Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 23
Posts 11 - 20

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

Jetzt kommt die Sticker-Schwemme

(The sticker flood is on its way)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 15.11.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | abbreviations, emojis, Facebook, language threat, marketing, social media
Summary | Emoticons (f.i. ":-D") and abbreviations (f.i. "LOL") have trickled down from "geek speak" and established themselves in the mainstream. Emojis are nowadays ever present in our digital communication as well as in other arenas such as film or advertising. Now various social media platforms, among them Facebook, offer users various palettes of stickers. They are larger versions of emojis and are sent as an image file rather than included on the keyboard as a letter. Because many sticker palettes need to be purchased, a whole economy is beginning to form: The Japanese messaging app Line has sold over $250 mio worth of stickers last year. We do not need to fear that emojis and co. will replace language as we know it.
Image Description | Commodified emojis in various forms (as balls, as tattoos, as bed sheets, as food, on clothing, as masks, etc.) and Facebook messenger chats using/purchasing sticker collections.
Image Tags | emojis, Facebook, male(s), social media

Redes sociales en las primarias del PSOE: una competición desigual

(Social networks in the PSOE primaries: an uneven competition)

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Newspaper | El País
Date | 21.5.2017
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | hashtags, politics, research/study, social media, Twitter
Summary | The PSOE candidates in Spain use social media differently in their campaign. Sánchez knows the language of social networks very well and knows how to use them. He is the most active candidate on social media. Lopez was the first one to have a Twitter account and uses the social network intensively. However, he doesn't use the network the same way Sanchez uses it. Díaz only posted 670 tweets and has 115000 followers. Moreover, her language is not actualized; she uses the at sign @ too much. A study analyzed the online community of the candidates. When Díaz started using the hashtag #100por100PSOE, some people started attacking and criticizing her using the same hashtag. There are also multiple analytical tools that show different statistics regarding the candidates and their online campaign.
Image Description | Screenshots of the three candidates' Twitter profiles, and five different charts/graphs related to the candidates and their online campaign
Image Tags | chart, female(s), male(s), Twitter

#EmmanuelHollande: la genèse d'une offensive numérique

(#EmmanuelHollande: the genesis of a digital offensive)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 6.4.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | hashtags, politics, social media
Summary | During the French presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron was called "Emmanuel Hollande" by François Fillon. Then, everything goes really fast: exhanges of hashtags, keywords, and images. Fillon's digital campaign team quickly notices the potential of #EmmanuelHollande. Samuel Lafont creates a Twitter account and a Facebook page based on #EmmanuelHollande, and it's a success.
Image Description | N/A

School apologises for 'slut-shaming' prom posters about 'appropriate' dresses suggesting women 'to blame' for rape

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 31.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | gender, hashtags, school, social media, Twitter
Summary | A Florida school was widely criticized online after a student shared posters that were put up in the school depicting what appropriate women's prom dresses look like and what kind of dresses are inappropriate. These posters were labeled with "good girl". The outrage is around the mysoginist language (degrading women to girls) and the mere fact that women's styling of their bodies is strongly policed and tied to accountability in sexual harrassment cases. The internet responded with a hashtag on Twitter with many contributions and the school's administration has since apologized.
Image Description | Image of the school, the original tweet with the posters, then tweets with students wearing woman symbol t-shirts in protest.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), school, Twitter

That time when ‘that time when’ took over the Internet #InstantNostalgia

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 15.9.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | hashtags, research/study, social media
Summary | It has become customary to frame anecdotal posts on social media with the phrase "that time when" or "that akward moment when". Sometimes it is even used to describe events that have just happened, even though it is a formulation that suggests an old memory. This linguistic strategy thereby creates an air of nostalgia around the memory and makes it iconic. Linguists suggest that the usage of the demonstrative "that" suggests that sender and receiver of the message have shared memories. This is why many celebrities use this construction to create a false sense of intimacy with their fans online.
Image Description | GIF of a woman taking a selfie and posting it to social media.
Image Tags | female(s), gifs, smartphone, social media

Time to Put on Your Big-Boy Pants

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 19.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | hashtags, Instagram, social media, threat
Summary | The skinny jeans trend is fading and the new trend are low-waisted loose-fitting curduroy pants with a drop-crotch. Social media influencers comment that Instagram is changing the game when it comes to promoting trends. Users can access an endless stream of visual material by just searching for a hashtag of a new trend. This has some downsides to it since it accelerates the changing of trends and pressures people to renew their wardrobe each season.
Image Description | Getty image of models wearing the new trouser trend.
Image Tags | male(s)

‘Unicorn Food’ Is Colorful, Sparkly and Everywhere

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 20.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, hashtags, Instagram, marketing, politeness, social media
Summary | Starbucks is cashing in on the 'unicorn food' trend - a trend to make all food colorful. The trend was likely sparked from a Florida-based Instagrammer who has now acquired a huge following. She noticed that her hobby had become a trend when people would copy her creations and Instagram them with the fitting hashtag. Now Starbucks has caught on the trend and they are offering a unicorm frappucino for five days only.
Image Description | Unicorn/rainbow foods and the Starbucks Unicorn Frappucino.

Instagram Für Alle

(Instagram for everyone)

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Newspaper | Lead Digital
Date | 18.1.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | hashtags, Instagram, marketing, social media
Summary | Instagram has become the second most active social media platform after Facebook so it is a great place for companies to advertize their product - or rather their brand. Instagram is all about visual storytelling so it is a prime platform to develop one's brand by presenting a certain look or attitude. Instagram offers various visual formats - from image posts over stories like on Snapchat to videos and livestreams. It is important to be thorough when choosing hashtags as these determine who will find the post. Many hashtags are ambiguous so one really has to be in the know to skillfully ascribe hashtags.
Image Description | N/A

Soziale Medien: Auf dem Weg in eine Post-Schrift-Gesellschaft

(Social media: on the way to a post-literate society)

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Newspaper | Berliner Zeitung
Date | 8.2.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, politics, social media, Twitter
Summary | Dystopias are being written about what is going to happen to society in the age of increasing digitalization of life. Predictions include that we will lose the ability to read and write because we will be able to do everything through voice command. We can already order piza at Domino's by using emojis only. The new literacy culture is limited to 140 characters and resembles in fact more an oral culture in which the truth is what is screamed the loudest.
Image Description | Reuters photograph of an eye with the Twitter logo mirrored in it.
Image Tags | logo, Twitter

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