Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 8
Posts 1 - 8

What’s the big deal about sexting?

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Newspaper | CNN
Date | 2.1.2015
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, sexting, threat, youth
Summary | Sexting is not as threatening as everyone thinks - it is developmentally appropriate for teenagers to be exploring their sexuality with all channels available to them. In most cases, sexting is unproblematic except when nude images are shared (this has even resulted in suicides of the victims) or minors are prosecuted for distributing child pornography by sexting (though laws are being adjusted to exclude sexting). But even if it is just consensual sexting among peers, our society tends to overreact about any expression of sexual identity of minors but we condone oversexualized imagery of girls in the media (glossy magazines/animated films).
Image Description | Shutterstock of a male torso using a smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Wozniak cree que la tecnología ha mejorado las relaciones interpersonales

(Wozniak thinks that technology has improved interpersonal relationships)

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Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 9.11.2015
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | threat, youth
Summary | Stephen Wozniak claims that new technologies allow people to connect with people with similar tastes and concerns, which is something positive. New technologies bring good sociological changes. Even if people may communicate less face-to-face, our new ways to communicate are positive; they allow us to connect with people alike. Parents should not be worried about their kids and the way they communicate.
Image Description | Photograph of Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria (founder of Sherpa) and Celestino García (vice president of Samsumg Electronics).
Image Tags | male(s)

Dumbing Down the Phone for Children

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 12.12.2015
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | Parents all face the problem of their children wishing for smartphones for christmas at some point. Often, parents feel that point arrives too early. There are some possibilities to ease children into new media use, by getting a "dumbphone" for instance which has no internet access. Even smartphones have settings for parental control where curfews can be set when the child/teenager is supposed to sleep and not be able to use the smartphone or to block social media or in-app purchases. It is irresponsible to give young children/teenagers full use of a smartphone but one should give them access to the digital sphere in steps, just as one does not start teaching a child how to cook by handing it all the sharp knives.
Image Description | Photograph of a family in front of christmas tree gathered around a smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

The Resistance

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 27.12.2015
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, threat
Summary | The rapid development of new media has many people worrying about the 'end of the human era' especially with advancements in the development of artificial intelligence. We are constantly connected with our smartphones and are hardly ever 'in the moment'. Driving and texting is illegal but it still causes many accidents. The EU are passing a law for "the right to be forgotten" forcing search engines to suppress ambarrassing content from an individual's past. Many people are worried about government and other surveillance, leading them to use encrypted instant messaging services and cover up their webcams with duct tape. A resistance is developing lead by techno-skeptics.
Image Description | Portraits of individuals mentioned in the article: Astra Taylor & Jaron Lanier.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

Ständig unanständig

(Constantly rude)

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Newspaper | Beobachter
Date | 10.7.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | politeness, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | People, especially younger generations, have become less considerate of their environment in a variety of ways. One factor causing this decrease in politeness is the smartphone. People are consumed by digital content and less aware of their actual surroundings. For example, when immersed in their smartphone, people might not see if somebody on the street needs help or if another passenger on the bus can’t sit down because one’s bag is on a seat. Personal meetings have also become less focused.
Image Description | Illustration of a cafeteria scene where young people are eating and using their smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Ich verzichte auf Facebook, weil es sich schlecht anfühlt

(I'm giving up Facebook because it feels wrong)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 11.10.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, threat
Summary | Douglas Rushkoff, media theory professor at New York University, talks about social and political developments caused by the business of big data. Talking about instant messaging, he says that face-to-face communication suffers from the constant presence and availability of digital communication. The possibility of multi-tasking is tempting, but it is disruptive to personal encounters.
Image Description | Photograph of D. Rushkoff, standing with his arms crossed in front of a door.
Image Tags | male(s)

Sklaven des Smartphones

(Slaves to smartphones)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 5.3.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | school, smartphone, threat
Summary | Japan and South Korea – both highly digitized nations – experience the negative effects of omnipresent internet access. The article infers that conversations have become a rarity because smartphones and the need to update social media profiles distract people. A South Korean literature scholar states that students hardly read books anymore; therefore, government incentives for reading have been established. The article even predicts a return to analphebetization in these nations.
Image Description | Photograph of a young man's face half-hidden by his iPhone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Marre de ces émoticônes qui remplacent nos emotions

(Fed up with those emoticons that replace our emotions)

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Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 24.4.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, threat
Summary | The emoji phenomenon is global and growing very fast. Those smiley faces are everywhere and have invaded our lives. They are not just used to express our emotions alone, they also replace them. Yes, emojis are young and fun, but they are also a way to “disempower” human relationships and to be emotionally correct.
Image Description | Photograph in black and white of the author of the article.
Image Tags | male(s)

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