Skills Reading 1
Read the article about changing trends in teenage social media use. What do you think these trends are?
Teenage social media trends >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
U
ntil recently it was thought that Facebook and Myspace were the chosen domains of teenagers, leaving Twitter to their adult counterparts. Why? Because Twitter was regarded as too public and consequently not as cool! However as more and more adults have joined Facebook to ‘keep an eye’ on the activities of their teenager children, many teenagers have voted with their fingers. In a phenomenon that the media has dubbed as ‘hiding in plain sight’, many young people have chosen to start tweeting. Apparently they like Twitter because it is easier to use and interact with their friends than other social networking sites. It is possible to hold more than one account using pseudonyms, which protects their anonymity and allows them to voice their opinions freely. That voice need not be public either, as you can use locked, private accounts, accessible only to a chosen group of people. This prevents the peer pressure that sites like Facebook cause of having to ‘befriend’ everybody you know. You can also simply follow other people’s tweets without interacting with them, enabling fans to keep up with what their favourite movie, pop or sports stars are doing. Experts warn however that online privacy doesn’t exist in any form, because people you allow to view your tweets can then retweet them, rendering them public, so that your parents, teachers, or future employers can see them. So you might like to consider this before you decide what to tweet!
2
Answer these questions.
1 Why didn’t teenagers tweet until recently? 2 What has changed? 3 What does the writer mean by voting with their fingers? 4 What do young people like about Twitter?
5 How can you use Twitter and protect your privacy? 6 What do experts warn us about and why? 7 What is the writer’s advice about tweeting?
Listening 3
2 F You will hear five people talking about different social networking sites they enjoy using. Choose from the list A-F what each speaker likes about their social networking site. Use each letter only once. There is one extra letter that you do not need to use.
A B C D E F
It attracts a younger demographic particularly because of its special artistic function. It gives people an opportunity to reminisce and talk about common acquaintances. It provides a lot of information about what’s on and what people like. You choose what personal information you give and discuss things in an open forum. You need to pick and choose the parts to use and who to use them with. You’re never alone and you get to experience specialist art.
Speaker 1
Speaker 2
Speaker 3
Speaker 4
Speaker 5
Writing 4 F
Write a review (120-180 words) of a social media network of your choice. In your review say: – – – – – –
how long it has been going / how long you have been using it; how it works; special characteristics; its good points; its bad points; any other relevant information.
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