Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 33
Posts 11 - 20

Generation Blödphone?

(Generation Dumbphone?)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 11.8.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, research/study, smartphone, threat, youth
Summary | A US study has conducted surveys among teenagers asking them how often they go out without their parents, whether they date or have had sex, how much they sleep , etc. The results show that teenagers go out/date less, sleep less, and have sex later in life since the advent of smartphones. Swiss media psychologist Gregor Waller criticizes the study because it bases its conclusions on mere correlation. It leaves out other important developments in the US since 2007 like the financial crisis. An equivalent Swiss study does not show similar results. Most Swiss teenagers continue to have a rich social life despite smartphones. Only about 10% of Swiss teenagers are at risk of smartphone addiction.
Image Description | Graphs showing results of the US study and a portrait of the interviewee (Swiss psychologist Gregor Waller).
Image Tags | chart, male(s)

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

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.)

Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor

(Youths write - more than ever)

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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

Kein Whiskey für kleine Kinder

(No whiskey for little children)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 31.5.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, smartphone
Summary | Recent studies show correlation between early and/or excessive smartphone use in children and ADHD, deprived linguistic development, and obesity. These studies do not confirm causation, other factors certainly play into how one is affected by the digitalization. The addictive potential of digital devices is however beyond doubt.
Image Description | Keystone image of a girl staring at a smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Diese Technik soll uns den Alltag erleichtern

(This technology should make our daily lives easier)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 5.4.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, privacy, research/study, smartphone, translation
Summary | Computer are becoming more and more intertwined in our daily lives. Some smartphones can already translate real-time conversations with imitating the speakers voice thanks to advances in voice recognition. Image recognition has also advanced substantially to being able to "read" moods, age, and attractiveness of the photographed individuals. Research is being done for smartphones and other devices to monitor body odor, sweat (to allet to dehydration), or tear liquid (for diabetics).
Image Description | Various simple visualizations of smartphones/devices interacting with people (depicted by emojis), body parts, et cetera.
Image Tags | chart, emojis, female(s), smartphone

Les objets connectés bientôt plus nombreux que les mobiles

(Connected objects will soon outnumber mobile phones)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 1.6.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | research/study, smartphone
Summary | According to Ericsson, in two years there will be more connected objects than smartphones in the whole world. Today, connected objects are cheaper, and more and more apps are being created.
Image Description | N/A

The five lessons I learned from breaking my smartphone

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 24.1.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | brain, research/study, smartphone, technology-free
Summary | After dropping her smartphone in the sink, the author lives without one for six weeks and discovers that she sleeps better without a smartphone, enjoys being unavailable, few things need to be tended to urgently, that she spends less money, and her memory suffers from having a smartphone. Studies have also confirmed that it is detrimental to one's sleep pattern to sleep next to a smartphone because notifications release dopamin in the brain similarly to a nicotine or recreational drug addiction. She values the time she now has to just not be available for messages from work because we tend to respond to any and all messages as if they were urgent when really they are not. The author reports to spend less money because she can no longer do online shopping on the go without a smartphone. She has also realized how dependent on Google she has become. Neurological studies confirm that our brains are adapting to the constant accessibility of all information by remembering how to find it and googling again if necessary rather than remembering the little snippets of information.
Image Description | Getty image of a woman's hands holding a smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone

Les jeunes passent plus de temps sur le net

(Young people spend more time online)

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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

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