Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 6
Posts 1 - 6

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

Benefits of Study Abroad: ‘My Students Return Transformed’

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 12.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | diversity, selfie, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | In response to the article “Study Abroad’s Seven Deadly Sins”, this university educator agrees that inappropriate selfies and ever-present smartphones are an issue among study abroad students. She however emphasized that such articles are not helpful at this time of heightened anxiety about rising nationalism and that students must instead be encouraged more strongly to go study abroad.
Image Description | N/A

Study Abroad's Seven Deadly Sins

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 8.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | politeness, selfie, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | The seven deadly sins of studying abroad incude two sins related to the digital realm. First, study abroad students should at best not take a smartphone with them. It will keep them way to connected with their peers at home and the fear of missing out on activities at home will make them text with friends from home rather than meet new people in the foreign country they are supposed to be experiencing. Second, stay abroad students should be conscious of how they take their selfies - they can easily be disrespectful depending on the place and the pose one strikes.
Image Description | Colorful number 1 through 7.

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

How Do We Get Young People to Stop Sexting?

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 18.11.2015
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | school, sexting, threat, youth
Summary | The whole society is responsible for the next generation's sex education: schools, parents, media, religious communities, and so on. Because all these groups differ on the appropriate content of such sex education. Warnings about the dangers of sexting should be included but even adults sext irresponsibly so parents cannot be trusted with the responsibility to teach the next generation on how to handle themselves on new media. Sexting is dangerous to ruining one's reputation and one's "digital brand".
Image Description | N/A

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

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