Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 9
Posts 1 - 9

Review: When the Digital World Is Judging Your Every Thought

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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)

What Chatbots Reveal About Our Own Shortcomings

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 24.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, marketing, misunderstanding, threat, Twitter
Summary | Artificial intelligence is the new big thing but it is mostly geared towards commercial services like ordering pizza, etc. Microsoft for instance proudly announced that their AI assistant can now even understand slang inputs. But this way of learning from actual users has shown to be risky when Microsoft released their AI robot Tay on Twitter and people trolled them by teaching Tay offensive things.
Image Description | Illustration and a GIF of smartphones typing.
Image Tags | gifs, smartphone, text

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

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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

Free Tools to Keep Those Creepy Online Ads From Watching You

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 18.2.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, privacy, threat
Summary | Many companies track potential customers' internet activity so that they find out when someone, for instance, has the flu and will likely respond to flu medication advertisements. They collect data about all users when they visit a tracking website and then tailor advertising to specific target groups. This is a violation of our privacy because this process is very obscure and it is difficult to protect oneself from it but there are a few softwares one can get to stop companies from tracking one's online activity.
Image Description | Hands typing on a laptop keyboard.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, hand(s)

Facebook Groups Act as Weapons Bazaars for Militias

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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)

Marketers Let Emojis Say It With Pictures

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 7.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis, marketing
Summary | The brand Durex proposed a new condom emoji to communicate safe sex, but the Unicode Consortium has yet to approve the proposal. Brands are aware of the power of emojis, so they want to create new emojis that represent their brand. Big companies such as Coca-Cola, Disney, or Starbuck have paid Twitter a lot of money to see special emojis representing them. Emojis can also be used to promote movies (e.g. Deadpool).
Image Description | N/A

Hotels Open a New Playbook for Millennials

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 10.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, smartphone, social media
Summary | Hotels have announced new plans in order to reach millennials. There is a pilot program available at a couple Aloft hotels in the world; it features free wifi, a robotic bellhop, and an emoji room service menu. Marriott hotels have also created new features that appeal to the younger "connected" generation.
Image Description | N/A

Old Masters Learn the Art of Snapchat

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 30.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, Snapchat, social media
Summary | The LA County Museum of Art has been using its Snapchat account to get in touch with the younger generation. Other museums have been using social media to reach younger people; new technologies can be seen as tools of education. The LA museum is also present on Facebook and Instagram, and so is the Art Institute of Chicago. They both have a lot of followers.
Image Description | N/A

Snapchat Is Playing Cool With Brands and Stars

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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)

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