Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 11
Posts 1 - 10

Generation Blödphone?

(Generation Dumbphone?)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 11.8.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | A US study has conducted surveys among teenagers asking them how often they go out without their parents, whether they date or have had sex, how much they sleep , etc. The results show that teenagers go out/date less, sleep less, and have sex later in life since the advent of smartphones. Swiss media psychologist Gregor Waller criticizes the study because it bases its conclusions on mere correlation. It leaves out other important developments in the US since 2007 like the financial crisis. An equivalent Swiss study does not show similar results. Most Swiss teenagers continue to have a rich social life despite smartphones. Only about 10% of Swiss teenagers are at risk of smartphone addiction.
Image Description | Graphs showing results of the US study and a portrait of the interviewee (Swiss psychologist Gregor Waller).
Image Tags | chart, male(s)

Zeit der Handy-Verbote geht zu Ende

(The time of cell phone bans is over)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 8.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, digitized education, school
Summary | Bernese city schools want to purchase one laptop or tablet for each student. The new cantonal curriculum wants new technologies to be integrated in class work projects. It is important that students learn to work with new technologies from an early age because they are becoming increasingly important. The only problem is that such a renewal would be hugely expensive.
Image Description | Keystone image of two pairs of students using one laptop each.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s)

Hilfe, wo sind meine Whatsapp-Freunde hin!

(Help, where did all of my WhatsApp friends go!)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 26.2.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, privacy, social media, WhatsApp
Summary | After Facebook has bought WhatsApp, many users are worried about their data privacy so waves of users are switching on to safer alternatives to WhatsApp such as Telegram, MyEnigma, or the Swiss app Threema. The large majority however is staying on WhatsApp, which causes more people to stay or return to WhatsApp. When Facebook replaced older social media platforms such as the German SchülerVZ, all users moved because a social media platform is only valuable when enough people use it.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen with social media different icons.
Image Tags | logo, smartphone, social media

Keine Chance für WhatsApp-Konkurrenz

(No chance for WhatsApp competition)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 16.2.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, privacy, WhatsApp
Summary | When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $22 mio in 2014, many users feared that their data privacy would be exploited. App store sales for secure messaging apps increased, particularly the Swiss app Threema. Now, Facebook and WhatsApp still have the highest user numbers which shows that people do not seem to care very much about their data privacy in the long run. While WhatsApp did introduce end-to-end encryption, Facebook also broke their promise of never connecting WhatsApp and Facebook user data.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen with different icons.
Image Tags | logo, smartphone

Facebook und WhatsApp in der EU erst mit 16 Jahren

(Facebook and WhatsApp only after 16 years of age in the EU)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 16.12.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | law, Facebook, privacy, social media, youth
Summary | The EU has renewed the laws tied to data privacy originally made in 1995. The new laws now enable users of online platforms such as Facebook to sue these companies in their home country rather than having to travel. Also, some countries lift the legal age required to join social media from 13 to 16 years old. Young people under the age of 16 are legally not allowed to enter into a contract around data privacy with Facebook.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand holding a smartphone.
Image Tags | hand(s), logo, smartphone

Whatsapp macht das Abhören unmöglich – auch für sich selbst

(WhatsApp makes interception impossible – even for itself)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 5.4.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | privacy, WhatsApp
Summary | WhatsApp has incorporated end-to-end encryption so that nobody can under no circumstances see the content of any message sent through the app. This was done so as to avoid problems with federal investigators. Recently, Apple did not allow federal investigators to break into a suspect’s phone because then the government would keep approaching them with such demands. Because WhatsApp wants to protects its users’ privacy, they have added end-to-end encryption to their service.
Image Description | Photograph of WhatsApp founder, Jan Koum.
Image Tags | male(s), WhatsApp

Das sind die neuen Funktionen von Whatsapp

(These are the newest functions of WhatsApp)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 7.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Snapchat, WhatsApp
Summary | New image editing and music features are supposed to be added to the messaging app WhatsApp. Funny filters, the possibility of adding stickers and drawing on pictures might be incorporated into WhatsApp – functions which are mainly known to be Snapchat features. Users will also be able to share music through the app and listen to it without having to download it. Further, it will be possible to join a group simply by clicking on a link.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen with different icons (WhatsApp, Skype, Viber) and a finger pointing to the WhatsApp icon. Screenshot of a Twitter account that mentions the new WhatsApp features.
Image Tags | hand(s), logo, Skype, smartphone, Twitter, Viber, WhatsApp

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

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)

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

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