Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 27
Posts 11 - 20

Swiss mayor suspended over nude selfies taken in office

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Newspaper | Daily Monitor
Date | 19.8.2014
Language | English
Country | Uganda
Topic Tags | politics, sexting
Summary | Geri Müller, city mayor of Baden in Switzerland and member of the national parliament has been temporarily suspended while investigations are pursued into his recent sexting scandal. Müller had called the police on his 'woman friend' after she had refused to relinquish all data detrimental to his career and after she had threatened to commit suicide.
Image Description | Black and white illustration of a man's silhouette taking a selfie.
Image Tags | male(s), selfie, smartphone

Geri Müller: Nackt-Selfies aus dem Stadthaus

(Geri Müller: Nude Selfies from City Hall)

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Newspaper | Schweiz am Sonntag
Date | 14.10.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Summary | City mayor of Baden, Switzerland, and member of the Swiss parliament Geri Müller is involved in a sexting scandal with sexts and nude images sent during cabinet meetings. The article very dramatically depicts how Geri Müller’s sexting partner was allegedly lured into a police ambush set up by Geri Müller after she would not destroy all evidence of their intimate texting relationship. She testified that he had urged her to destroy the traces of their sexting relationship because he would suffer “disappear” from politics if that ever became public. Müller defends himself by saying that he had called the police because he had reason to believe that she was suicidal.
Image Description | Portrait of Geri Müller at his desk.
Image Tags | male(s)

Los jóvenes se sienten incompletos sin internet y las redes sociales

(Young people feel incomplete without internet and social media)

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Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 9.4.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, social media, threat, youth
Summary | A lot of young people wouldn't be able to live without new technologies (internet, social media, etc.). According to a study, they feel isolated and incomplete without them, and they wouldn't know how to socialize. Young people are aware of the advantages of internet and social media (e.g. possibility to have many relationships) as well as the risks of such new technologies (e.g. loss of privacy). They also know they can become dependent on their digital devices. However, they are not so worried; they think such disadvantages are normal and part of today's society. The survey also showed contradictory results; 74% of the respondents thought that social media facilitate new friendships, but about 72% of them thought that social media isolate people more.
Image Description | Video: interview of young people about their online practices, and two charts showing statistics about online practices.
Image Tags | chart, computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), smartphone

'La web conecta y a la vez separa'

('The Web connects and disconnects at the same time')

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Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 30.4.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, brain, research/study, smartphone, texting
Summary | Two experts debate about digital technologies and their impact on our lives. The internet is changing our society; some people think that it is making us more stupid and less connected, and some disagree. Both experts talk about the benefits of internet (e.g. collective intelligence, medical information online) and the risks (e.g. lack of privacy, digital divide). They both disagree with people such as Nicholas Carr who think internet is making us dumb and superficial. Hey may be exaggerating, but one expert agrees with the fact that people don't pay as much attention to what they're doing because they're always on their screens. They may be losing a few skills (e.g. reading texts with full attention, and having deep conversations). Internet and new technologies are changing our brain; for instance, they have an impact on memory. We don't have to remember as many things as before. Both experts also talk about the future of paper and books, and relationships.
Image Description | Video of the interview with the experts.
Image Tags | male(s)

Richard Gerver: 'Los deberes no benefician a los niños'

(Richard Gerver: 'Homework assignments do not benefit children')

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Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 18.11.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, school, youth
Summary | Richard Gerver, expert in education, lets his kids play video games to learn. Gerver claims that young people use new technologies to learn; they learn better if they feel involved. Today's education system is old-fashioned and boring; if we create something stimulating and fun, pupils will want to go to class.
Image Description | Photograph of Richard Gerver.
Image Tags | male(s)

Papá, prefiero tener una tableta a un coche

(Dad, I'd rather have a tablet than a car)

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Newspaper | El País
Date | 16.1.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | smartphone, youth
Summary | Owning a car used to be a symbol of emancipation and adulthood. Now, more and more young people don't own a car and don't see the benefit of owning one. They would rather spend their money on technological devices. Car companies are worried because they have noticed that people under 25 don't want to buy cars anymore. There has been a change in young people's priorities. Cars are too expensive, and digital devices are becoming the new symbols of freedom. People can easily travel, meet people, and communicate online; thus, they don't need cars anymore. Also, it is more convenient to use one's smartphone or tablet while using public transportation. Times are changing and we need to adapt to new technologies.
Image Description | Photograph of a boy using a tablet, and chart showing the evolution of drivers in Spain.
Image Tags | male(s), tablet

La letra, con ‘smartphone’, entra

(The letter enters with smartphone (pun with "la letra con sangre entra"))

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Newspaper | El País
Date | 27.10.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | grammar, research/study, social media, spelling, texting, threat, youth
Summary | Spelling and grammar are having a hard time in today's society; there seems to be too much lenience with regards to writing rules, which may be due to an incorrect use of new technologies. People should know when it is appropriate to use a specific register. It is okay to write a text message with abbreviations as long as users are able to change register and adapt their writing in an exam for example. A professor in Valladolid claims that handwriting as opposed to digital writing can be the solution to spelling and grammar mistakes. Social media and the way we write on those networks have a major impact on our writing skills. A study showed that the mistakes young people make in their writing assignments come from our habit to constantly write quickly and be spontaneous on social media. Those mistakes are mostly due to a lack of attention. The study also showed a positive aspect: with social media, we write more.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of four young people using their smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), male(s), smartphone

Tablets und Twitter –darauf stehen Junge

(Tablets and Twitter – that’s what young people like)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 30.10.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | research/study, smartphone, social media, youth
Summary | A study conducted by the Zurich University of Applied Science shows that of 1000 informants between the ages of 12-19, 97% have a smartphone and only 1% a traditional mobile phone. Fewer young people use mp3 players than in recent years but listening to music still ranks high among young people. Social media use has increased considerably while different age groups target different platforms: 18-19 year-olds prefer Facebook while 14-15 year-olds use Twitter more profusely. Young people report having fewer offline hobbies than in recent years but still make sure to meet with friends on a daily basis.
Image Description | Photograph of two male teenagers wearing headphones; one of them is using a tablet and the other is eating a burger.
Image Tags | headphones, male(s), tablet

Toujours plus accro aux smartphones

(More and more addicted to smartphones)

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Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 3.12.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | We carry our smartphone everywhere: bed, bathroom, work, train etc., which can render people addicted. Corine Kibora (spokeswoman at Addiction Switzerland) claims that people can be addicted to social media, news applications, emails etc. When a smartphone disturbs someone's eating, sleeping, or work habits, there is a problem. There can be health issues (eyes tired, sleep disorders) and social issues (personal relations and communication). Kibora suggests setting a schedule; no smartphone during dinner for example.
Image Description | Photograph of a man lying in bed with his smartphone in his hand.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Blaue Häkchen vergiften die Liebe

(Blue ticks are poisoning love)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 7.11.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | misunderstanding, WhatsApp
Summary | WhatsApp programmers may have thought that they would improve communication by introducing a ‘message read’ notification in the form of two blue ticks. This new feature however is making room for much more confusion and misunderstandings. If a person reads a message and does not respond instantly, the other person might think it is because they are sulking, for instance. This is why users should discuss matters of the heart face to face and just share trivial things such as shopping lists via WhatsApp – to avoid misunderstandings of non-verbal cues.
Image Description | Screenshot of a tweet representing a scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's. George Peppard's message "I love you" is well received by Audrey Hepburn (two blue ticks).
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

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