Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 11
Posts 1 - 10

Growing social media backlash among young people, survey shows

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 5.10.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, cyberbullying, research/study, social media, technology-free, threat, youth
Summary | Two out of three pupils claim they would not care if there was no social media. According to the survey, young people are aware of the negative effects of new technologies on their lives and mental health. Some of them said that they had been victims of online abuse, that they were addicted, or/and that they felt less confident. Other pupils talked about the positive aspects of new technologies and social media (e.g. memes, Snapchat stories) and what improvements they would like to see. At a private boarding school for girls, pupils tried a new experiment: hand over their phones for three days. The girls liked the experiences and would like to do it again for a longer period.
Image Description | Photograph of someone (whose face is cut off) sitting on a bed and using/looking at a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop

Why are computers such a darned pain to use?

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 16.1.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, technology-free, threat
Summary | The author talks about her mother who never got online. She rejected everything related to new technology. A BBC survey showed that older people who don't want to use the internet are worried when they see that people are prioritizing online content over more traditional broadcasting. Banks or newspapers should nevertheless take into account people that feel left behind because they can't or don't want to get online. With new media, there is something new every month, and other things become out of date quickly.
Image Description | Two hands on a laptop keyboard, vintage radio, collage of four new technologies, and chart of UK's five tech types
Image Tags | computer/laptop, hand(s), keyboard

Taking poetic license with AI personalities

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 7.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, emojis, gender, research/study
Summary | Artificial intelligence assistants are now being creatively enganced by educated and professional writers and poets so as to make their conversation appear more human-like (f.i. by using emojis) and their personalities more authentic. Polls have shown that users prefer female voices for AI assistants and most companies have acted accordingly. Microsoft has however pre-empted reinforcing stereotypes about female assistants by limiting the number of apologies and self-deprecating comments for their AI assistant Cortana.
Image Description | Image of a meeting of professional writers working in AI at Microsoft.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s)

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

Facebook Could Be Associated With a Longer Life, Study Finds

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 31.10.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, Facebook, research/study
Summary | A recent study about longevity shows that moderate Facebook activity correlates with better health and hence a longer life. Previous research shows that an active social life in general (so offline) also correlates with longevity. Because the results however only attast to correlation and not necessarily to a causal connection, it could also be that healthier people are just more social online and offline and not that sociability has an effect on health. It has been confirmed that a rich social life makes people happier while excessive Facebook use leads to people being unhappy.
Image Description | Woman instructing old man using a computer.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s)

Los jóvenes se sienten incompletos sin internet y las redes sociales

(Young people feel incomplete without internet and social media)

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Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 9.4.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, social media, threat, youth
Summary | A lot of young people wouldn't be able to live without new technologies (internet, social media, etc.). According to a study, they feel isolated and incomplete without them, and they wouldn't know how to socialize. Young people are aware of the advantages of internet and social media (e.g. possibility to have many relationships) as well as the risks of such new technologies (e.g. loss of privacy). They also know they can become dependent on their digital devices. However, they are not so worried; they think such disadvantages are normal and part of today's society. The survey also showed contradictory results; 74% of the respondents thought that social media facilitate new friendships, but about 72% of them thought that social media isolate people more.
Image Description | Video: interview of young people about their online practices, and two charts showing statistics about online practices.
Image Tags | chart, computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), smartphone

Thou shalt not end a relationship by text: Psychologist reveals the 17 golden rules of 'digital etiquette'

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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

NET ADDICTS' ANXIETY Internet and social media is leaving young people more at risk of mental health problems, new research reveals

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Newspaper | The Sun
Date | 18.9.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study
Summary | A new study revealed that people who are addicted to their digital devices are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. The study was done with young people, but it should be extended to other age groups.
Image Description | Series of three photographs: teenage boy looking at his computer, teenage girl using her laptop, and teenage girl using her tablet.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), tablet

Facebook 'makes users lonely and angry as they compare themselves to other people's seemingly perfect lives'

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 10.11.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, research/study, social media, threat
Summary | The Happiness Research Institute conducted a study about social media and the portrayal of users' seemingly perfect and beautiful lives. Users think that other people's lives are better, and they consequently feel sad and angry. In the study, the people who had to quit Facebook saw their happiness level rise, and those who had to continue using the social network didn't see any change. Facebook users seem to be lonely and angry because they constantly compare their life to others', but the seemingly perfect life that other users portray is fake. Although there are advantages in using Facebook, it is important to keep in mind that it also gives people a wrong perception of reality.
Image Description | Series of five photographs: teenage girl looking at her laptop, another teenage girl looking at the laptop, Facebook logo, photograph of Mark Zuckerberg with the dislike button, and another teenage girl with a phone in her hand, looking at her laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, Facebook, female(s), smartphone

Sugata Mitra – the professor with his head in the cloud

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 7.6.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, research/study, school
Summary | Professor Sugata Mitra's educational methods have not always been well received because they are not "traditional". Mitra predicts that the internet will be everywhere and in our heads, and that traditional examinations will disappear. It will be difficult to ban the use of internet in exams, for instance. People will be even more dependent on their phones; they will need it for skills such as reading. Mitra's method is called Sole (self-organised learning environment). Children need to collaborate in small groups and do research on computers. The method proved successful, but more research is needed.
Image Description | Series of three photograph; Mitra holding a book, Mitra interacting with four pupils on a computer, and portrait of Ivan Illich.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, male(s)

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