Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 4
Posts 1 - 4

The Rise and Fall of Yik Yak, the Anonymous Messaging App

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 27.5.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | childhood, cyberbullying, law, privacy, social media, threat, youth
Summary | The anonymous messaging app Yik Yak became very popular in colleges and schools because it lets people broadcast anonymously to other users near them. The activity on the app has however started to become thretening with college students and children bullying each other and people making bomb threats that have led to multiple evacuations. A feminist group from University of Mary Washington have filed complaint to the University to block Yik Yak on campus because it has been used to harrass and threaten members.
Image Description | An illustration with a face and a smartphone and an image of the creators of Yik Yak.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Snapchat Discover Takes a Hard Line on Misleading and Explicit Images

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 23.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Snapchat, threat, youth
Summary | Snapchat is making greater ethical demands to news publishers on the Discover page. News media posting on Snapchat's Discover page are asked to only post material that is fact-checked and objective and to refrain from using sexually explicit or violent images that are not newsworthy for shock value. In response to a complaint about minors being exposed to inapproriate material on Snapchat, Snapchat ask media outlets who publish on their platform to put age-restrictions on their posts so that mature content is only seen by people who have signed up as adults on Snapchat.
Image Description | Screenshot of the Snapchat Discover page.
Image Tags | smartphone, Snapchat

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

Dear Doc, :-(

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 18.1.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, texting, youth
Summary | Physicians report that their children who are away at college frequently text them to ask about symptoms such as throat aches or send them images of their swollen toes, turf burns, or their roommates' rashes. Given the fact that today's teenagers conduct an increasing amount of their social interactions over their smartphones, it is not surprising that they would seek medical counsel through that medium as well. Hospitals are already looking into possibilities of diagnosing certain ailments via digital communication in order to expand medical coverage to remote areas.
Image Description | Illustration of a smartphone taking an x-ray of a foot.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

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