Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 10
Posts 1 - 10

Review: When the Digital World Is Judging Your Every Thought

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 17.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, politics, social media, threat
Summary | The new novel "I Hate The Internet" by Jarett Kobek poses a lot of interesting questions about how social media is affecting our society. The main question is: why is everyone willingly giving away their intellectual property on platforms owned by for-profit corporations? How did these capitalist platforms become to be perceived as the most appropriate space to exercise one's freedom of speech? Wannabe social activists think they are helping a cause by posting provocative comments on social media but few people are getting active for real social change.
Image Description | Image of the book and a portrait of the author holding a giant plush emoji.
Image Tags | emojis, male(s)

The Week in Tech: Facebook Live, a More Civil Reddit and Yahoo’s Odd Deal-Making

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 9.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, cyberbullying, Facebook, marketing, politeness, Twitter
Summary | Reddit has for the first time in its existence enabled users to block other users from commenting. This enables censorship of less desirable opinions. Twitter landed the exclusive deal to live stream a football game on their platform, a deal Facebook was initially after since they are better known for their LiveStream service than Twitter. This is a high-profile marketing campaign for Twitter. Also, Yahoo is trying to sell itself.
Image Description | An image of a smartphone showing a livestreamed interview.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Facebook Groups Act as Weapons Bazaars for Militias

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 6.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, marketing, threat
Summary | Since Facebook has enabled the transmission of payments via the site, it has seen an increase of commerce on the platform. Most worryingly, many Middle Eastern Facebook group pages advertise and apparently sell fire arms (everything from pistols over machine guns to missiles) via Facebook. Facebook has forbidden the sale of fire arms on their platform but they have to rely on users to report such cases.
Image Description | Images of the weapons on sale on Facebook, ISIS fighters, and refugee boats.
Image Tags | Facebook, male(s)

So gefährlich ist die dunkle Seite der Online-Werbung

(This is how dangerous the dark side of online advertising is )

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Welt
Date | 11.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, Google, law, marketing, threat
Summary | Hackers have found new ways to enter people's computers more effectively. Online advertisements can run a malware script as soon as one is on the website where the advertisement is shown - without clicking on it. This is dangerous for all websites that display advertising - the biggest advertisers online being Facebook and Google.
Image Description | Image of the Google headquarters with a male silhouette in front of it.
Image Tags | Google, logo, male(s)

Snapchat Is Playing Cool With Brands and Stars

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 19.12.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, Snapchat
Summary | A lot of famous people (musicians, actors, politicians) use social networks, which makes big social network companies happy because celebrities attract more users. However, Snapchat (unlike other social networks) does not give celebrities such as Jay Sean special treatment. Snapchat wants to treat all of its users the same way in order to provide a more authentic experience.
Image Description | Photograph of Jay Sean
Image Tags | male(s)

Mein Heim, mein Google

(My home, my Google)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 19.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, Google, marketing, privacy, texting
Summary | On Google's Innovation presentation, they have presented their new products. Everything is largely chatbot-based, they are coming out with a home assistant much like Amazon's Echo and some new Messaging apps through which businesses can offer in-app services, for instance restaurant reservations. The Messaging apps are also supposed to be able to suggest appropriate responses to content. Privacy is also an important topic, all these innovations are designed with maximum security in mind.
Image Description | Getty Images of Google representatives presenting innovations.
Image Tags | male(s)

Googles künstlich intelligenter Chat-Freund

(Google's artificially intelligent chat friend)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 8.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, Google, marketing, social media
Summary | Google is launching a new messaging app called Allo. Messaging apps are hailed to be the new thing after social media. Especially messaging apps lie the Chinese WeChat or Allo which have an AI assistant with which users can easily get simple information from within the app, transmit payments, or open a small shop that operates through the app.
Image Description | Reuters image of a man presenting Allo at a conference and a few screenshots of conversations with Allo's chatbot.
Image Tags | Google, male(s), text

Jetzt kommt die Sticker-Schwemme

(The sticker flood is on its way)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 15.11.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | abbreviations, emojis, Facebook, language threat, marketing, social media
Summary | Emoticons (f.i. ":-D") and abbreviations (f.i. "LOL") have trickled down from "geek speak" and established themselves in the mainstream. Emojis are nowadays ever present in our digital communication as well as in other arenas such as film or advertising. Now various social media platforms, among them Facebook, offer users various palettes of stickers. They are larger versions of emojis and are sent as an image file rather than included on the keyboard as a letter. Because many sticker palettes need to be purchased, a whole economy is beginning to form: The Japanese messaging app Line has sold over $250 mio worth of stickers last year. We do not need to fear that emojis and co. will replace language as we know it.
Image Description | Commodified emojis in various forms (as balls, as tattoos, as bed sheets, as food, on clothing, as masks, etc.) and Facebook messenger chats using/purchasing sticker collections.
Image Tags | emojis, Facebook, male(s), social media

Here's everything Facebook knows about you - and it's just plain creepy

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 8.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, marketing, privacy
Summary | It is remarkable bordering on scary how much information Facebook has on its users in order to target them with specific advertising. Facebook is aware of such things as their users' gender, age, generation, parenthood, being a pet owner, knowing people who have recently had a wedding/birthday/etc., political affiliation, spending habits, housing situation (including square footage of their house!), traveling habits, consumption practices (groceries, liquor, cosmetics, etc), car situation (worth, likeliness to buy a new car and what kind, etc.), and what type of mom they are (soccer, trendy, etc.)!
Image Description | Reuters image of a male silhouette using a smartphone in front of a lit-up Facebook logo and a Getty image of a Facebook page reflected in a woman's glasses.
Image Tags | Facebook, female(s), hand(s), logo, male(s)

Stagnant Twitter misses on revenue, guidance

Hyperlink

Date | 27.7.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, Twitter
Summary | Twitter is still not profitable. Their market value is constantly plummeting and it is unlikely that someone will significantly invest in Twitter. The company has not even been able to formulate what the point of the platform is so it is unsurprising that investors are hesitant. The Twitter CEO however remains optimistic that a business angle will come through eventually.
Image Description | Portrait of Twitter CEO.
Image Tags | male(s)

Page 1 of 1