Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 12
Posts 1 - 10

Growing social media backlash among young people, survey shows

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 5.10.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, cyberbullying, research/study, social media, technology-free, threat, youth
Summary | Two out of three pupils claim they would not care if there was no social media. According to the survey, young people are aware of the negative effects of new technologies on their lives and mental health. Some of them said that they had been victims of online abuse, that they were addicted, or/and that they felt less confident. Other pupils talked about the positive aspects of new technologies and social media (e.g. memes, Snapchat stories) and what improvements they would like to see. At a private boarding school for girls, pupils tried a new experiment: hand over their phones for three days. The girls liked the experiences and would like to do it again for a longer period.
Image Description | Photograph of someone (whose face is cut off) sitting on a bed and using/looking at a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop

Byte-sized guide for parents on how they can keep their children safe online this summer

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 3.8.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, cyberbullying, privacy, research/study, threat
Summary | Parents want their kids to be safe online during the summer. A research shows that 8 to 16-year-old kids will spend about 130 hours on social media during the summer break. The article offers some tips to keep children safe (e.g. privacy and location settings, play together, how to deal with trolls and sexting, get children to play outside).
Image Description | Photograph of a kid holding a tablet of his/her lap, a kid's hand on a lapop, video about the Pokemon Go game, hand holding a smartphone, Minecraft characters, a little boy hiding his face, young woman making a face, two hands holding a smartphone, a child using a tablet.
Image Tags | female(s), game, hand(s), male(s), smartphone, tablet

Tablets and smartphones damage toddlers' speech development

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 4.5.2017
Language | English
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, language threat, research/study, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | According to a study, giving toddlers digital devices before the age of two can hinder their speech development. In Britain toddlers spend about 44 minutes a day using digital devices, and it can impact their language skills.
Image Description | Two photographs of toddlers using and looking at a tablet.
Image Tags | female(s), tablet

The Facebook Breakup

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 13.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, Facebook, research/study, threat
Summary | Many studies have been published about whether Facebook makes us happy or unhappy. Studies with both conclusions exist. They agree that Facebook notifications can cause a hormone release that boosts feelings of happiness for a moment, like all other addictive substances. Facebook has teams working on solustions on how to deal with accounts of users who pass away or how to assist people with avoiding their ex-partners on Facebook.
Image Description | An illustration of a vacuum cleaner vacuuming a broken heart, a team of designers working at Facebook, motivational posters from Facebook, and a smartphone showing the post-breakup settings Facebook offers.
Image Tags | Facebook, female(s), male(s), smartphone, text

Talk to your teen about Snapchat Ghost Mode, and track their time

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Newspaper | USA Today
Date | 15.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | addiction, privacy, research/study, Snapchat, threat, youth
Summary | Teenagers today mainly use Snapchat, 75% to be extact. In comparison, 66% use Facebook, and 47% use Twitter. One third of teenage Snapchat users said they use Snapchat because their parents are not on it. There are various apps that let parents track their children's activity on apps to make sure they do not approach addictive levels of usage. Another good way to track that is to join Snapchat as a parent and keep an eye on one's children from within the app - this is for parents who want to be less "lame" about watching over their children. Snapchat map is a recently added function that parents should be partticularly worried about enabling users to share their location at all times.
Image Description | Screenshots of Snapchat map showing user avatars and settings as well as surveillance apps for parents.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), Snapchat

Generation Blödphone?

(Generation Dumbphone?)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 11.8.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | A US study has conducted surveys among teenagers asking them how often they go out without their parents, whether they date or have had sex, how much they sleep , etc. The results show that teenagers go out/date less, sleep less, and have sex later in life since the advent of smartphones. Swiss media psychologist Gregor Waller criticizes the study because it bases its conclusions on mere correlation. It leaves out other important developments in the US since 2007 like the financial crisis. An equivalent Swiss study does not show similar results. Most Swiss teenagers continue to have a rich social life despite smartphones. Only about 10% of Swiss teenagers are at risk of smartphone addiction.
Image Description | Graphs showing results of the US study and a portrait of the interviewee (Swiss psychologist Gregor Waller).
Image Tags | chart, male(s)

Here’s A Clear Sign You Might Be Too Dependent On Your Phone

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Newspaper | Huffington Post
Date | 26.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, threat
Summary | American researchers have conducted studies confirming that "device dependability" is a real psychiatric illness that leads people to perceive phantom buzzes from their smartphones, i.e. to hear a notification when there is none. Most individuals affected show neurotic personality traits and/or feel anxious when separated from their smartphone. The condition is supposed to be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychological Association and the researchers hope that this will raise awareness of the dangers of smartphone dependability or addiction.
Image Description | Getty image of five race and gender diverse young adults holding smartphones in front of an orange wall.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Les jeunes passent plus de temps sur le net

(Young people spend more time online)

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Newspaper | 20 minutes
Date | 9.11.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, social media, threat, youth
Summary | According to a study, young people spend an average of 2 hours and 30 minutes online during the week, and 3 hours and 40 minutes on the weekend. Also, young people cannot live without their smartphone. They don't usually use their phone to make phone calls or text; they rather use their phone for social media (e.g. Snapchat, Instagram). Even though young people spend a lot of time on their phone, they still meet with friends face-to-face. Smartphones do not replace physical relationships. Finally, families should have rules for new media use at home.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of teenagers (their faces are cut off from the picture); they are sitting next to each other using their phones.
Image Tags | smartphone

Los jóvenes se sienten incompletos sin internet y las redes sociales

(Young people feel incomplete without internet and social media)

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Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 9.4.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, social media, threat, youth
Summary | A lot of young people wouldn't be able to live without new technologies (internet, social media, etc.). According to a study, they feel isolated and incomplete without them, and they wouldn't know how to socialize. Young people are aware of the advantages of internet and social media (e.g. possibility to have many relationships) as well as the risks of such new technologies (e.g. loss of privacy). They also know they can become dependent on their digital devices. However, they are not so worried; they think such disadvantages are normal and part of today's society. The survey also showed contradictory results; 74% of the respondents thought that social media facilitate new friendships, but about 72% of them thought that social media isolate people more.
Image Description | Video: interview of young people about their online practices, and two charts showing statistics about online practices.
Image Tags | chart, computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), smartphone

El 21% de los jóvenes está en riesgo de ser adicto a las nuevas tecnologías

(21% of young people are at risk of becoming addicted to new technologies)

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Newspaper | El País
Date | 3.7.2015
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | A lot of young people are addicted to their phones; although they might not know they are addicted, they spend most of their time glued to their phone. Beatriz Valera is 19 and is addicted. She used to spend her days alone on her computer and smartphone. She would only spend time with people online. A psychologist expert in addictions claims that the need to be part of a social group makes people addicted to the digital world. Techno-addicts need to learn how to use their digital devices and how to control themselves. To help them, experts also suggest giving them the same advice as they would give drug addicts. Most of the techno-addicts are between 14 and 30 years old.
Image Description | Photograph of a girl holding a phone that is hiding her face.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

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