Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 16
Posts 1 - 10

Hilfe @ mein Gott

(Help @ my God)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 27.7.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, texting, youth
Summary | More and more people are leaving their church. Both the protestant and Catholic clergy have come together and built an online platform for people to receive spiritual guidance via e-mail or text-message. The service has been quite popular since 2012 when its increased traffic due to the ending of the Maya calendar received a lot of media attention, particularly amongst people aged 14 to 30.
Image Description | N/A

Wegen WhatsApp – Jungen fehlt Gesprächsstoff

(Young people don’t have anything to talk about because of WhatsApp)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 3.8.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Young people in Britain and Switzerland spend more time using WhatsApp than actually meeting with their friends. Because all personal news can be shared on WhatsApp much more conveniently than face-to-face thanks to group chats, young people run out of things to talk about when they actually meet. Most young people however become critical of their new media use once they have spent a few years on social media and start optimizing their online activity.
Image Description | Photograph showing hands holding smartphones.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

Tablets und Twitter –darauf stehen Junge

(Tablets and Twitter – that’s what young people like)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 30.10.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | research/study, smartphone, social media, youth
Summary | A study conducted by the Zurich University of Applied Science shows that of 1000 informants between the ages of 12-19, 97% have a smartphone and only 1% a traditional mobile phone. Fewer young people use mp3 players than in recent years but listening to music still ranks high among young people. Social media use has increased considerably while different age groups target different platforms: 18-19 year-olds prefer Facebook while 14-15 year-olds use Twitter more profusely. Young people report having fewer offline hobbies than in recent years but still make sure to meet with friends on a daily basis.
Image Description | Photograph of two male teenagers wearing headphones; one of them is using a tablet and the other is eating a burger.
Image Tags | headphones, male(s), tablet

BTDTGTTSAWIO – das FBI erklärt Slang

(BTDTGTTSAWIO – the FBI explains slang)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 19.6.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | abbreviations, childhood, texting, youth
Summary | The FBI has published a list of social media/messaging app abbreviations which helps them in their hunt for criminals and which could help the broader public to keep an eye on their children. Some of these abbreviations are: SOMSW (someone over my shoulder watching), NIFOC (naked in front of computer), and BTDTGTTSAWIO (been there, done that, got the t-shirt and wore it out). The FBI’s publication has been criticized for being irrelevant because these abbreviations are rarely used.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand holding a smartphone and texting. Photograph of a hand holding a smartphone and texting.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone, text

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)

Hilfe, Mama und Papa sind handysüchtig!

(Help, mom and dad are addicted to their cell phones!)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 23.2.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, smartphone, youth
Summary | When talking to teens who are often accused by the media of being obsessed with their smartphones, it becomes clear that their adult role models are just as preoccupied by the constant availability of the smartphone. Children and teenagers lament that they do not get their parents’ attention when there is a smartphone nearby.
Image Description | N/A

Teenager: Vom Handy um den Schlaf gebracht

(Teenagers: Kept from sleeping because of cell phone)

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Newspaper | Beobachter
Date | 29.5.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | Smartphones or other screens should not be part of the going to sleep routine because the light emitted by screens hinders the sleeping process. Action films and games excite children too much, which prevents them from sleeping well. Smartphones should not be in the bedroom at night because they disrupt sleep.
Image Description | Photograph of a teenage girl using her smarphone in bed.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Ist Kindsein gefährlicher geworden?

(Has being a child become more dangerous?)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 29.7.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | Thanks to the fact that most teenagers and even children own a smartphone, parents depend more heavily on the constant availability of their children. Nowadays, parents are worried when they can’t reach their children for an hour whereas previous generations just had to trust their sons and daughters. Psychologists claim that this lack of independence causes a late development of emotional maturity in today’s generation.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman on her phone, at the beach, taken from behind.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Jugend "Meine Jungs sind so passiv"

(Youth "My boys are so passive")

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Newspaper | Beobachter
Date | 22.8.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | A mother is worried that her sons are too passive, always hanging around with their smartphones instead of getting active in sports clubs or other social clubs. Experts advise parents not to worry as long as children sleep enough, keep their grades up in school, and keep a few social contacts. The younger generation lives in a different world of endless possibilities and of the fear of committing to one and failing.
Image Description | Photograph of two young boys playing on a tablet. Photograph of two young boys playing on a tablet.
Image Tags | male(s), tablet

A table tout le monde!

(Dinner time everybody!)

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Newspaper | Le Matin Dimanche
Date | 30.3.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, texting, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | The author talks about her experiences at home; she created a dinner schedule so that her kids would notify her of whether or not they would be home for dinner. But the kids would never notify her in advance; they would text her at 19:00 saying they would not come home. Thus, one of the kids created a WhatsApp group for the family. It's fun! There are "ribs emojis" and "spaghetti emojis". They laugh a lot on WhatsApp, so she doesn't even realize that she is eating dinner by herself.
Image Description | Photograph of the author of the article.

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