communication news stories on Newser

Good-Bye, Phone Call: Texts Rule Teen Communication

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:30:03 CDT

So much for the olden days of talking on the phone for hours: Texting is now the "dominant daily mode of communication" for teens, according to the results of a recent Pew Research Center survey. The median number of texts per day is now 60 for teen users, up from...

Rejoice, Introverts: This Is Your Age

John Johnson — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:24:51 CDT

Philip Bump has a happy message for his fellow introverts in the Atlantic : Technology has made this a "Golden Age" for you. Sure, email, texts, social networks, etc., might seemingly make it impossible to disengage, but it actually "has become easier than ever to carve out time for oneself while...

Cell Phones Can Be Saviors for World's Poor: UN

Matt Cantor — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:18:47 CDT

For the financially comfortable, cell phones may make life a little easier—but for those in less-developed countries, the gadgets can be the difference between a life of poverty one of relative comfort, a UN report finds. “Mobiles have spawned a wealth of micro-enterprises, offering work to people with little...

Skype Partners With Facebook

Emily Rauhala — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:29:23 CDT

Skype just got a lot more social. The voice and video calling service has announced a new partnership with Facebook, reports CNN . The new service will allow you to see your Facebook "news feed" while you Skype, and give users the ability to call 'friends' who use "Facebook Phone" via...

Let's Stamp Out Hyperlinks

John Johnson — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:31:05 CDT

Tech writer Nicholas Carr is rethinking the usefulness (or at least the placement) of one of the Internet's classic tools: the hyperlink. They're too distracting, the author of the Shallows writes on his blog . You might start out reading about the Israeli ship mess but a few clicks later find...

Let's Rethink How We Teach English

John Johnson — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:54:07 CDT

Take it from a first-year college instructor: The writing skills of young adults are a joke. "They have either forgotten the rules of writing, or they never learned them in the first place," writes Kara Miller of Babson College. And while the media focuses on the need for better science...

Cell Phones May Raise Risk of Tumors: WHO Study

John Johnson — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:01:34 CDT

One of the most thorough reviews yet of the health risks of cell phones suggests that longtime users face a higher risk of brain tumors. The World Health Organization study is not definitive, but it bolsters the case that precautions make sense. The lead researcher tells the Telegraph she thinks...

Facebook Refuseniks Still Sorta Use It

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:00:00 CDT

The Washington Post today profiles an increasingly rare breed: people in their 20s and 30s who don't use Facebook or other such sites. And though the “refuseniks” interviewed have different rationales—privacy, “morals and beliefs,” being “old-school in the personal touch way,” many share something in common that speaks to...

Google Gives Select Few a Taste of Wave

Kevin Spak — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:30:06 CDT

A hundred thousand lucky beta testers today got their hands on the much-hyped “Google Wave,” a communication app that Google’s calling “what email would look like if it were designed today.” Wave operates a little like a cross between email, instant messaging, and collaborative wikis, allowing users to edit conversations...