Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 33
Posts 11 - 20

Porno-Sekretärin des Bundes wird freigestellt

(Porn secretary of the confederacy will be discharged)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 6.8.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | pornography, selfie, sexting
Summary | The 'porno secretary' (as she has been dubbed in the media) was discharged effective immediately. After her porn Twitter account became known to both the wider public and her employer, the secretary has lost her work position in the Federal Palace. She had posted nude and hardcore pornographic images from porn shooting sets and from her office workplace.
Image Description | Explicit photographs from the secretary's Twitter account with her face and nipples/genitalia pixelated.
Image Tags | female(s), selfie

Nachwehen zu den Nackt-Selfies aus dem Bundeshaus

(Aftermath of the nude selfies from the Federal Palace)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 6.6.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | pornography, selfie, sexting
Summary | The secretary who posted nude selfies taken at her workplace, which is the parlamentarian offices of the Swiss Federal Palace, on Twitter also has a career in porn next to her office job. Her supervisors claim that they had no previous knowledge of her pornographic Twitter account. The employee in question still answers her office phone meaning that she has not lost her job yet.
Image Description | N/A

Freizügige Sekretärin: Nackt-Selfies aus dem Bundeshaus

(Revealing secretary: nude selfies from the Federal Palace)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 6.8.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | politics, pornography, sexting
Summary | A secretary working in the Swiss Federal Palace in Bern has been regularly tweeting nude images of herself from the workplace. Experts now discuss whether this is reason enough to dismiss her. Although she has not crossed an explicitly defined line, the secretary's actions can be argued to be a threat to the security of of her workplace. Had she been a higher official, this misconduct would have certainly qualified for her dismissal.
Image Description | N/A

Jeder 7. Teenager arbeitet besser dank Multitasking

(Every seventh teenager works better thanks to multi-tasking)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 24.10.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | brain, research/study
Summary | An American study shows that 85% of students cannot focus well when multitasking. The participants in the study were solving cognitive tests on a computer, listening to music, and checking their messages. Interestingly 15% of students focused better while multitasking and these 15% had previously been assessed as students with expert/experienced multitaskers. The researchers assume that it is because digital natives’ brains have adapted to new media.
Image Description | Photograph of a teenage girl using her phone; the shot does not show her face entirely but focuses on the phone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone

Die fünf Phasen der Trauer ums Smartphone

(The five steps of mourning for your smartphone)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 6.7.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | smartphone
Summary | Many people are acquainted with the feeling of losing one’s smartphone to water damage, be it at a swimming pool or in a toilet. It is very common for people to use their smartphone while on the toilet or for their smartphone to fall into the toilet while pulling down tight pants. The smartphone has become the new most important and cherished everyday item. When paying with a smartphone becomes possible, smartphones will have completely replaced wallets.
Image Description | Series of Disney Gifs.
Image Tags | gifs

Wegen WhatsApp – Jungen fehlt Gesprächsstoff

(Young people don’t have anything to talk about because of WhatsApp)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 3.8.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Young people in Britain and Switzerland spend more time using WhatsApp than actually meeting with their friends. Because all personal news can be shared on WhatsApp much more conveniently than face-to-face thanks to group chats, young people run out of things to talk about when they actually meet. Most young people however become critical of their new media use once they have spent a few years on social media and start optimizing their online activity.
Image Description | Photograph showing hands holding smartphones.
Image Tags | hand(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

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)

Interview: «Vor dem Schreiben sollte man überlegen»

(Interview: «One should think before writing»)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.9.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, language threat, politeness
Summary | Language researcher Christa Dürscheid explains how new communication channels influence communication style and register. While omission of formal salutation lines has become frequent, it is usually only after a few messages in a dialog thread. Most people still use a proper salutation for first-contact messages. The general relaxation of formality in written communication does not mean that our language is decaying but that we adapt the social situation to the medium.
Image Description | N/A

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