Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 97
Posts 81 - 90

One Small Step for NASA, One Giant Leap for GIFs

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 14.12.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | GIFs, social media
Summary | NASA is now providing GIFs of their video footage on giphy.com in order to meet the contemporary public on their channels: social media.GIFs are a poetically fitting medium to depict the movement of celestial objects - they are infinitely repetitive. GIFs have become central to online communication as a means to express strong emotions or stances. Some linguists say that GIFs are a more extreme version of emojis which are thought to replace body language in the digital realm.
Image Description | GIFs of a rocket taking off, an explosion in space, and some NASA employees cheering.
Image Tags | gifs

Muttis Welt

(Mommy’s world)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 28.8.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, social media
Summary | Three women from Boston developed an app with 250 new emojis all depicting various aspects of parenthood and especially motherhood. The emojis address taboo topics of childcare and pregnancy such as being in labor, baby’s spit-up, and milk-pumping. Many parents however overshare these personal experiences on social media; a phenomenon previously named ‘sharenting’.
Image Description | Digital image representing three pregnant women emojis.
Image Tags | emojis, female(s)

Klick und weg

(Click and gone)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 9.12.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Snapchat, social media
Summary | The new hot app is Snapchat. It has the reputation of being casual and fun without the pressure of a perfect online presence such as with Facebook or Instagram. Snapchat users decide who can see which content, and the content does not linger on the platform. Its worth has just been estimated at $16 bio but some experts doubt that the app has quite that much economic potential. While there is a lot of advertising potential on the Snapchat platform, owner Evan Spiegel is being very uncooperative in providing information about the users to enable corporations to tailor advertising to the specific users.
Image Description | N/A

Les jeunes passent plus de temps sur le net

(Young people spend more time online)

Hyperlink

Newspaper | 20 minutes
Date | 9.11.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, social media, threat, youth
Summary | According to a study, young people spend an average of 2 hours and 30 minutes online during the week, and 3 hours and 40 minutes on the weekend. Also, young people cannot live without their smartphone. They don't usually use their phone to make phone calls or text; they rather use their phone for social media (e.g. Snapchat, Instagram). Even though young people spend a lot of time on their phone, they still meet with friends face-to-face. Smartphones do not replace physical relationships. Finally, families should have rules for new media use at home.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of teenagers (their faces are cut off from the picture); they are sitting next to each other using their phones.
Image Tags | smartphone

New York Public Hospitals Use Emojis to Reach Young People About Sex

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 17.7.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | emojis, social media, youth
Summary | New York City hospitals are now trying to get young people's attention on social media to inform them about free, confidential sexual health services. The advertisement campaign includes emojis, for instance the question "Need to talk to someone about 'it'?" accompanied by an eggplant emoji or bird and bee emojis. They talked to youths in focus groups and determined that this might be the best way to reach them. The campaign is particularly important because many youth report that they do not approach their parents with questions concerning sexual health. Critics of the campaign however say that the advertisements might be too ambiguous and difficult to understand for people who are only just learning English.
Image Description | Two advertisements of the question "Need to talk to someone about 'it'?" accompanied by an eggplant emoji and bird and bee emojis.
Image Tags | emojis

Traveling In A World Of Social Media: Dos And Don’ts

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Huffington Post
Date | 20.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | smartphone, social media
Summary | Today, smartphones and social media are everywhere, even when you go abroad. It can be tempting to spend too much time using the smartphone - and miss valuable travel experiences such as being spontaneous and seeing the unexpected. Still, social media can be a great tool to enhance your travel experience by connecting with locals on their regional social media platforms (for longer stays abroad) or to get tips from other travellers who have been there. It is also very important to document your travels for yourself, to be able to remember all the experiences made while travelling.
Image Description | Author's travel images of Hong Kong's skyline and Chinese mountains.

‘We’ve grown up with some frightening events’: UK teenagers' hopes and fears

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 19.3.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | addiction, smartphone, social media, youth
Summary | Five teenagers and young adults talk about the society they live in (jobs, school, alcohol, social media, etc.). They blame social media for being a waste of time and for favoring bullying. Moreover, social media are responsible for spreading certain norms that young people are expected to follow (e.g. ideals of beauty for men and women). One teenage girl claims that social media make people competitive. Even though she agrees that smartphones are addictive, it would be hard for her to live without it because she wouldn't want to miss out on things.
Image Description | Series of six photographs: two teenage girls on their smartphone are sitting back to back, and portraits of the five interviewees.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

It may be shallow and salacious, but don’t blame Tinder for online misogyny

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 8.4.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | gender, online dating, research/study, social media, threat
Summary | A new study revealed that the dating app Tinder spreads sexism and ideals of beauty; however, according to the author of the article, such behavior is not new. The media tends to portray new technologies and new apps as responsible for numerous societal ills, thus being dangerous. This new research follows a similar discourse while blaming the dating app Tinder of misogyny. However, sexism and beauty standards also existed before the age of social media. Thus, sexist comments are not the result of new technologies/apps; they go well beyond our digital devices.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone with the Tinder app open; we can see parts of a woman's face and a big LIKE in green.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone, Tinder

'Everyone could know what I was doing': the millennials not using social media

Hyperlink

Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 17.3.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | smartphone, social media, technology-free, youth
Summary | The majority of millenials are active on social media; those who are not explain why they decided not to have a social media account. Although the young interviewees admit that social network sites are useful to stay in touch with people far away and to organize parties and other events, they also think that they can be detrimental. For example, some of the interviewees feel uncomfortable with the fact that people share intimate details about their lives online, and with the fact that everyone knows everything about other people. Also, some people think that it is a waste of time and that it is useless.
Image Description | Series of five photographs representing the interviewees.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

In messaging apps for teens, talk of dangers and dollars

Hyperlink

Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 14.2.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | social media, threat, youth
Summary | Teenagers are moving away from public social media and towards private communication channels where they are unsupervised by their parents. Parents should however look into technologies to monitor their children's online activity - even on private media such as WhatsApp or Kik. Because Kik has reported a 40% increase in teenage users, businesses are eager to advertise on this platform. Online advertising is however moving away from banner ads to chatbots which approach the prospective customers in an informal conversational manner. For now, chatbots are only for advertising but they are planned to enable users to actually shop within a messaging app.
Image Description | Video about teenage deaths/pedophile crimes faciliated on Kik and a screenshot of a chat with the Kik chatbot.
Image Tags | text

Page 9 of 10
Back | Next