Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 19
Posts 1 - 10

Lehrer schreiben Manifest gegen verrohte Schüler

(Teachers write a manifesto against brutal language)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 6.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | brain, cyberbullying, language threat, school, social media, youth
Summary | Many German schools now report an increase in vulgar hate language among the students. They see the cause in the increased amount of hate language online on social media. This leads to less tolerance towards people with other opinions and more aggressive discussions. Neurological psychologists say that violent language influences the brain so that individuals who are exposed to it more readily use physical violence against others.
Image Description | N/A

Afro-Frisur einer Schülerin wird zum Politikum

(Afro hair of a student becomes a political issue)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 2.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | diversity, Facebook, gender, hashtags, politics, school, Twitter
Summary | A black girl at a high school in Pretoria in South Africa was chastised for wearing her hair naturally in an afro. This resulted in a lot of backlash against the school on social media under the hasthag #StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh. As many as 28'000 people signed an online petition to end racism at schools and major polititians condemned the chastising of wearing natural black hair.
Image Description | A black woman doing another black woman's hair in a salon.
Image Tags | female(s)

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

Englisch gut. Deutsch mangelhaft

(English good. German bad.)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 29.10.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | language threat, school, youth, YouTube
Summary | Today's youth have much better foreign language competencies in English than previous generations. That could have many reasons related to changes in the educational system but one reason is certainly that they are becoming global citizens digitally. They don't want to miss out on anything on Netflix or YouTube because their English is too poor so they tend to know English quite well.
Image Description | N/A

Hieroglyphen von heute

(Hieroglyphs of today)

Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 30.3.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, research/study, translation
Summary | Emojis have permeated contemporary life in all aspects. Experts say it is the most quickly expanding language worldwide.Companies are being hired to Interpret emojis for adverising, and the police have to rely on emoji experts when text messages are part of the evidence. Whole books have been translated into emoji.
Image Description | Emoji riddles.
Image Tags | emojis

Das neue iMessage strapaziert die Nerven

(The new iMessage gets on my nerves)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 15.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, texting, word/writing
Summary | The updated iMessage has tons of new functions. It suggests appropriate emojis to replace words of a message, it now has sticker packages like the Facebook Messenger and allows for text messages to be animated. Users can also send short handwritten Messages - that it if they can still write by hand. All of the updates combined make for a much more obnoxious iMessage service.
Image Description | Images of iPhones using iMessage.
Image Tags | smartphone

Emojimode

(Emoji fashion)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 14.8.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, marketing
Summary | Some think emojis are the bane of our existence, a regression into cave painting and giving up our sophistication of language. Others all for emojis and not prominent people in the fashion industry are designing pieces with emojis on them because emojis are all the rage.
Image Description | N/A

Wo geht's hier zur #bikinibridge?

(Which way is the #bikinibridge?)

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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

Handliche Hitliste für klares Formulieren

(Handy hit list for clear articulation)

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 19.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, language threat, social media, word/writing
Summary | Our ability to write clearly and poignantly is very important if we want to succeed in life. It is a complex skill that needs to be practiced and Facebook and co. do not help our sharpening of a writing style at all. Social media nurtures a much too simple genre of writing.
Image Description | N/A

«Sprache verfällt nicht»

(«Language does not deteriorate»)

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 15.11.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | code-switching, language threat, research/study, social media, youth
Summary | German linguist Eva Gredel claims that language does not deteriorate because of its informal use online. Internet language is more differentiated and divided in subcultures the language itself is not at risk. Many people fear this when they visit social media and see how people disregard conventions. This is because many people want to be innovative with their language online. Parents do not need to be worried about their children's language online - it is good if they learn various codes/registers of speaking.
Image Description | N/A

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