Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 7
Posts 1 - 7

'Ha' Isn't a Laugh. Seriously?

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 8.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | abbreviations, emojis, Facebook, research/study, texting, word/writing
Summary | People express laughs in different ways when the text or otherwise communicate online. Some type a version of "haha", others write "LOL" or a similar abbreviation but none of these messages mean that one is actually laughing. Linguists who have analyzed thousands of texts claim that LOLs signal interlocutor involvement like an "uh-huh" on the phone.
Image Description | Cartoon of various people laughing with various noises.
Image Tags | male(s)

How can women build better friendships? Start with the right words.

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 11.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | research/study, social media, texting, threat
Summary | Linguist Deborah Tannen has just published her latest book about how women build their friendships through language. Communicating with friends and negotiating the terms of the friendship is fraught with risks especially now that social media lets one know exactly when one is being exluded from group activities. Texting also complicates our friendships.
Image Description | N/A

The Week in Tech: The Next Big Thing, According to Mark Zuckerberg

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 16.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, research/study, smartphone, texting, virtual reality
Summary | Facebook is already huge: more than three times as many messages are transmitted over Facebook Messenger than SMS messages at its peak. But Facebook is also hugely significant as a video platform and they are investing much of their resources in developing virtual reality. Apparently, Zuckerberg believes that VR is the next big platform after the smartphone. They are even working with anthropologists to make the body language VR avatars more realistic.
Image Description | An image of Zuckerberg doing a presentation with VR goggles projected behind him.
Image Tags | Facebook, male(s)

The rise and rise of Whatsapp: 300 billion instant messages are expected to be sent throughout 2014 – and that’s just in the UK

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Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 7.8.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, sexting, texting, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Instant messaging has overtaken texting: The average British person sends just seven text messages a day compared to 46 instant messages. Popular apps are WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, and Viber. Many people have five messaging apps on their smartphones on average. The high amount of instant messaged sent can partly be explained by the flatrate cost rather than paying for every message individually. A Michigan University study shows that half of 18-24 year olds (over 3000 participants) engage in sexting.
Image Description | Photograph of a WhatsApp icon on a screen.
Image Tags | WhatsApp

How good is your grammar? Take the quiz

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Newspaper | The Independent
Date | 16.2.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, grammar, language threat, research/study, school, texting, threat, youth
Summary | According to a study, texting can have a bad impact on young people's use of grammar. The results show that the more people text, the lower their score on the test was. There is also a correlation between the use of adaptations (e.g. gr8 for great) and a lower score. If parents text their kids with a lot of adaptations, the kids will probably imitate their parents.
Image Description | Photograph of a page of a dictionary where the word "grammar" is in sharp focus.
Image Tags | dictionary

Thou shalt not end a relationship by text: Psychologist reveals the 17 golden rules of 'digital etiquette'

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Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 25.2.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, social media, texting
Summary | Researchers provided a list of 17 rules that users should follow. For example, they should not end a relationship by text, or overshare on social networks. Also, they should not post anything online or text someone when drunk, emotional, or angry. The research shows that users spend an average of 4 hours on social media every day. A psychologist claims that relationships have changed in the digital age.
Image Description | Series of four photographs: woman crying and using a tissue while looking at her phone, woman lying in bed sick with her phone in her hand, young man drunk using his laptop, and two young women smiling and looking at a smartphone.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), smartphone

Want your texts to appear sincere? DON’T use punctuation: Researchers say full stops make messages appear less trustworthy

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Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 8.12.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | language threat, punctuation, research/study, spelling, texting
Summary | A study revealed that text messages that end with a period are considered as less sincere. In text messages, people use punctuation and emoticons to convey emotions and social cues. Also, the language of text messages has a serious impact on the English language. New words (e.g. LOL) have been added to the dictionary, people don't use hyphens anymore due to laziness, deep thoughts and ideas are summed up in 140 characters, and our smartphones correct our spelling so we don't have to learn how to spell words.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman using her phone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

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