Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 31
Posts 21 - 30

Das Ende der Telefonbuchse naht

(The end of the telephone socket is approaching)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 7.2.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | texting, WhatsApp
Summary | Swisscom is changing the technology behind landline phone calls to the new VoIP (Voice over IP/Internet) technique, and because Swisscom has lost a lot of business to internet based instant messaging app WhatsApp, they are launching a messaging service called iO, which enables Swisscom clients to text other Swisscom clients for free and unlimited.
Image Description | Photograph in black and white of a woman using a rotary dial phone.
Image Tags | female(s)

Government secretary tweets nude ‘selfies’

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Newspaper | The Local
Date | 7.8.2014
Language | English
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | pornography, selfie, sexting
Summary | A Bernese office employee had been tweeting nude images from her office to her 11'000 followers. She works for the Swiss government, whose employment policies ask employees to only post thing on social media that they would be comfortable sharing with their co-workers and supervisors as well and to keep the Swiss government's reputation in mind even when they are off the clock. The secretary in question, who has participated in several hundred amateur porn films as is now confirmed, claims that her private life does not interfere with her professional life in any way and that they should be kept seperate. It is unclear how her employers will handle the situation.
Image Description | Getty image of a woman taking a selfie.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), selfie, smartphone

WhatsApp frisst Apps

(WhatsApp devours apps)

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Newspaper | Focus Online
Date | 28.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | video communication, WhatsApp
Summary | WhatsApp has been running a deficit since Mark Zuckerberg bought the app for $ 22 bio. WhatsApp developer Jan Koum is not worried about profits – he states that their number one goal is to recruit more WhatsApp users and the opportunity to profit would establish itself later on. WhatsApp is looking to expand its services to video communication and communication with businesses. WhatsApp users should, f.i., be able to make a reservation at a restaurant via WhatsApp rather than having to make a phone call.
Image Description | Videos/Interviews about WhatsApp, its features, and its future.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, WhatsApp

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)

Porno-Sekretärin des Bundes wird freigestellt

(Porn secretary of the confederacy will be discharged)

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Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 6.8.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | pornography, selfie, sexting
Summary | The 'porno secretary' (as she has been dubbed in the media) was discharged effective immediately. After her porn Twitter account became known to both the wider public and her employer, the secretary has lost her work position in the Federal Palace. She had posted nude and hardcore pornographic images from porn shooting sets and from her office workplace.
Image Description | Explicit photographs from the secretary's Twitter account with her face and nipples/genitalia pixelated.
Image Tags | female(s), selfie

Les jeunes parlent romand

(Young people speak Romand (Swiss French))

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Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 18.5.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, research/study, texting, What's up Switzerland, WhatsApp
Summary | Interview with Federica Diémoz at the University of Neuchâtel. She talks about a study related to the different expressions used in the Swiss French part of Switzerland. People also use their local expressions in text messages. The "What's up Switzerland" project is going to analyze WhatsApp messages. From what researchers have observed so far, people sometimes use regional expressions and don't always write the same way. They also add emoticons and images that replace words.
Image Description | Photograph of the interviewee, Federica Diémoz.
Image Tags | female(s)

Blaue Häkchen vergiften die Liebe

(Blue ticks are poisoning love)

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Newspaper | Der Bund
Date | 7.11.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | misunderstanding, WhatsApp
Summary | WhatsApp programmers may have thought that they would improve communication by introducing a ‘message read’ notification in the form of two blue ticks. This new feature however is making room for much more confusion and misunderstandings. If a person reads a message and does not respond instantly, the other person might think it is because they are sulking, for instance. This is why users should discuss matters of the heart face to face and just share trivial things such as shopping lists via WhatsApp – to avoid misunderstandings of non-verbal cues.
Image Description | Screenshot of a tweet representing a scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's. George Peppard's message "I love you" is well received by Audrey Hepburn (two blue ticks).
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

Schriftliche Forschheiten: Vom Niedergang der Höflichkeit

(Written briskness: On the demise of politeness)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.9.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, language threat, politeness, school, texting, WhatsApp, word/writing
Summary | Communication researchers agree that politeness in professional writing has decreased with the rise of digital communication. Rules of formal writing are omitted: what was“Honored Professor So-and-so” is now a simple “Hello”. Both students and also professors are reported to have a relaxed level of formality in email exchanges. This is usually seen as an influence of texting, where traditional messages of respect are omitted, but it can also be argued that the new brief communication style is a form of respecting the addressee’s time by writing efficiently.
Image Description | Photograph of a female texting; the shot does not show the person's face but emphasizes the phone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone, text

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)

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