Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 49
Posts 31 - 40

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

BTDTGTTSAWIO – das FBI erklärt Slang

(BTDTGTTSAWIO – the FBI explains slang)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 19.6.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | abbreviations, childhood, texting, youth
Summary | The FBI has published a list of social media/messaging app abbreviations which helps them in their hunt for criminals and which could help the broader public to keep an eye on their children. Some of these abbreviations are: SOMSW (someone over my shoulder watching), NIFOC (naked in front of computer), and BTDTGTTSAWIO (been there, done that, got the t-shirt and wore it out). The FBI’s publication has been criticized for being irrelevant because these abbreviations are rarely used.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand holding a smartphone and texting. Photograph of a hand holding a smartphone and texting.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone, text

Versetzt Whatsapp dem E-Mail den Todesstoss?

(Is WhatsApp giving the e-mail the death blow?)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 23.10.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | A rumor is going around that WhatsApp is planning to introduce a document sharing function into the app. This way, Word or PDF documents could be sent through WhatsApp rather than other channels. This might mean the death of emails, a media that already counts as old-fashioned.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand holding a smartphone where there are four social media icons.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone, social media

Statt Whatsapp bitte wieder den Telefonalarm

(Instead of WhatsApp please bring back the telephone chain)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 1.3.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | WhatsApp
Summary | WhatsApp group chats are convenient to spread messages quickly. The only problem is that all members can contribute to a WhatsApp chat, and if everybody responds to an announcement, these group chats can get very annoying because one gets notified of everyone's contribution.
Image Description | Photograph of an adult male looking at his smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Schriftliche Forschheiten: Vom Niedergang der Höflichkeit

(Written briskness: On the demise of politeness)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.9.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, language threat, politeness, school, texting, WhatsApp, word/writing
Summary | Communication researchers agree that politeness in professional writing has decreased with the rise of digital communication. Rules of formal writing are omitted: what was“Honored Professor So-and-so” is now a simple “Hello”. Both students and also professors are reported to have a relaxed level of formality in email exchanges. This is usually seen as an influence of texting, where traditional messages of respect are omitted, but it can also be argued that the new brief communication style is a form of respecting the addressee’s time by writing efficiently.
Image Description | Photograph of a female texting; the shot does not show the person's face but emphasizes the phone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone, text

Digitale Bilderflut: Raubt uns nicht die Phantasie!

(Digital image flood: Don’t rob us of our imagination!)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 9.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, WhatsApp
Summary | New messaging apps make it really easy to send snapshots and users have increasingly conventionalized the inclusion of image material in their messages. The image material is usually a quick snap of the situation the sender is in (morning coffee, etc.) or of something the sender is messaging about (herb garden, etc.), as if to provide evidence of their actually experiencing/doing something. Some voices now proclaim the replacement of language by images but the same prognosis was made in the mid-19th century when postcards were invented. What might suffer by our inflationary sharing of photographs is our imagination.
Image Description | Photograph of adults taking pictures of the Mona Lisa; the shot mostly shows hands and three smartphones.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

Teenager: Vom Handy um den Schlaf gebracht

(Teenagers: Kept from sleeping because of cell phone)

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Newspaper | Beobachter
Date | 29.5.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | Smartphones or other screens should not be part of the going to sleep routine because the light emitted by screens hinders the sleeping process. Action films and games excite children too much, which prevents them from sleeping well. Smartphones should not be in the bedroom at night because they disrupt sleep.
Image Description | Photograph of a teenage girl using her smarphone in bed.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Ist Kindsein gefährlicher geworden?

(Has being a child become more dangerous?)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 29.7.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | Thanks to the fact that most teenagers and even children own a smartphone, parents depend more heavily on the constant availability of their children. Nowadays, parents are worried when they can’t reach their children for an hour whereas previous generations just had to trust their sons and daughters. Psychologists claim that this lack of independence causes a late development of emotional maturity in today’s generation.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman on her phone, at the beach, taken from behind.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Das Tempo der Übermittlung heizt die Gefühle an

(The pace of transmissions heats up feelings)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 30.8.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, smartphone, texting, threat
Summary | Couples therapist Klaus Heer noticed the huge impact cell phones have on relationships. They are omnipresent: at the dinner table as well as in bed. Smartphones can cause distance and distrust but they can also reignite a romantic flame with a simple erotic or just loving text message. In the case of a fight, stopping all communication hurts even more because everyone is theoretically available all the time.
Image Description | Illustration of a naked woman whose reflection can be seen on three smartphones.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Bis das Handy uns scheidet

(Till the cell phone do us part)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 14.12.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | privacy, smartphone
Summary | Smartphones have opened up a variety of possibilities to cheat on one’s partner – physically as well as emotionally. Apps like Ashley Madison can connect people who would like to step outside their relationship. Sending flirtatious messages or nude images can feel like betraying one’s partner. Although smartphones make it easier for people to cheat anytime and anywhere, they also help people getting caught since online activities leave a digital trail. There are some apps that allow people to hide their digital activities and other apps that allow them to spy on digital activities.
Image Description | Illustration of Adam and Eve on their digital devices (smartphone and laptop).
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

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