Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 65
Posts 51 - 60

Social Media Finds New Role as News and Entertainment Curator

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 16.5.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | social media, threat
Summary | Most social media platforms have an editorial staff who curate new media and other content. This work is very powerful because if certain stories or patterns are chosen to represent a perceived trend, they are seen by many users and become much more influential. Though most say they try to be neutral, the social media platforms face criticism.
Image Description | Mark Zuckerberg having a speech.
Image Tags | male(s)

How A Man Falls In Love

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 9.9.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | online dating, texting
Summary | Two stories of men who fell in love on dating apps. One on Tinder and the other on Bumble. Both had already given up hope but then they matched with these perfect partners. They both report of fantastic chats they had messaging each other through the app and that the attraction was already clear from the digital conversations.
Image Description | A cartoon of a man with cupid.
Image Tags | male(s)

Time to Put on Your Big-Boy Pants

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 19.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | hashtags, Instagram, social media, threat
Summary | The skinny jeans trend is fading and the new trend are low-waisted loose-fitting curduroy pants with a drop-crotch. Social media influencers comment that Instagram is changing the game when it comes to promoting trends. Users can access an endless stream of visual material by just searching for a hashtag of a new trend. This has some downsides to it since it accelerates the changing of trends and pressures people to renew their wardrobe each season.
Image Description | Getty image of models wearing the new trouser trend.
Image Tags | male(s)

Gaymoji: A New Language for That Search

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 14.3.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis, research/study, sexting
Summary | The dating app Grindr caters to gay men and is now adding specific emojis - called Gaymojis - to their app. They have noticed that 20% of the messages sent on their platform contain emojis so they are providing emojis specific to the gay dating experience such as a peach with a phone (= bootycall) or an eggplant with a ruler (= well endowed). One linguist says that emojis may take some pressure off of the content of the conversation. Instead of thinking of something to say, emojis just signal that 'I am here and I am interested'.
Image Description | Portrait of the Grindr owners, the Grindr office in LA, and some Gaymojis.
Image Tags | emojis, male(s)

How I Became Addicted to Online Word Games

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 18.3.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | addiction, game, language threat, spelling, word/writing
Summary | There are plenty of stories about the horrors of online game addiction. But being addicted to online word games mimicking Boggle or Scrabble does not only have the same addiction-related issues but also messes with your vocabulary. These games have no penalty for guessing a word that might not even be one, which is why one just begins to memorize all words that the app accepts without really knowing what they mean. This obsessive toying with words may have a negative impact on our linguistics abilities as well as spelling, and so on.
Image Description | Illustration of a man with Scrabble tiles on his tongue reminiscent of party pills.
Image Tags | game, male(s)

United and Pepsi Affairs Force Brands to Respect Social Media

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 13.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, politics, social media, Twitter
Summary | Companies are becoming ever more aware of how powerful the "data tsunamis" transmitted on social media really are. Some are installing real-time social media response screens where they can track their brand image on social media. Many companies have increased their social media up to five times in the past two years. These social media analysts track trends and determine whether the company's marketing should jump on the bandwagon or whether the trend is on the decline already. Controversies can also hurt companies when they become viral, for instance the recent United Airlines incident or the insensitive Pepsi advertising. Social media staff are made aware that when they communicate with one customer on Twitter, they have a public audience, even if it is through the messenger because screenshots can get shared too.
Image Description | Carl’s Jr restaurant.
Image Tags | male(s)

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)

Vine Dries Up. Black Humor Loses a Home

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 31.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | diversity, social media, Twitter
Summary | Twitter announced that it will shut down it's video-based social media platform Vine. The six second videos had established a particular kind of humor that the author argues is reminiscent of black humor with its allusions and communicating in codes. Many black comedians in particular had thrived on the platform and significantly shaped its visual language.
Image Description | Some vines by Jay Versace and a screenshot of a Nicholas Fraser vine with comments.
Image Tags | male(s), Vine

Facebook Could Be Associated With a Longer Life, Study Finds

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 31.10.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, Facebook, research/study
Summary | A recent study about longevity shows that moderate Facebook activity correlates with better health and hence a longer life. Previous research shows that an active social life in general (so offline) also correlates with longevity. Because the results however only attast to correlation and not necessarily to a causal connection, it could also be that healthier people are just more social online and offline and not that sociability has an effect on health. It has been confirmed that a rich social life makes people happier while excessive Facebook use leads to people being unhappy.
Image Description | Woman instructing old man using a computer.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s)

Now Hiring Coders With a Flair for the Continental Breakfast

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 14.2.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, smartphone, social media
Summary | New technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent in the hospitality industry: contemporary guests want to make their reservations and check in via their smartphones rather than in person. Hotels are beginning to hire their own in-house tech staff for digital development. Parking spaces are administrated digitally, guest WiFi is expected to function well and be safe - some are even planning to replace room keys with face recognition software upon entering a hotel room.
Image Description | Image of hotel employees outside the entrance with tablets.
Image Tags | male(s), tablet

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