Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 11
Posts 1 - 10

Facebook ließ gezielte Werbung an "Judenhasser" zu

(Facebook allowed targeted advertising for "Jew Haters")

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 15.9.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, diversity, Facebook, politics, threat
Summary | Facebook is one of the biggest advertising platforms world-wide. It lists target groups for advertisers to choose from. One of those groups used to be "Jew Haters". Facebook removed the target group saying that they will do a better job at curating users into appropriate target groups based on how they position themselves in their profiles.
Image Description | The Facebook logo on a computer screen with a mouse cursor over it.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, Facebook, hand(s), logo

Es postet, also bin ich

(It posts so I am)

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 19.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | brain, emojis, language threat, selfie, social media
Summary | In his new book called "Facebook generation", Roberto Simanowski positions himself between the cultural pessimists and the digital euphorics. He does fear for our language competence and tied to it our memory. We tend to posts selfies and emojis rather than put our feelings into words. We tend to post a link to a song, a video, or an article rather than paraphrase that information make our point in an original sentence. This leads to the degeneration of our language ability and that inability to process information in our own words prevents the creation of memories. Instead we leave a huge digital data trail online.
Image Description | Woman's hands holding a smartphone while using a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), hand(s), smartphone

So bildet man sich im Job effektiv weiter

(This is how you educate yourself further in your job)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 27.3.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | digitized education, privacy
Summary | It is imperative for everyone who wants to stay updated in their field to keep educating themselves. Traditinally, this education happened in company seminars but there are increasingly more online courses on offer. MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) are a modern alternative where teachers and students never meet in person but interact entirely digitally. A course design in between the two is called "blended learning" where students first self-educate online and meet up in a seminar later on. Hot topics in further education of professionals are all things connected to technology and especially topics around privacy.
Image Description | A Getty image of a woman studying on the floor with notes, a laptop, a tablet, and a snack.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), tablet

Elf neue Wörter, die wir dringend brauchen

(Eleven new words that we need urgently)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 1.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | (mental) health, smartphone, word/writing
Summary | Our language cannot keep up with technological innovations and other changes. There are dozens of new scenarios that have no name and urgently need one. For instance the shame parents feel when their children join an idiotic fad like Pokémon Go or the neck deformation our generation will have from staring at a smartphone all our lives. Another discrepancy is that we have no catchy name for involuntary images taken of floors or the insides of our pockets. We also new words to describe intersex people or stretched out ears after a lifetime of ear-gaging.
Image Description | Getty Images of a woman with ear gages and a transgender person.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), smartphone

E-Mails für verzweifelte Teenager

(Emails for desperate teenagers)

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 13.1.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, email, Facebook, youth
Summary | The volunteer project U25 provides peer counseling for suicidal teenagers. All volunteers at U25 are between 17 and 25 years old and they get extensive training before they are given up to three cases at a time. They exchange emails with the suicidal peers trying to counsel them into psychological stability. The volunteer counselors are not allowed to give out their cell phone numbers or befriend clients on Facebook for their own protection.
Image Description | Image of one volunteer counselor with a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, male(s), TV

Das Problem mit dem ;-)

(The problem with ;-))

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 3.2.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, emojis, misunderstanding, politeness
Summary | First emojis have appeared in official writing: the Norwegien government included emojis in one of their letters. Norwegian linguists are critical of this saying that we need to establish rules about emoji use first because they are easily misunderstood. Emojis have entered our everyday communication so profoundly that we now read even workplace emails without emojis as rude.
Image Description | Getty image of a Macbook keyboard with emoji keys.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, emojis

Zeit der Handy-Verbote geht zu Ende

(The time of cell phone bans is over)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 8.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, school
Summary | Bernese city schools want to purchase one laptop or tablet for each student. The new cantonal curriculum wants new technologies to be integrated in class work projects. It is important that students learn to work with new technologies from an early age because they are becoming increasingly important. The only problem is that such a renewal would be hugely expensive.
Image Description | Keystone image of two pairs of students using one laptop each.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s)

Schreiben: Die Handschrift verkümmert

(Writing: Handwriting is hampered)

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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)

Bis das Handy uns scheidet

(Till the cell phone do us part)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 14.12.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | privacy, smartphone
Summary | Smartphones have opened up a variety of possibilities to cheat on one’s partner – physically as well as emotionally. Apps like Ashley Madison can connect people who would like to step outside their relationship. Sending flirtatious messages or nude images can feel like betraying one’s partner. Although smartphones make it easier for people to cheat anytime and anywhere, they also help people getting caught since online activities leave a digital trail. There are some apps that allow people to hide their digital activities and other apps that allow them to spy on digital activities.
Image Description | Illustration of Adam and Eve on their digital devices (smartphone and laptop).
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

Multitasking ist ein Mythos

(Multi-tasking is a myth)

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Newspaper | St. Galler Tagblatt
Date | 13.12.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, school, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | A group of students from the College of Economics in St. Gallen (HSG) have launched a campaign to encourage fellow students to put their smartphones away during lectures. Having a smartphone available all the time significantly distracts students from the task at hand. According to a study, every hour spent studying with a smartphone at hand includes 36 minutes of smartphone activity.
Image Description | Photograph/digital image of two monkeys taking notes in a lecture hall.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

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