Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 33
Posts 21 - 30

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

La nomophobie est-elle vraiment le mal du siècle?

(Is nomophobia today's ill?)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 17.1.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, research/study, smartphone, technology-free, youth
Summary | A lot of people are stressed and anxious just thinking they might lose or forget their phone. This pathology is called "nomophobia" (no mobile phobia). An American study showed that 50% of participants could not live without their smartphone for 24 hours. Some even mentioned a feeling similar as loosing a limb.
Image Description | N/A

"Je suis accro aux jeux sur smartphone"

("I am addicted to smartphone games")

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Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 11.5.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | Anne is a 40-year old mom and she was addicted to the game Candy Crush. She used to spend most of her time online to play that game; she would even play instead of spending time with her family. Then, one day, she saw a TV show where two women were sitting at the kitchen table and were both on their phone without talking. Anne realized that she had made a huge mistake. She went back to real life and felt much better. Now she realizes how unhealthy her life was.
Image Description | Photograph of two hands playing Candy Crush on a smartphone.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

Toujours plus accro aux smartphones

(More and more addicted to smartphones)

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Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 3.12.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, technology-free, threat
Summary | We carry our smartphone everywhere: bed, bathroom, work, train etc., which can render people addicted. Corine Kibora (spokeswoman at Addiction Switzerland) claims that people can be addicted to social media, news applications, emails etc. When a smartphone disturbs someone's eating, sleeping, or work habits, there is a problem. There can be health issues (eyes tired, sleep disorders) and social issues (personal relations and communication). Kibora suggests setting a schedule; no smartphone during dinner for example.
Image Description | Photograph of a man lying in bed with his smartphone in his hand.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

La tentation de la déconnexion

(The temptation of being disconnected)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 17.1.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, email, smartphone, threat
Summary | There is now a general feeling of overdose or "virtual burnout" with new media. This feeling touches both private and professional spaces. A professor a the University of Neuchatel condemns this phenomenon which can have bad consequences at work. Nowadays, even if we leave our office, our work does not stop; we can still receive emails and feel like we have to respond right away. Some companies have rules: for example, no email after 6 p.m. and during the weekend. This digital overdose also hinders our personal relations with people.
Image Description | Digital image with new media use statistics, and icons related to new media.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

Cyberdépendance: quand le Web devient une maladie

(Cyberdependence: when the internet becomes an illnesss)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 17.1.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, smartphone, threat
Summary | News media have been talking about cyberdependence for a few years. Is internet addiction a real thing? A doctor (chief of the "addiction" service at the HUG) claims that it is a pathology; patients have the same symptoms as alcoholics or drug addicts. Internet addicts are mostly young people, and they are addicted to a specific product (e.g. video games, social media, etc.). The dependence becomes a problem when it has an impact on family, friends, or work.
Image Description | N/A

Abus d'écrans, responsabilité de parents

(Screen abuse, parents' responsibility )

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Newspaper | Le Temps
Date | 31.1.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, childhood, smartphone, technology-free, threat, youth
Summary | Parents keep complaining about the fact that their children are stuck to their digital devices. More and more households in Switzerland own several digital devices ("screens"), which has consequences on family relations. Indeed, screens hinder natural communication and create problems. Parents seem lost and don't know what to do. Some parents have specific rules: no phone during dinner, or no phone before going to school in the morning, or no more than 30 minutes a day. A psychiatrist claims that the main rule should be to always privilege people physically present around us, especially children.
Image Description | N/A

Comment j'ai survécu à...une semaine sans smartphone

(How I survived...a week without smartphone)

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Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 18.7.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, email, smartphone, technology-free
Summary | A journalist tried to live 7 days without her smartphone and talks about her experience. She might be part of the 20% of the Swiss addicted to their smartphone. People are addicted when they spend more time online than with their friends and family. This is not her case. She also realizes that with a smartphone, there is almost no separation between private and professional life; she can read her emails anytime. Without her smartphone, the journalist finds it difficult to organize her day: who is going to pick up the kids? At what time?
Image Description | Blurred photograph of a woman holding a phone; the person is blurred but the phone is in sharp focus.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Jamais sans mon portable!

(Never without my cell phone!)

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Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 21.2.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, smartphone
Summary | Are people addicted to their smartphone? Is it bad or dangerous? Experts claims it is not a real addiction; doctors don't talk about "cell phone addictions". It is also a bad idea to use pathological terms when talking about new media uses (a selfie is narcissistic, Facebook is exhibitionist etc.). Why are people afraid to lose their phone or forget it at home? People are not attached to the object, but to its functionalities. Smartphones replace a lot of everyday objects (agenda, newspaper, etc.). Therefore, people can be anxious if they don't have their smartphone with them.
Image Description | Photograph of a young woman in bed using her smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

Des camps de désintox pour pour accros au smartphone

(Rehab camps for smartphone addicts)

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Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 12.3.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, brain, childhood, smartphone, technology-free, youth
Summary | South Korea is one of the most digitally connected countries. As a consequence, 1 out of 10 children is addicted to internet and other digital devices. Rehab camps for young internet addicts is supposed to help children live without digital devices. In those camps, children go hiking, play guitar, and read paper books. Rehab can be tough; it is almost the same process as for alcoholics or drug addicts. At the end of the camp, those young people know how to appreciate real life and have to find out what the causes of their escape to the virtual world are.
Image Description | Photograph of young people in South Korea playing video games in a room full of computers.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, game, male(s)

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