Number of Posts: 8
Posts 1 - 8
Invasion of the troll armies: from Russian Trump supporters to Turkish state stooges
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 6.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | fake news, politics, threat
Summary | Thousands of trolls out there are pretending to be someone else. They spread fake news and write fake texts in exchange of some money. For instance, Russian people were paid by their government in order to pretend to be Trump's supporters. In China, the practice is common; the government pays people to manipulate social media. The article lists other examples such as Russia, Ukraine, Israel, the UK, North and South Korea, and Turkey.
Image Description | Image of military men (their faces has been replaced by thumbs up), image of someone using a laptop, two social media illustrations
Image Tags | computer/laptop, male(s), social media
5 easy and simple ways to protect your privacy online - how to prepare for the next big threat
Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 18.8.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | privacy, threat
Summary | Privacy expert Mark Weinstein shares some tips to protect your privacy online: use safe internet browsers, be careful where you search (for instance, Google saves all of your searches), WhatsApp is not as private as what you might think, use a cloud storage that can't see your information, etc. We should be worried about our privacy in the future as governments are trying to get backdoor access to apps and digital devices. Millennials seem to be the ones that are most concerned about their online privacy.
Image Description | Photographs of a woman in front of social media icons, two hands using computer mice and a keyboard, fingers touching a screen displaying the Google search bar, WhatsApp icon, cloud storage icons, hand holding a smartphone in front of the Facebook logo, portrait of Tim Cook, and Facebook "laughing" reaction button
Image Tags | emojis, Facebook, female(s), Google, hand(s), keyboard, male(s), smartphone, social media, WhatsApp
Facebook backs down in race row: Will stop advertisers using 'ethnic affinity' to target housing, employment and credit ads
Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 11.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, marketing, privacy
Summary | Facebook will stop its "ethnic affinity" practice that helps advertisers reach ethnic groups with housing, extension of credit, and employment ads. However, policymakers and civil rights leaders have been concerned about the use of the ethnic affinity option; those ads discriminate against people. The privacy and public policy manager at Facebook said that it is important to keep the option to include and exclude groups for advertisers.
Image Description | Screenshot of Facebook's 'Detailed Targeting' form, screenshot of a part of a Facebook page, photograph of a smartphone screen with social media logos on it
Image Tags | Facebook, logo, smartphone, social media
Jetzt kommt die Sticker-Schwemme
(The sticker flood is on its way)
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
That time when ‘that time when’ took over the Internet #InstantNostalgia
Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 15.9.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | hashtags, research/study, social media
Summary | It has become customary to frame anecdotal posts on social media with the phrase "that time when" or "that akward moment when". Sometimes it is even used to describe events that have just happened, even though it is a formulation that suggests an old memory. This linguistic strategy thereby creates an air of nostalgia around the memory and makes it iconic. Linguists suggest that the usage of the demonstrative "that" suggests that sender and receiver of the message have shared memories. This is why many celebrities use this construction to create a false sense of intimacy with their fans online.
Image Description | GIF of a woman taking a selfie and posting it to social media.
Image Tags | female(s), gifs, smartphone, social media
¿Le mandarías una foto desnudo a tu mejor amigo?
(Would you send a naked picture of yourself to your best friend?)
Newspaper | El País
Date | 15.4.2016
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | sexting, texting
Summary | Human beings have three vital functions: communication, reproduction, and drinking/eating. Nowadays, people can satisfy these three functions online. Some might say that sharing naked pictures online is egocentric, but others try to normalize online nudity (e.g. with #FreeTheNipple and #Nutscapes). Another example is frexting (friends + texting); people send (half) naked pictures of themselves to friends instead of sending them to everyone on social media. Unlike popular beliefs, the author of the article found out that users who practice frexting can be males, females, and from different sexual orientations. Unlike sexting and the idealization of bodies, frexting is a way to go beyond the pressure of body representation. Frexting equals normalization and ridicule.
Image Description | Two photographs of frexting on social media: Paco Leon on Twitter, and Chelsea Handler on Instagram, and GIF of a naked woman (breasts and genitalia blurred).
Image Tags | female(s), gifs, male(s), social media
Field studies of the offspring
Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 31.5.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, smartphone, Snapchat, technology-free, youth
Summary | The research center conducts in depth interviews with today’s teenagers, the so-called Generation Z or digital natives, on behalf of various corporations. The aim of the study is to find out about this generation’s relationship with new technologies. They all value mobile/digital communication very highly, to the extent that many choose online colleges, online shopping, and home office work over actually having to physically go somewhere to study, work, or shop. They report of the abundance of messages each day and that they also highly value their offline hobbies, such as reading or knitting.
Image Description | Collage-like illustration of youths and online and offline activities.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, social media
Schulmädchen im Internet
(School girls on the internet)
Newspaper | die Weltwoche
Date | 12.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Snapchat, threat, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Teenage girls still live struggling with the same pressure as earlier generations; the only difference is that now social media are here to enhance them. The number of followers quantifies popularity and the longevity of content online can easily ruin somebody’s reputation for good. Having an account on WhatsApp, Snapchat, and other social media is compulsory at ages as young as 11 years old unless one wants to become isolated.
Image Description | Illustration of a girl and her digital devices; she is surrounded by elements representing social media and internet life.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), smartphone, social media
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