Number of Posts: 25
Posts 11 - 20
Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor
(Youths write - more than ever)
Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 29.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | code-switching, language threat, research/study, school, smartphone, social media, spelling, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | There is a public hysteria about how youths are no longer capable of spelling correctly or writing appropriately and skillfully. All this is seen to be caused by new media such as smartphones. BUt young people today write far more than previous generations did: they post on social media and text every day. The only difference is that this writing culture is very informal and colloquial. Researchers however assume that one cannot simply state that this spoils their writing skills generally, most students are easily capable of code-switching from informal registers to a formal register appropriate for school.
Image Description | N/A
Pourquoi il ne faut surtout pas finir ses textos par un point
(Why we shouldn't end a text with a period)
Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 10.12.2015
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | punctuation, research/study, texting
Summary | The University of Binghamton conducted a study and revealed that text messages that end with a period are considered less sincere and mean. The exclamation mark is seen as a more sincere option. The period has an expressive function.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman looking at her phone and looking perplexed.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone
The rise and rise of Whatsapp: 300 billion instant messages are expected to be sent throughout 2014 – and that’s just in the UK
Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 7.8.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, sexting, texting, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Instant messaging has overtaken texting: The average British person sends just seven text messages a day compared to 46 instant messages. Popular apps are WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, and Viber. Many people have five messaging apps on their smartphones on average. The high amount of instant messaged sent can partly be explained by the flatrate cost rather than paying for every message individually. A Michigan University study shows that half of 18-24 year olds (over 3000 participants) engage in sexting.
Image Description | Photograph of a WhatsApp icon on a screen.
Image Tags | WhatsApp
«What’s Up, Switzerland? »: Spenden Sie Nachrichten für die Forschung
(“What’s Up, Switzerland?”: Donate messages for research)
Newspaper | Aargauer Zeitung
Date | 1.6.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | research/study, texting, What's up Switzerland, WhatsApp
Summary | Language researchers from various Swiss universities (Neuchâtel/ Zürich/ Bern) are asking the public to submit their WhatsApp messages for research purposes. German, French, Italian, and Romansh submissions will be accepted and the WhatsApp data will be compared to SMS data collected between 2009-2011. The researchers are further interested in whether there are communicative differences in WhatsApp messaging between speakers of different languages or regional dialects.
Image Description | Screenshot of three icons: WhatsApp, Skype, and Dropbox.
Image Tags | Dropbox, logo, Skype, WhatsApp
'La web conecta y a la vez separa'
('The Web connects and disconnects at the same time')
Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 30.4.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, brain, research/study, smartphone, texting
Summary | Two experts debate about digital technologies and their impact on our lives. The internet is changing our society; some people think that it is making us more stupid and less connected, and some disagree. Both experts talk about the benefits of internet (e.g. collective intelligence, medical information online) and the risks (e.g. lack of privacy, digital divide). They both disagree with people such as Nicholas Carr who think internet is making us dumb and superficial. Hey may be exaggerating, but one expert agrees with the fact that people don't pay as much attention to what they're doing because they're always on their screens. They may be losing a few skills (e.g. reading texts with full attention, and having deep conversations). Internet and new technologies are changing our brain; for instance, they have an impact on memory. We don't have to remember as many things as before. Both experts also talk about the future of paper and books, and relationships.
Image Description | Video of the interview with the experts.
Image Tags | male(s)
La letra, con ‘smartphone’, entra
(The letter enters with smartphone (pun with "la letra con sangre entra"))
Newspaper | El País
Date | 27.10.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | grammar, research/study, social media, spelling, texting, threat, youth
Summary | Spelling and grammar are having a hard time in today's society; there seems to be too much lenience with regards to writing rules, which may be due to an incorrect use of new technologies. People should know when it is appropriate to use a specific register. It is okay to write a text message with abbreviations as long as users are able to change register and adapt their writing in an exam for example. A professor in Valladolid claims that handwriting as opposed to digital writing can be the solution to spelling and grammar mistakes. Social media and the way we write on those networks have a major impact on our writing skills. A study showed that the mistakes young people make in their writing assignments come from our habit to constantly write quickly and be spontaneous on social media. Those mistakes are mostly due to a lack of attention. The study also showed a positive aspect: with social media, we write more.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of four young people using their smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), male(s), smartphone
How good is your grammar? Take the quiz
Newspaper | The Independent
Date | 16.2.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | childhood, grammar, language threat, research/study, school, texting, threat, youth
Summary | According to a study, texting can have a bad impact on young people's use of grammar. The results show that the more people text, the lower their score on the test was. There is also a correlation between the use of adaptations (e.g. gr8 for great) and a lower score. If parents text their kids with a lot of adaptations, the kids will probably imitate their parents.
Image Description | Photograph of a page of a dictionary where the word "grammar" is in sharp focus.
Image Tags | dictionary
Thou shalt not end a relationship by text: Psychologist reveals the 17 golden rules of 'digital etiquette'
Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 25.2.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | research/study, social media, texting
Summary | Researchers provided a list of 17 rules that users should follow. For example, they should not end a relationship by text, or overshare on social networks. Also, they should not post anything online or text someone when drunk, emotional, or angry. The research shows that users spend an average of 4 hours on social media every day. A psychologist claims that relationships have changed in the digital age.
Image Description | Series of four photographs: woman crying and using a tissue while looking at her phone, woman lying in bed sick with her phone in her hand, young man drunk using his laptop, and two young women smiling and looking at a smartphone.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s), male(s), smartphone
Want your texts to appear sincere? DON’T use punctuation: Researchers say full stops make messages appear less trustworthy
Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 8.12.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | language threat, punctuation, research/study, spelling, texting
Summary | A study revealed that text messages that end with a period are considered as less sincere. In text messages, people use punctuation and emoticons to convey emotions and social cues. Also, the language of text messages has a serious impact on the English language. New words (e.g. LOL) have been added to the dictionary, people don't use hyphens anymore due to laziness, deep thoughts and ideas are summed up in 140 characters, and our smartphones correct our spelling so we don't have to learn how to spell words.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman using her phone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone
Les jeunes parlent romand
(Young people speak Romand (Swiss French))
Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 18.5.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, research/study, texting, What's up Switzerland, WhatsApp
Summary | Interview with Federica Diémoz at the University of Neuchâtel. She talks about a study related to the different expressions used in the Swiss French part of Switzerland. People also use their local expressions in text messages. The "What's up Switzerland" project is going to analyze WhatsApp messages. From what researchers have observed so far, people sometimes use regional expressions and don't always write the same way. They also add emoticons and images that replace words.
Image Description | Photograph of the interviewee, Federica Diémoz.
Image Tags | female(s)
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