Social Networking Lesson

I. Discuss the following questions with your classmates.

1 2 3

What social networking What are some good What are some bad
sites do you use? points about social points about social
networking? networking?

4 5 6

Have you joined any Are social networking What’s the best social
social networking sites for people who networking site?
sites? Are they fun? aren’t good at meeting
people face to face?

7 8 9

What information do What kind of information What type of

10 11 12

Should companies ban Have you ever tried to Would you prefer to
their employees from find friends on a social meet new people at a
using social networking site? party or online?
networking sites at
work?

1
II. Fill in the blanks with the verbs in the box. Make sure you use the verb

in the right tense.

blog chat delete download follow google make

post repost retweet share tweet unfriend upload

1. I chatted with my friends on WhatsApp all weekend long.

2. His daughter ____________ pictures on Instagram every day.

3. Her ex-boyfriend _______________ her on Facebook last week.

4. My niece, Valentina, ______________ things way too often.

5. I am pretty sure she _____________ a filter for every Instagram post in 2019.

6. Thank you so much for ______________ my post.

7. They just _____________ about their vacation to the beautiful Caribbean islands.

8. I am _______________ a document so that I can send it to my teacher through

WhatsApp.

9. Patricia _____________ her favorite writer to see what information is available about

him on the Internet.

10. I accidentally shared something this morning on Facebook, so I ______________ it this

afternoon.

11. My parents want to ____________ their account private, so only our relatives can see

their

posts.

12. I hate it when people ______________ lot of things in a row.

13. Do you know how I can _____________ a Snapchat story

14. My nephew is currently _______________ a bunch of famous singers on Instagram

15. Cristina is interested in _________________cooking videos for her mom.

2
III. Is Social Networking a Good or a Bad Thing?

Taken from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/social-media-good-thing-or-bad-thing

Read the Positive and Negative Effects of the Social Media and discuss them with your classmates.

POSITIVE EFFECTS

Friends and Relations:

Social networks started as a place to connect with your friends in an easy an convenient
way. Truly speaking, many of you might have found your old pals from school or college
who were out of touch due to one reason or other, well I would say I have and I thank social
networks for this. Social networks has provided us the opportunity to connect with people
and build better relationships with friends with whom we are unable to meet personally,
and let them know about our life and take input about their lives and events happening with
them.

Reducing Communication Barriers:

With social networks we are able to communicate our thoughts and perceptions over
different topics with a large number of audiences, and raise our voice. The sharing feature
available on the social networks makes your opinion about any topic reach huge number
of people (even to those who are not on your friends list). We have the option to make
groups with people who are like minded and share the related news with them and ask for
their opinion or input about the topic. Simply there are a number of options available for us
to communicate with others on these social networks.

Opportunities for Businesses:

Social networks have become a crucial part of many of us. We don't even notice this but
as soon as we open our desktops or laptops to access the web, we sub-consciously open
our favorite social network just to see about the updates received. Businesses have noticed
the value of social networks in our life, and they are using different techniques to promote
their products. There are a number of customized applications being made on the social
platforms, whose main purpose is to promote the product or brand. As social marketing is
cost effective and brands have a huge audience, they are shifting more towards social
marketing.

3
 NEGATIVE EFFECTS

Leads to Addiction:

Many studies have shown that the extensive use of social media can actually cause
addiction to the users. Throughout their day, they feel to post something on their pages or
check others posts as it has become an important part of our life.

Lead to Isolation:

Extreme usage of social media has reduced the level of human interaction. Because of
social networks the interaction with other people has become effortless and people have
isolated their lives behind their online identities. Face to face communication and meetings
has been reduced and many of us have lost the flavor and charm to be together under one
roof.

Affecting Productivity:

Mostly businesses use social media to find and communicate with clients. But it is a great
distraction to employees, who may show more interest in what their friends are posting
than in their work tasks. Wired.com posted two studies which demonstrated damage to
productivity caused by social networking. Nucleus Research reported that Facebook
shaves 1.5% off office productivity while Morse claimed that British companies lost 2.2
billion a year to the social phenomenon. New technology products have become
available that allow social networks to be blocked, but their effectiveness remains spotty.

4
IV. Social Networking Advantages: Rank these items. Put (1) to the biggest

advantages of social networking and (8) to the smallest one. Then compare your raking with

your partners’.

___ getting advice

___ shopping

___ sharing music

___ seeing family photos

___ making friends

___ keeping in touch

___ getting advice

___ up-to-date news

V. Write a 100-word paragraph about your favorite Social Network. Include details

to support your answer.

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Lesson adapted by Mauricio Arango