Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 65
Posts 11 - 20

The 'empowered consumer' doesn't get much say

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 16.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, privacy, social media, threat
Summary | The perceived multiplication of choices in consumer culture, for example when buying a plane ticket (optional luggage fees, insurance fees, prioritized boarding fees, etc.), just looks like an advantage for the consumer on the surface. In the end, we end up paying more and giving away our data. The data will in turn be used to milk consumers even further by knowing to which advertisements they are particularly susceptible.
Image Description | Airport check-in area.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

Full stream ahead in YouTube election season

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 26.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Google, politics, research/study, TV, YouTube
Summary | In this election cycle, no one can ignore YouTube. This year it is clear that if one candidate does not advertise their campaign on YouTube they are going to lose. Data collected by Google shows that younger generations are far more likely to watch content on YouTube than on TV. Even 50% of babyboomers watch videos on YouTube. Also, YouTube has the advantage that users can share content with others on various platforms whereas on TV they can only watch the content.
Image Description | Image of a man using a tablet in front of a huge YouTube logo and screenshots of viral videos of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
Image Tags | logo, male(s), tablet, YouTube

The big myth Facebook needs everyone to believe

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 28.1.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, diversity, Facebook
Summary | With its huge number 1.5 billion users, Facebook struggles not to impose American ideologies on the majority of their users, 80% of whom are not from the USA. Facebook claims not to promote culturally specific moral positions but just provides a neutral space for people to connect. This statement has shown to be faulty when Facebook made the mistake to suggest to their Spanish users that bullfighting is controversial enough for it to be reported as inappropriate content. Bullfighting is, however, a federally acknoledges national heritage in Spain so there are definitely American moral judgments being imposed here. Facebook should admit to the fact that they help shape public discourse.
Image Description | iStock photo of a Facebook-like hand symbol holding money and a screenshot of an image posted on Facebook.
Image Tags | Facebook, hand(s)

If you don't want to police your social media circle, just let Bill do it

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 24.1.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | meme, research/study, selfie, social media
Summary | A new meme is policing how people should behave on social media. The format of the meme always goes like this: "This is Bill. Bill does [blank]. Be like him." accompanied by a stickfigure drawing of Bill. The meme is popular in various countries with different lanuguages. It shames users who overshare or post too many selfies, etc. A recent poll conducted by Bing has shown that 40% of Facebook users think their friends statuses are boring and 25% think that their friends post too many selfies.
Image Description | N/A

Germany springs to action over hate speech against migrants

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 6.1.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, cyberbullying, Facebook, law, politics, social media
Summary | Facebook has recently decided to comply with German law rather than their own corporate policies when it comes to hate language on their platform contributed by users from Germany. Germany is very strict about prohibiting hate language against minorities. Critics say this is a step in the wrong direction towards censorship.
Image Description | Protest crowd holding a canvas.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), text

Twitter's new rules: An attempt to #StopHarassment

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 4.1.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, cyberbullying, politeness, threat, Twitter
Summary | Twitter is taking steps to address the harrassment happening on their platform. They are planning to temporarily lock or permanently suspend accounts of users who use violent or hateful language. This is meant to target mainly terrorist organizations but some say that it would unjustly target republicans because negative statements about a minority group could be misconstrued as hateful. Twitter has faced criticism before about censoring republicans more than librerals.
Image Description | N/A

Taking a break from the news

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 13.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | smartphone, technology-free, texting, youth
Summary | The author describes his vacation in Europe and notices a table of four Dutch teenagers in a café just talking to each other face to face like people used to do in the United States. No one was holding a smartphone, checking their messages, texting, posting something on social media or similar.
Image Description | Lake with hourses and boats.

How can women build better friendships? Start with the right words.

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 11.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | research/study, social media, texting, threat
Summary | Linguist Deborah Tannen has just published her latest book about how women build their friendships through language. Communicating with friends and negotiating the terms of the friendship is fraught with risks especially now that social media lets one know exactly when one is being exluded from group activities. Texting also complicates our friendships.
Image Description | N/A

Techie teens help bridge generational digital gap

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 16.5.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | email, emojis, smartphone, social media, youth
Summary | Teenagers are volunteering to teach elders about technology. They teach them simple things like how to use email, social media, how to connect to wifi, as well as how to use emojis. The elderly taking the courses love it because the kids do not use complicated language to explain the technology because they have learned it all intuitively as digital natives.
Image Description | Teenagers and elderly people using a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s)

New ideas for treating concussions

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 12.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, smartphone, texting
Summary | Doctors are looking into new ways to treat concussions and one of those ways is to stop texting or using a smartphone. Concussion-related headaches are often visually triggered so staring at a screen for hours like many people routinely do does not help heal from a concussion.
Image Description | Hands of a woman placing a football helmet on a boy's head.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), male(s)

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