Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 11
Posts 1 - 10

Girls and social media: 'You are expected to live up to an impossible standard'

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 23.8.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | gender, social media, threat, youth
Summary | According to a new poll, 1 out of 3 girls feels pressured to be "perfect" on social networks. Five teenage girls share their opinion on the subject. For instance, they constantly compare themselves to other people online and then feel like they have to project a perfect image of themselves online. Some people delete their pictures online because they don't feel confident anymore and think they are not following the "rules". Moreover, young girls online constantly look for other people's validation and "likes". Instagram seems to be the worst social network for those girls.
Image Description | Photograph of hands holding smartphones.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

Girls gang up on boys in new cyberbullying craze called 'roasting', expert warns

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 25.7.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, cyberbullying, gender, social media, texting, threat, youth
Summary | "Roasting" is a new cyberbullying craze where girls pick on boys on WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook until they crack. Teenage girls and boys have already killed themselves because of cyberbullying.
Image Description | Photograph of three young girls using and staring at their smartphone
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Two Saudi women are sentenced to 20 lashes for using bad language while arguing with each other over WhatsApp

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 24.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | censorship, game, gender, WhatsApp
Summary | Two Saudi women were sentenced to 10 days in prison and 20 lashes because they used bad language on WhatsApp. Saudi Arabia has been condemned numerous times for violating human and women's rights, and restricting freedom of expression. For instance, the game Pokemon Go was banned because it is similar to gambling.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand holding a smartphone with the WhatsApp logo on the screen, and photograph of the city of Jeddah.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone, WhatsApp

Für kluge Menschen ist Twitter das bessere Tinder

(For smart people Twitter is better than Tinder)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.6.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | gender, online dating, research/study, Twitter
Summary | Online dating apps like Tinder clearly put the focus on images. Considering that many womenvalue a sense of humor very highly in a partner, people should be looking for partners on Twitter because that is where most people showcase their wit. A recent dating survery on Twitter has shown that many users are single and looking for a partner and that many follow other Twitter users out of romantic interest. Most however also report not thinking that Twitter is an appropriate platform to ask someone out on a date.
Image Description | Image of a woman in a cafe looking at her smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The Atlantic
Date | 0.9.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, cyberbullying, gender, smartphone, social media, threat, youth
Summary | A US study has conducted a large survey among teenagers and found out that smartphones are impacting their lives significantly. They sleep less, go out less, date less, are less likely to get (someone) pregnant, feel left out more, have more mental health issues, etc. Especially girls are more likely to feel left out because they spend more time on social media and because girls tend to bully each other by ostracization which is very easily achievable in cyberspace. Also, the teenage suicide rate has surpassed the teenage homicide rate for the first time in history.
Image Description | Two illustrations showing a woman falling with a tablet and a woman lying in bed at night looking at her smartphone. Charts showing the results from the US survey.
Image Tags | chart, female(s), smartphone, tablet

Wo geht's hier zur #bikinibridge?

(Which way is the #bikinibridge?)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 18.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | (mental) health, gender, hashtags, Instagram, threat
Summary | Instagram is the new place where beauty ideals are reproduced and policed. Such hashtags as the #thighgap and the #bikinibridge let users pull up a sea of skinny women's bodies which can be compared with each other. Although these trends are said to be about fitness and health, but the comments and likes show that the trends are more about a beauty ideal. This is misleading and dangerous.
Image Description | Shutterstock Image of a woman in a gym taking a selfie.
Image Tags | female(s), selfie, smartphone

Women tap into new roles as mobile internet scheme targets rural India

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 5.12.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | gender, Google
Summary | Only 2% of internet users in rural India are women. This huge discrepancy is being addressed with a new campaign sponsored by Google. A local woman is teaching the other women (and some men) to use the internet to, for instance check the current national retail price of onions so that middle men cannot rip them off. She is also teaching illiterate women how to use the internet with voice command.
Image Description | Woman with a bicycle cart with internet devices and women using tablets and smartphones.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone, tablet

Double Standards: Why sexting sucks

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Times Live
Date | 23.6.2014
Language | English
Country | South Africa
Topic Tags | gender, law, research/study, sexting, youth
Summary | A study by Julia Lippman and Scott Campbell where they interviewed teenagers about their attitudes towards sexting showed that a strong double standard exists between judging girls' versus boys' sexting activities. If girls sext, the are perceived as attention-seeking 'sluts' and if the do not engage in sexting, they are judged for being frigid. Boys are however pardoned for sexting because "boys will be boys". Minors sexting is further problematic because it is persecuted under child pornography laws.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman taking a selfie in lingerie.
Image Tags | female(s), selfie, smartphone

Ante la violencia de género: 'Educad al niño para no castigar al hombre'

(Gender violence: 'Educate the child so as not to punish the man')

Hyperlink

Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 26.11.2016
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | addiction, gender, threat, youth
Summary | A photo competition called "Don't touch my WhatsApp" (No me toques el WhatsApp) took place in Spain in order to fight against gender violence. A work called "Connected" won the second prize in the '14-17 year-old' category. According to the director, the photograph represents a different side of today's reality; whereas young people rely a lot on new technologies -which can harm relationships-, the work portrays the substitution of a digital relationship to a face-to-face one. The face-to-face relationship is sincere, direct, responsible, and caring.
Image Description | Photograph of two young people sitting on a bench and texting; YouTube video (second prize in the 'video' category); photograph of two young people talking face-to-face in the backgroung (foreground: two smartphones).
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, text

It may be shallow and salacious, but don’t blame Tinder for online misogyny

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 8.4.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | gender, online dating, research/study, social media, threat
Summary | A new study revealed that the dating app Tinder spreads sexism and ideals of beauty; however, according to the author of the article, such behavior is not new. The media tends to portray new technologies and new apps as responsible for numerous societal ills, thus being dangerous. This new research follows a similar discourse while blaming the dating app Tinder of misogyny. However, sexism and beauty standards also existed before the age of social media. Thus, sexist comments are not the result of new technologies/apps; they go well beyond our digital devices.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone with the Tinder app open; we can see parts of a woman's face and a big LIKE in green.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone, Tinder

Page 1 of 2
Back | Next