Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 18
Posts 1 - 10

El reto lingüístico que tienen por delante los "nativos digitales"

(The linguistic challenge facing the "digital natives")

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Newspaper | infobae
Date | 6.6.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Argentina
Topic Tags | language threat, spelling, youth
Summary | The digital natives are running the risk of simplifying language and critical thinking too much, according to an international seminar where linguists, journalists, and social media experts met. Some of the experts regret the fact that linguistic normativity and unity might be in danger. Others are worried that the new generation might only know how to use digital technologies, which might lead to a simplification of language and critical thinking. This is why we need to inform future generations of the different registers they can use. Experts also talked about the role of journalists in the digital era.
Image Description | Three photographs: four young people using their phone, a woman (face cut off) using her phone, and a man (face cut off) using a tablet
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, tablet

No, She’s Not Really Wearing That. The Sext You Just Got Is Probably a Lie.

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Newspaper | Slate
Date | 11.4.2014
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | research/study, sexting
Summary | A study about college students' sexting activity published in 'Computers in Human Behavior' shows that 45% of women lie while sexting, for instance when saying that they are wearing lingerie when really they are really doing something completely different, as opposed to only 24% of men. Because sexting can be completely ficticious, one can adopt a different sexual personality in sexting exchange that is nothing like one's actual sexual personality. The study also shows that a lot of disinterested sexting happens where people just go along with it even if they are not that into it because they are 'bored'.
Image Description | Getty photograph of a woman looking at her smartphone in public.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Warning teenagers over ‘sexting’

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Newspaper | The Argus
Date | 12.8.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | law, sexting, Snapchat, threat, youth
Summary | Sexting is becoming an increasing problem among youths in Southern England. Charities that work with teenagers (mostly girls) who have been victimized by having their nude selfies shared without their permission. There is a crucial difference between face to face flirtatious encounters versus on new media: men are reported to be much more forward on digital channels and that they very quickly request nude images. There is a lot of pressure on male participants in sexting to obtain nude images which almost counts as social currency among their male peers. The police are also not handling the situation well according to prevention organizations as they tend to criminalize the victims of sexting as sex child pornography offenders.
Image Description | Portrait of person mentioned in article and photograph of a woman holding a smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Double Standards: Why sexting sucks

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Newspaper | Times Live
Date | 23.6.2014
Language | English
Country | South Africa
Topic Tags | gender, law, research/study, sexting, youth
Summary | A study by Julia Lippman and Scott Campbell where they interviewed teenagers about their attitudes towards sexting showed that a strong double standard exists between judging girls' versus boys' sexting activities. If girls sext, the are perceived as attention-seeking 'sluts' and if the do not engage in sexting, they are judged for being frigid. Boys are however pardoned for sexting because "boys will be boys". Minors sexting is further problematic because it is persecuted under child pornography laws.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman taking a selfie in lingerie.
Image Tags | female(s), selfie, smartphone

Geek Mythology: Apps such as Snapchat show it's the medium that's the message

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Newspaper | The Independent
Date | 7.5.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | sexting, Snapchat, threat, youth
Summary | Snapchat seems to be designed specifically for sexting because all sent photographic material auto-destructs itself after a few seconds. These would ensure that one's nude images do not get distributed further. Snapchat however has a 'best friend' function which displays to everyone with whom users exchange the most snaps - this would be a hinderance in maintaining a clandestine sexting relationship. Also, teenagers use Snapchat most and surely not all of them sext. After all, only because the medium faciliates a specific activity does not mean that it will be used in that way.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone, held by a hand, video calling a group of people in a restaurant background.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), male(s), smartphone

It's time to stamp out sexting: Teens will be teens, but parents must be parents

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Newspaper | Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Date | 11.4.2014
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | privacy, sexting, threat, youth
Summary | Cases of teenage sexting keep sprouting up across the country. One cannot blame the youths because they are inexperienced and hormonal. They do not realize that creation, posession, and distribution of nude images of themselves or their peers constituted a child pornography felony with serious ramifications. Many sexts go viral nowadays, which makes sexual recklessness today much more dangerous. Some victimized teenagers have commited suicide. Parents must monitor their children's activities on their smartphones to protect them from themselves. They have all right to do so since they are paying for their cell phone plans.
Image Description | Illustration of a girl looking at her phone not seeing that she is about to jump off of a ledge.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

The graphic selfies from inside the Swiss parliament

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Newspaper | BBC News
Date | 24.8.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | politics, pornography, sexting, WhatsApp
Summary | Switzerland saw two nude selfie scandals in and around politics this summer. A secretary working in the parlamentarian offices had been tweeting nude selfies taken on the premises. Parlamentarian and city mayor of Baden in Switzerland, Geri Müller, had been sexting with an online friend via WhatsApp, including an abundance of written messages and nude selfies. The Swiss public had been debating whether Müller's #selfiegate should have been newsworthy at all. What ultimately emerges is a double standard: the secretary lost her job within days and the mayor is still representing the Swiss people in parliament.
Image Description | Portrait of Geri Müller, Anthony Weiner, and a Thinkstock image of a hand holding a smartphone presumably taking a selfie.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), selfie, smartphone

Government secretary tweets nude ‘selfies’

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Newspaper | The Local
Date | 7.8.2014
Language | English
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | pornography, selfie, sexting
Summary | A Bernese office employee had been tweeting nude images from her office to her 11'000 followers. She works for the Swiss government, whose employment policies ask employees to only post thing on social media that they would be comfortable sharing with their co-workers and supervisors as well and to keep the Swiss government's reputation in mind even when they are off the clock. The secretary in question, who has participated in several hundred amateur porn films as is now confirmed, claims that her private life does not interfere with her professional life in any way and that they should be kept seperate. It is unclear how her employers will handle the situation.
Image Description | Getty image of a woman taking a selfie.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), selfie, 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

La letra, con ‘smartphone’, entra

(The letter enters with smartphone (pun with "la letra con sangre entra"))

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Newspaper | El País
Date | 27.10.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | grammar, research/study, social media, spelling, texting, threat, youth
Summary | Spelling and grammar are having a hard time in today's society; there seems to be too much lenience with regards to writing rules, which may be due to an incorrect use of new technologies. People should know when it is appropriate to use a specific register. It is okay to write a text message with abbreviations as long as users are able to change register and adapt their writing in an exam for example. A professor in Valladolid claims that handwriting as opposed to digital writing can be the solution to spelling and grammar mistakes. Social media and the way we write on those networks have a major impact on our writing skills. A study showed that the mistakes young people make in their writing assignments come from our habit to constantly write quickly and be spontaneous on social media. Those mistakes are mostly due to a lack of attention. The study also showed a positive aspect: with social media, we write more.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of four young people using their smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), male(s), smartphone

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