Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 8
Posts 1 - 8

'Ha' Isn't a Laugh. Seriously?

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 8.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | abbreviations, emojis, Facebook, research/study, texting, word/writing
Summary | People express laughs in different ways when the text or otherwise communicate online. Some type a version of "haha", others write "LOL" or a similar abbreviation but none of these messages mean that one is actually laughing. Linguists who have analyzed thousands of texts claim that LOLs signal interlocutor involvement like an "uh-huh" on the phone.
Image Description | Cartoon of various people laughing with various noises.
Image Tags | male(s)

Texting With Boys

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 10.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | gender, online dating, texting
Summary | The author loves how the digital age has changes dating enabling romantic interests to communicate mainly via text messages, despite the widespread opinion that cell phones have killed romance. However, many men prefer women to be good listeners in person and via text message and lose interest when women text them music and books recommendations.
Image Description | A GIF of the response being typed symbol known from messaging apps (speech bubble and ellipses).
Image Tags | gifs

Why Kids Can't Write

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 2.8.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | grammar, punctuation, school, smartphone, social media, spelling, texting, threat, word/writing
Summary | Many students struggle with writing despite various pedagogical models that have been implemented in past years to tackle that perpetual issue. This is all the more suprising considering that today's students may do moret voluntary writing than any generation before it. They text and post on social media a lot but the writing register is different there. The format's main principle is shortness so grammar, spelling, and punctuation take a back seat.
Image Description | GIF of a hand writing and a group of teachers in a workshop.
Image Tags | female(s), gifs, text

Surfing With a New Keyboard

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 8.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis, GIFs, Google, smartphone, texting, translation, word/writing
Summary | Third party keyboards are now available to download to your smartphone. One of them is Gboard, it is very good at translating your texts in real-time. Some keyboards also offer a search function for emojis or GIFs. The swipe-typing feature is also very popular which allows users to swipe across the letters to enter words rather than type each individual letter.
Image Description | N/A

Making Your Messages Really Move

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 20.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | GIFs, texting
Summary | To get GIFs into text messages quickly, users should use a dedicated keyboard that can search a GIF library. GIFs can also be found online; in this case, users can share the link in their messages. People can also download the GIF Keyboard app which will allow users to share GIFs faster. Google's Gboard keyboard app also has shortcuts to GIFs and emojis.
Image Description | N/A

'Ha' Isn't a Laugh. Seriously?

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 9.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | spelling, texting, word/writing
Summary | When the author of the article was dating a man and would text him jokes, she was surprised to see that he would always text her back with HAHAHAs (even if the jokes were not that funny). She then realized the HAHAHAs were not representative of his laugh, but it was the result of the autocorrect function. Even though textual representations of laughter go back to Chaucer and Shakespeare, the difference between HAHAHA or HA only exists nowadays. Michelle McSweeney, a researcher at Columbia University, says that laughter helps establish cohesion. There are many ways people can express laughter online: hahahahaha, haha, HAHAHA, haaaaaaa, hehe, lol, etc. In 2015, LOL was the most common way to express laughter online. Electronic laugh has been evolving like any other dialect.
Image Description | N/A

Text for Happiness. Or Sadness. Get Art Back.

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 15.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, emojis, texting
Summary | The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has been inviting people to send the text "send me" + a word or an emoji. The museum then replies with an image from its collection. The idea of the project is to add some culture into our everyday life, and a lot of people have been using the free service. People have mostly been requesting positivity, love, flowers, and happiness. The top emojis used were: robot, heart, rainbow, and poop.
Image Description | N/A

How to Listen to Donald Trump Every Day for Years

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 21.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | grammar, language threat, politics, texting, Twitter
Summary | President Trump is widely criticized for his poor speaking abilities. His speaking style is more akin to regular talking whereas presidential speaking traditionally resembles the written language. This explains why Trump's medium of choice is Twitter or 'speeches' (too linguistically informal to be called an actual speech). Twitter, with its limitation on message length resembles texting, which as linguists have confirmed mimicks spoken language rather than formal writing.
Image Description | Donald Trump on a stage being photographed.
Image Tags | camera, male(s)

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