Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 97
Posts 41 - 50

Quand le smartphone fait de l'ombre au bébé

(When smartphones eclipse babies)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 13.6.2017
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, childhood, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | More and more parents take a lot of pictures of their newborn before holding him/her for the first time. As a result, a hospital in the Swiss German part of Switzerland decided to impose a new rule: no screen during mother-baby nap. The problem especially affects the younger generation (under 30). Parents seem to pay more attention to their smartphone, which is alarming. For instance, mothers post pictures of themselves in labor. There are no special rules in Geneva, but doctors and midwives are thinking about alternatives. An excessive use of smartphones can also have a negative impact on children's development.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand taking a picture of a newborn with a smartphone
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

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Newspaper | The Atlantic
Date | 0.9.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, cyberbullying, gender, smartphone, social media, threat, youth
Summary | A US study has conducted a large survey among teenagers and found out that smartphones are impacting their lives significantly. They sleep less, go out less, date less, are less likely to get (someone) pregnant, feel left out more, have more mental health issues, etc. Especially girls are more likely to feel left out because they spend more time on social media and because girls tend to bully each other by ostracization which is very easily achievable in cyberspace. Also, the teenage suicide rate has surpassed the teenage homicide rate for the first time in history.
Image Description | Two illustrations showing a woman falling with a tablet and a woman lying in bed at night looking at her smartphone. Charts showing the results from the US survey.
Image Tags | chart, female(s), smartphone, tablet

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)

So fressen Apps ihr Geld auf

(This is how apps eat your money)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 24.7.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, game, marketing, smartphone, threat
Summary | Many seemingly free gaming apps off in-app purchases after being downloaded. This is dangerous when unsuperised children use the app - some parents have already received in-app purchase bills of several thousand euros. It is best to either supervise children when playing game apps or to only let them play offline games which do not have pop-up advertising for in-app purchases.
Image Description | A PacMan head.

Quand l'usage du smartphone risque de virer à l'addiction

(When the use of smartphone can lead to addiction)

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Newspaper | Les Echos
Date | 8.2.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | A third of young people between 18 and 24 claim that they look at their phone more than 50 times a day. People are more and more addicted to their smartphone, and we should be worried about that. The "Days without smartphones" were created 16 years ago because of this new trend. 41% of French people state that they look at their smartphone in the middle of the night, and 81% say that they use their smartphone while having a meal with friends or family. People are anxious if they don't have their phone. We talk about nomophobia to characterize this new health problem.
Image Description | Photograph of three young people looking at their phone and smiling
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Wie der Selfie-Wahn unseren Urlaub ruiniert

(How the selfie craze is ruining our vacation)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 28.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | addiction, selfie, smartphone, social media, threat
Summary | It has become more important to post on social media than to experience. We evaluate our life based on social media likes. This is very visible in holiday destinations, for instance in skiing destinations in Austria which have introduced free wifi on all slopes. People care more about their selfies than about the skiing. This fuels the addictive potential of social media and smartphones.
Image Description | N/A

Et si nous repensions la place que prend le smartphone dans notre quotidien?

(What if we rethink about the role of smartphones in our daily life?)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 5.2.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | privacy, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | The 16th edition of "Days without smartphones" will be held this weekend. According to Phil Marso, smartphones can be dangerous (e.g. privacy issues, car accidents). Marso wants to show people that smartphones are convenient but that we can live without them.
Image Description | N/A

"Wir wollen die Menschen aus ihrem Zombiesein aufwecken"

("We want to wake people up from their zombie existence")

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 3.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | game, smartphone, threat, virtual reality
Summary | Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game. It is different from virtual reality in that it uses the real topography around the player as the site of the game which is virtually enhanced with Pokémon which can be "caught". It was designed to make people engage with the outside world and each other while playing, to lead people into parks they never went to. The most effective way to do that nowadays is to create an incentive with the smartphone.
Image Description | Getty image of Pokémon Go players at night and a portrait of the interviewee.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

L'ordinateur personnel est-il condamné à disparaître?

(Are personal computers going to disappear?)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 20.5.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | smartphone, threat
Summary | Computer sales are down; more and more people only use their smartphone and don't need a personal computer. Smartphones are spreading faster than any new technology (besides TV). in 1977 the PC era was launched with Bill Gates, but today, computer sales are down. However, for certain uses, computers are still preferred (e.g. video games).
Image Description | N/A

Saudi-Arabien verdammt Pokémon Go als unislamisch

(Saudi Arabia bans Pokémon Go as unislamic)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 21.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | game, smartphone, threat, virtual reality
Summary | Saudi Arabia has banned Pokémon Go because it falls under the rubric of gambling which is prohibited in Islam. Further, it resembles Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and some symbols in the game resemble Christian and Jewish symbolism. Some people have however illegally downloaded the game on their smartphones. It lets users "catch" Pokémon thanks to augmented reality.
Image Description | Hands holding smartphones with a woman wearing a hijab in the background.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone

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