Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 7
Posts 1 - 7

Le point à la fin du SMS: un mauvais signe

(A period at the end of a text: a bad sign)

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Newspaper | Le Monde
Date | 5.1.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | abbreviations, misunderstanding, punctuation, spelling, texting, word/writing
Summary | Texting is becoming very popular among younger people who will soon be getting their smartphone transplanted on their hand. The language of texting is "cool", does not necessarily follow traditional rules, uses phonetics and abbreviations. Moreover, to replace the tone of voice and other nonverbal cues that are lacking in writing, people use emoticons. Now, it seems that adding a period at the end of a text can lead to misunderstandings.
Image Description | Photograph of a businessman walking and looking at his phone
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Figures libres. Naissance de la philoselfie

(Freestyle. Birth of philoselfie)

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Newspaper | Le Monde
Date | 5.5.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | selfie, virtual reality
Summary | The word "selfie" was created in 2002. Then it was used to designate a picture of oneself taken with a smartphone. In 2013, "selfie" was chosen as word of the year. Elsa Godard explores in her book "Je selfie donc je suis" how this recent digital activity expresses different relationships: with oneself, others, time, space, language, desire. She also tries to understand the relationship between real and virtual.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone on a selfie stick.
Image Tags | selfie stick, 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

Jamais sans mon portable!

(Never without my cell phone!)

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Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 21.2.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, smartphone
Summary | Are people addicted to their smartphone? Is it bad or dangerous? Experts claims it is not a real addiction; doctors don't talk about "cell phone addictions". It is also a bad idea to use pathological terms when talking about new media uses (a selfie is narcissistic, Facebook is exhibitionist etc.). Why are people afraid to lose their phone or forget it at home? People are not attached to the object, but to its functionalities. Smartphones replace a lot of everyday objects (agenda, newspaper, etc.). Therefore, people can be anxious if they don't have their smartphone with them.
Image Description | Photograph of a young woman in bed using her smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Un festival bannit les téléphones portables

(A festival banned cell phones)

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Newspaper | 20 minutes
Date | 27.5.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, smartphone, technology-free, youth
Summary | A small festival in Zug decided to ban cell phones so that people can enjoy the festival and live the "present". Smartphones are useful, but it is annoying when people spend most of their time on them. This new rule is a good marketing strategy; it allows the festival to be noticed. However, the restriction couldn't be applied to other big festival such as Paleo Festival or Montreux Jazz Festival.
Image Description | Series of four photographs portraying young people and shots of the festival layout.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Ce qui se passe quand on se dispute via WhatsApp

(What happens when we fight on WhatsApp)

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Newspaper | 20 minutes
Date | 7.9.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | privacy, youth
Summary | It might be better for young people not to talk about private issues via text messages. A counselor explains that online conversations and face-to-face conversations are similar for young people. If they have "talked" to someone, it usually means they had a digital or online exchange. However, to resolve personal issues, online conversations are not the best medium; they might even worsen the situation. The counselor's suggestion would be to write a letter. Finally, the image that people have of young people (connected and isolated) is not necessarily true.
Image Description | Series of 7 photographs portraying young people on a digital device (smartphone, tablet).
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, tablet

Des écoles banissent le portable des préaux

(Schools prohibit cell phones on their playgrounds)

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Newspaper | 20 minutes
Date | 12.9.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | school, smartphone, technology-free, threat, youth
Summary | Several schools in Switzerland have prohibited the use of smartphones during recess. Students do not learn as well as before, and interactions in the classrooms are not as good. Other people don't agree with this new rule. Schools need to accept the fact that everyone owns a smartphone nowadays. People communicate, which is a huge advantage of smartphones. Also, students should be able to be "free" during recess. They might want to be alone, and this is okay. Finally, a school principal thinks that prohibiting smartphones during recess is better for students; smartphones hinder the development of intercommunication.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of young male teenagers smiling and looking at their smartphones.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

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