Page 220 - BACKUP ENGLISH | PREPARATORY CLASS

THEME 18 DIGITAL ERA

Reading

a) Answer the following questions.
1. What are some positive effects of using social media?
2. How does social media impact individuals’ mental health in a negative way?
3. How does social media contribute to the spread of misinformation and fake news?
4. What are some positive effects of using social media for educational purposes and self-learning?

5. What are the potential negative consequences of cyberbullying and online harassment on social media platforms?

Negative Effects of Social Media

Anxiety & Depression: Researchers suggest that young people who are engaged with
social media for more than 2 hours per day are more likely to state poor mental health,
including psychological distress and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Sleep: Countless studies have shown that young people suffer from poor sleep quality
because of increased social media use (phones, laptops, and tablets), especially at nights,
before bed.
Lack of privacy: People, mostly the young, feel free to share their personal information
when online without being aware that their information may be used by third parties. They
believe that posting personal information using photos is safe and harmless.
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Checking social media and e-mails constantly, feeling
impatient and nervous in case of disconnection, and trying to stay in the know are all
related to FOMO. But, of course, we are missing out on everything as time is finite. What
we should do is to pay attention to the people around us, instead of posts.
School / Work: Engaging in social media can harm both students at school and employees
at work. It enables cheating on school assignments, lowers the grades of students who
go online while studying, and decreases the productivity of employees who check social
media at work; thus, it is a great waste of time.
Misinformation: False rumours and unreliable information cause infollution (information
pollution), so it becomes harder to rely on what we read on social media. Amateur medical
advice and self-diagnosis of health problems are also some of the common problems in the
cyber world and they can be dangerous and life-threatening.
While social media can be harmful, there are benefits that can come from it. So, what is
your final decision?

b) Read the text and answer the questions.

1. Why is the effect of social media on teenagers particularly important?
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Make a list of the negative and positive effects of social media.
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the reason for poor sleep quality?
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. What kind of harm can engaging in social media give to students and employees?
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Which problems can be dangerous and life-threatening for people?
_________________________________________________________________________________

6. Why do people usually learn about breaking news on social media?
_________________________________________________________________________________
7. In what ways do social media help people in social relations?
_________________________________________________________________________________

218 English for Preparatory Class