their children's online activity and/or do not talk to them about sex.
Image Description | Getty images of a girl using a smartphone with only part of her face visible in one of them.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone

Instagram ranked worst social network for young people's mental health

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 19.5.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, Instagram, research/study, youth
Summary | Recent studies show that young adults aged 14 to 24 find that Instagram and Snapchat incease their sense of anxiety and loneliness the most. The most positivity boosting platforms were YouTube and Twitter. Mental health professionals are trying to stay informed on what youth's life looks like today so that they can better connect with them in a mental health crisis. Social media are more addictive than alcohol and cigarettes.
Image Description | Alamy image of two women taking a selfie on a beach and an image of a smartphone screen showing the Instagram logo.
Image Tags | female(s), Instagram, logo, selfie, 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

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