Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 24
Posts 11 - 20

Justice Dept. calls Apple's encryption fight 'a diversion'

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 10.3.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, marketing, privacy, smartphone, threat
Summary | Ever since the FBI asked Apple to unlock a terrorist's iPhone, a huge debate around user privacy has ensued. Other tech companies side with Apple with the position that aiding the FBI at the expense of user privacy would open the gate for masses of future cases. The Justice Department however accuses Apple of purposefully making unbreachable smartphones, which may be good for user privacy (and thus for profit) but a huge problem for the police to be able to investigate criminal cases.
Image Description | Hand holding an iPhone.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

Just how separated are we? Two cross-country hitchhikers use social media to prove it’s just four degrees

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 9.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | social media, threat, youth
Summary | Two millennials, Ari Gootnick, 23, and Oliver Shahery, 22, went on a road trip to see whether new technology and social media have changed our relationships and "shrunk the world". They showed that people are much more connected than they think they are. Through the project, the millennials are trying to prove that people are only four degrees of separation from other people. During their trip, they have seen close and long-lost friends as well as complete strangers. They also documented their whole trip on social media and said that the borders between physical and digital interactions are fluid.
Image Description | Three hotographs of both millennials in front of the Capitol in D.C., next to a car, and in the White Sands in N.M.
Image Tags | male(s)

The rise of Uber means less love for London’s traditional black cabs

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 1.1.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, smartphone, threat
Summary | The app Uber is taking up much of official taxi companies' business. The iconinc London cab is endangered. Uber offers much cheaper rides than taxi cabs because the drivers do not have to go through any training - they just use their smartphone's GPS to drive customers. Customers also use their smartphone apps to hail an Uber ride.
Image Description | N/A

Pokémon Go boom puts Occoquan on the map

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 14.8.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | game, smartphone, threat, virtual reality
Summary | The smartphone game Pokémon Go is becoming popular among teenagers, mothers and sons, couples, or middle-aged government workers. The game's augmented realited has brought those people to the small town of Occoquan (Virginia). The town is a hotbed for the game, and the town's popularity has been good for businesses. The game allows people to catch Pokémon creatures in real life. Why is Occoquan a good location for the game? It is situated on the banks of a river, so people can catch both land and water Pokémon creatures. Occoquan is also filled with historical buildings which can house many Pokémon creatures. People have been concerned about the popularity of the game. For example, players' distraction has led to an increase in robberies.
Image Description | N/A

Creepy start-up asks would-be renters for the keys to their data

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 10.6.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, privacy, social media, threat
Summary | A British start-up company wants to offer a service called "Tenant Assured" where landlords can check applicants' social media background. The individual's social media posts as well as private messages are analyzed and turned into a statistic of how much financial stress that person has based on their mentions of spending, loans, and pregnancies. This could be the future of all hiring processes, they say, because people are willing to give up their privacy for a service they want.
Image Description | N/A

Scary clown rumors, threats feed hysteria, leading to school lockdowns, arrests

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 6.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, law, school, Snapchat, social media, threat
Summary | In the weeks running up to Halloween, many schools and colleges have had attack scares. Students heard over Snapchat or Yik Yak or some other social media platform that a clown was on the prowl at their school/college. These theats always ended up being false but students were worried and so were parents. Schools have to take such threats seriously. The police are being very clear that there are legal repercussions for false attack threats.
Image Description | Clown video and scary clown masks.

In search of 'lulz,' trolls hijack civic engagement

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 7.11.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, politics, social media, threat
Summary | Internet culture's sense of humor has become careless. A meme was recently circulated in Pennsyvania that said that one could vote online by just commenting the name of their candidate. Even though this was a joke, it was dangerously close to disenfranchising people of their votes. In the same way some people post anti-semitic or racist/sexist things and then claim to just do it to combat the tyranny of political correctness and not really meaning any harm. Such content however promotes extremism and is harmful - no matter the intentions.
Image Description | Man holding up Hillary Clinton toilet paper.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

Police charge student with tweeting a threat after white supremacist petition circulated

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 17.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, politics, school, threat, Twitter
Summary | After a white supremacist leaflet has been circulated in a local high school, a student took to Twitter to announce that the school will be attacked. The police were able to identify the student and she was charged "on a juvenile citation with disruption of school activities" but was not incarcerated as she is a minor. The school spokesperson has voiced their great concern with the white supremacist material that has circulated in the school.
Image Description | White supremacist leaflet.
Image Tags | text

Wikipedia is fixing one of the Internet's biggest flaws: Online comments sections

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 26.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | politeness, social media, threat
Summary | Comment sections on any internet page of social media platform are notorious for displaying the worst in people. Social media is designed in such a way that it shelters its users into 'ideological echo chambers' and the isolation effect of the internet liberates people to be cruel with their language. Wikipedia has somehow managed to have a fairly respectful forum culture on their website even though it has not always been like this.
Image Description | The Wikipedia logo multiple times.
Image Tags | logo, Wikipedia

Trash talking has reached a whole new level, and it's all thanks to social media

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 12.12.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, politeness, social media, threat
Summary | Politeness and basic human decency has gone out the window since the advent of social media. Complete strangers and even politicians swear at each other online for the whole world to see. Insults are very personal and with no inhibitions.Especially in sports, pre-game trash-talking is now documented online for eternity. Many athletes even exhibit their religiousness online by thanking God after a successful game.
Image Description | N/A

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