Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 19
Posts 11 - 19

Chatbot that overturned 160,000 parking fines now helping refugees claim asylum

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 6.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, Facebook, law, WhatsApp
Summary | A Stanford student has developed a chatbot on Facebook messenger that helps refugees apply for asylum in the US, UK, and Canada. It helps them fill out the necessary forms by using plain English and they are working on an Arabic translation. He wishes he could have the service on WhatsApp so that it would be better encrypted.
Image Description | Facebook chats on smartphones and a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, Facebook, smartphone

Facebook Releases New Tools To Combat Revenge Porn

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Newspaper | Huffington Post
Date | 5.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, Facebook, pornography, sexting, threat
Summary | Facebook have begun implementing new ways to combat the sharing of revenge porn on their platform. These changes stem from roundtable discussions with women's safety organizations. Revenge porn, the sharing of intimate photographs without permission after a breakup (or similar), is becoming increasingly frequent. Facebook can now take down such images very quickly once they're reported and keep users from sharing such images again.
Image Description | Image of a Facebook like billboard and a video where people discuss revenge porn.
Image Tags | Facebook, female(s), male(s)

Hilfe, wo sind meine Whatsapp-Freunde hin!

(Help, where did all of my WhatsApp friends go!)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 26.2.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, privacy, social media, WhatsApp
Summary | After Facebook has bought WhatsApp, many users are worried about their data privacy so waves of users are switching on to safer alternatives to WhatsApp such as Telegram, MyEnigma, or the Swiss app Threema. The large majority however is staying on WhatsApp, which causes more people to stay or return to WhatsApp. When Facebook replaced older social media platforms such as the German SchülerVZ, all users moved because a social media platform is only valuable when enough people use it.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen with social media different icons.
Image Tags | logo, smartphone, social media

Keine Chance für WhatsApp-Konkurrenz

(No chance for WhatsApp competition)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 16.2.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, privacy, WhatsApp
Summary | When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $22 mio in 2014, many users feared that their data privacy would be exploited. App store sales for secure messaging apps increased, particularly the Swiss app Threema. Now, Facebook and WhatsApp still have the highest user numbers which shows that people do not seem to care very much about their data privacy in the long run. While WhatsApp did introduce end-to-end encryption, Facebook also broke their promise of never connecting WhatsApp and Facebook user data.
Image Description | Photograph of a smartphone screen with different icons.
Image Tags | logo, smartphone

Wer nicht snapt, ist out

(Who doesn’t snap is out)

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Newspaper | B.Z. (Berlin)
Date | 1.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Snapchat is the new hot social media channel for the German youth. Now that the parent generation is uding Facebook and WhatsApp, teenagers are looking for digital spaces free of parental supervision. Snapchat is more aimed at visual rather than verbal communication, though now audio and video calls can be made. The article lists three new (not necessarily messaging) apps that are gaining popularity amongst young people: Miitomo, musical.ly, WeMesh.
Image Description | Screenshots of two snaps, and digital image of the Snapchat logo.
Image Tags | female(s), logo, Snapchat

Los ancianos prefieren WhatsApp y Facebook y detestan los selfis

(Seniors prefer WhatsApp and Facebook and hate selfies)

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Newspaper | 20 minutos
Date | 28.5.2015
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | childhood, Facebook, research/study, selfie, social media, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | According to a study, seniors (64+) prefer using WhatsApp and Facebook because they can connect with their grandchildren. Also, using new media make them feel young and modern. With social media, seniors feel active and integrated. However, they don't choose social media to have more relationships; most of them already are very social offline. They like WhatsApp a lot because they can create groups (family, friends, etc.) and keep in touch with everyone. They also like the fact they can stay in touch with their grandchildren and share pictures with them. Seniors like to communicate using memes, videos, and images; it is actually more difficult for them to write.
Image Description | Photograph of a male senior and a female child looking at a family album.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

Schreiben statt streicheln: Die neue kalte Liebesordnung

(Writing instead of stroking: The new cold order of love)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 20.6.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, smartphone, threat, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Youth nowadays do not get to know their love interests face-to-face but rather through digital channels. A typical digital encounter would be a Facebook friend request, message exchanges and possibly the exchange of seductive images. Now intimacy means something different; people open up to each other in letter form rather than with actual physical contact. Cultural pessimists fear that while it is convenient that all of our interactions can be done online, this convenience may turn into a huge problem because people could virtually stay at home all the time and become lonely.
Image Description | Photograph in back and white of a couple (male and female), sleeping entwined.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

40 Tage ohne Honig im Tee

(40 days without tea with honey)

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Newspaper | St. Galler Tagblatt
Date | 14.2.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, Facebook, WhatsApp
Summary | Catholic and Protestant churches of the St. Gallen area are advertising lent season and trying to get people to give up something they value for 40 days. The blue cross also urges people to give up addicting habits for 40 days. Next to alcohol, cigarettes, meat, and sweets, social networks such as Facebook or WhatsApp seem to be popular addicting habits to give up for lent.
Image Description | Digital image of the number 40 in the background, and a burger in the foreground.

“Pic speech”: le parler ado

(“Pic speech": teen talk)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 30.5.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, Facebook, language threat, selfie, Snapchat, social media, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Nowadays teenagers mostly express themselves through visual modes (e.g. Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat) and thus create their own language: “pic speech”. Images do not necessarily replace words; young people claim that words are still important since they contextualize images. Regarding emojis, teenagers use them for their “affective” purpose. This new language is a way for youth to become autonomous and emancipate themselves.
Image Description | Series of screenshots of different teenagers' snaps (selfie + Face Paint feature).
Image Tags | male(s), Snapchat

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