Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 8
Posts 1 - 8

Modeberatung

(Fashion counseling)

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 1.8.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, emojis, Facebook, misunderstanding, WhatsApp
Summary | A start-up company from Berlin offers anonymous fashion counseling by an artificially intelligent chatbot. Their corporate partner is Zalando and the chatbot can be used on WhatsApp and Facebook messenger. It does not seem to work very well though. To the question "what goes well with blue pants?", it responds "blue pants". To the question "what's in fashion right now?", it responds with a sweating emoji.
Image Description | N/A

Zuckerbergs Eine-Welt-Laden

(Zuckerberg's one-world-shop)

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 21.2.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, politics, WhatsApp
Summary | Zuckerberg has written an open letter stating that he wants to create a world community on Facebook with their 2 bio users. Although he does not state it explicitly, it reads as an anti-nationalism manifesto. Facebook plays an important role in politics and so does WhatsApp. Some villages in Kenya have WhatsApp groups including all citizens as well as the politicians.
Image Description | Finger pointing at portraits of women.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s)

"Es liegt eine Magie darin"

("There's a lot of magic in it")

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 17.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, Facebook, privacy, virtual reality, WhatsApp, YouTube
Summary | Facebook is planning to create innovations to accommodate their users' obvious desires to watch videos on Facebook to the extent that Facebook can curently compete with YouTube for views. The sharing of videos has shot up on Facebook as of late. Facebook's live streaming feature also helps with that. Future plans include virtual reality options. Many users are worried about privacy issues because Facebook is connecting data from WhatsApp with Facebook data.
Image Description | N/A

Hilfe, wo sind meine Whatsapp-Freunde hin!

(Help, where did all of my WhatsApp friends go!)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 26.2.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, privacy, social media, WhatsApp
Summary | After Facebook has bought WhatsApp, many users are worried about their data privacy so waves of users are switching on to safer alternatives to WhatsApp such as Telegram, MyEnigma, or the Swiss app Threema. The large majority however is staying on WhatsApp, which causes more people to stay or return to WhatsApp. When Facebook replaced older social media platforms such as the German SchülerVZ, all users moved because a social media platform is only valuable when enough people use it.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen with social media different icons.
Image Tags | logo, smartphone, social media

Keine Chance für WhatsApp-Konkurrenz

(No chance for WhatsApp competition)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 16.2.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, privacy, WhatsApp
Summary | When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $22 mio in 2014, many users feared that their data privacy would be exploited. App store sales for secure messaging apps increased, particularly the Swiss app Threema. Now, Facebook and WhatsApp still have the highest user numbers which shows that people do not seem to care very much about their data privacy in the long run. While WhatsApp did introduce end-to-end encryption, Facebook also broke their promise of never connecting WhatsApp and Facebook user data.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen with different icons.
Image Tags | logo, smartphone

Wer nicht snapt, ist out

(Who doesn’t snap is out)

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Newspaper | B.Z. (Berlin)
Date | 1.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Snapchat is the new hot social media channel for the German youth. Now that the parent generation is uding Facebook and WhatsApp, teenagers are looking for digital spaces free of parental supervision. Snapchat is more aimed at visual rather than verbal communication, though now audio and video calls can be made. The article lists three new (not necessarily messaging) apps that are gaining popularity amongst young people: Miitomo, musical.ly, WeMesh.
Image Description | Screenshots of two snaps, and digital image of the Snapchat logo.
Image Tags | female(s), logo, Snapchat

Schreiben statt streicheln: Die neue kalte Liebesordnung

(Writing instead of stroking: The new cold order of love)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 20.6.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, smartphone, threat, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Youth nowadays do not get to know their love interests face-to-face but rather through digital channels. A typical digital encounter would be a Facebook friend request, message exchanges and possibly the exchange of seductive images. Now intimacy means something different; people open up to each other in letter form rather than with actual physical contact. Cultural pessimists fear that while it is convenient that all of our interactions can be done online, this convenience may turn into a huge problem because people could virtually stay at home all the time and become lonely.
Image Description | Photograph in back and white of a couple (male and female), sleeping entwined.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

40 Tage ohne Honig im Tee

(40 days without tea with honey)

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Newspaper | St. Galler Tagblatt
Date | 14.2.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, Facebook, WhatsApp
Summary | Catholic and Protestant churches of the St. Gallen area are advertising lent season and trying to get people to give up something they value for 40 days. The blue cross also urges people to give up addicting habits for 40 days. Next to alcohol, cigarettes, meat, and sweets, social networks such as Facebook or WhatsApp seem to be popular addicting habits to give up for lent.
Image Description | Digital image of the number 40 in the background, and a burger in the foreground.

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