Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 12
Posts 1 - 10

Das ist der wohl obszönste Username im ganzen Netz

(This is probably the most obscene username on the internet)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.6.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | censorship, politeness, privacy, research/study, social media, threat, word/writing
Summary | Many news media sources now tend to quote opinions from social media users rather than do polls out in the street. It is not uncommon to see an opinion of the "common people" in a newspaper article quoting an obscure social media username. The difference to the traditional technique of asking people on the street is that journalists needed to obtain consent of the people to quote them. One woman has now found a way to avoid being quoted without her consent: she chose a very obscene username including four words which are inappropriate enough so that they would have to be censored in a newspaper.
Image Description | N/A

Wie Facebook unsere Sprache ausspähen will

(How Facebook wants to spy on our language)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 11.3.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | emojis, Facebook, research/study, word/writing
Summary | Facebook is planning to systematically keep track of linguistic innovations on their platform. They want to compile a slang dictionary ("social glossary") with the freshest expressions. Linguists are also very interested in this project. American linguist Gretchen McCulloch has already posed the research question what verbs and nouns will enter our speech for the new Facebook emoji reactions. We already speak of likes and liking something but how will we speek of users reacting with sad or angy emojis?
Image Description | Image of an eye reflecting a Facebook like symbol and a tweet by linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
Image Tags | Facebook, Twitter

Für kluge Menschen ist Twitter das bessere Tinder

(For smart people Twitter is better than Tinder)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.6.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | gender, online dating, research/study, Twitter
Summary | Online dating apps like Tinder clearly put the focus on images. Considering that many womenvalue a sense of humor very highly in a partner, people should be looking for partners on Twitter because that is where most people showcase their wit. A recent dating survery on Twitter has shown that many users are single and looking for a partner and that many follow other Twitter users out of romantic interest. Most however also report not thinking that Twitter is an appropriate platform to ask someone out on a date.
Image Description | Image of a woman in a cafe looking at her smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Facebook will Menschen mit dem Gehirn tippen lassen

(Facebook wants to let people type with their brain)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 21.4.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | brain, Facebook, privacy, research/study, translation
Summary | Facebook is working on ways to enable people to write without typing. Stanford university has succeeded in implanting electrodes into a woman's brain letting her type merely by thinking. This would also eventually enable people to write in languages that they do not speak because our brain does not function verbally. Facebook is however very clear about not wanting to read people's minds completely without their consent. The technology would only pick up selective thoughts wich users consent to sharing.
Image Description | N/A

Lernen mit Mensch und Maschine

(Learning with human and machine)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | digitized education, research/study, smartphone
Summary | The language learning app Duolingo has many happy users. It is free and really effective in teaching a basic knowledge of foreign languages. The app can remember what grammatical formations and words a user struggles with and keeps quizzing them about it. Their statistics say that after 34 hours of using the app, users are on the same level as students who have been learning a language in class for a semester. If one wants to become really competent in a foreign language, it is of course necessary to get a human tutor.
Image Description | N/A

Die Jungs von heute können einfach nicht mehr flirten

(The boys of today just can't flirt anymore)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 7.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | online dating, research/study, smartphone, social media, youth
Summary | Young people nowadays cannot flirt anymore. They are constantly tied to their smartphones - 57 hours per week a recent study says - and do not pay attention to what is going on around them. They are more comfortable communicating via a medium than face-to-face. Many girls lament on social media how there are no available boys. Young boys should look up form their phones more often - the girls would be grateful.
Image Description | Getty images of young men and women with and without smartphones.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Internet Kompakt

(Internet compact)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 18.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | digitized education, email, research/study, social media, threat
Summary | The German language learning app Babbel is increasingly successful, they claim to have one million paying users. Statistics show that the district with the most social media users is Hessen with 86% active social media users. The criminal department of the Netherlands warns residents of malware emails.
Image Description | N/A

Der Smartphone-Boom geht allmählich zu Ende

(The smartphone boom is slowly wearing off)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 14.2.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | research/study, smartphone
Summary | Recent statistics show that smartphone sales increases are going down across the board. This is due the the saturation of the large markets of North America, Europe, and China. Global frontrunner is Samsung; almost half of all German smartphone users have a Samsung device while less than 20% have an iPhone. Polls have shown that almost 50% think that smartphones are the most important innovation of the 21st century because they have changed our everyday lives so substantially.
Image Description | Slideshows explaining vaguely connected technological issues. (Not really illustrating the article.)

Brauchen wir ein Emoji mit nicht-binärer Geschlechtsidentität?

(Do we need an emoji with a non-binary gender identity?)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 14.5.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis, gender, research/study
Summary | A new package of emojis will be released soon. One of them represents a person who is neither entirely male nor female, i.e. of non-binary gender identity. It is questionable whether it is worthwhile to represent such a small minority, seeing that there is no redhead emoji either because only 2% of the global population are redheads. A linguist of the research project "What's Up, Germany?" however argues that having a gender inclusive emoji is sending a powerful sign and can affect society via language in the long-term.
Image Description | A Getty image of a woman vomiting a rainbow, a tweet about the gender inclusive emoji, and a few GIFs of celebrities.
Image Tags | emojis, female(s), gifs, male(s)

Diese Emojis solltest du dir beim Flirten sparen

(You should avoid these emojis when flirting)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 24.4.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | emojis, gender, misunderstanding, online dating, research/study
Summary | Emojis can be quite tricky because they can lead to misunderstandings. This is particularly problematic in online dating. The dating app Clover analysed their users' chats to find out which emojis are a success in online dating and which emojis should be avoided. They found out that women like the hearts-for-eyes emoji, the monkeys and other animals, as well as the tongue emoji. They dislike the eggplant emoji and emoijis displaing strength, for instance the biceps of fist emoji. Men like the kissing emoji as well as the cheeky tongue-out emoji. They dislike the ring and the poop emoji.
Image Description | The emojis women/men like and dislike.
Image Tags | emojis

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