L-1: APPS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

What do these logos stand for ?

Do you know all of them?
Which app do you use more/ less often?
Classify: Travel /work/ game/ sports/social media/shopping/learning
Name another app you use or know for each category
What do all these apps have in common?

1. Discuss these questions with a partner.

a. Are you an active social networks user?
b. How many social media accounts do you have?
c. Which social network is your favourite?
d. How often do you check your social media accounts?

2. Are you a social media addict? Take the following quiz. Check your score with your teacher.

Never Occasionally Often Always

(0 pts) (5 pts) (10pts) (20 pts)
1 I check Facebook on my phone first thing in the morning
when I wake up
2 I take a picture of my meal and post it instantly on
Instagram
3 I ask my friends to check and like my photos on social
media
4 I check my social media accounts several times a day
5 I play online games and interact with other players
6 I am subscribed to several youtube channels and
immediately comment when the is an update
7 When I watch a TV show I comment it with other users in
Tweeter using hashtags
8 I feel disappointed when my posts do not get many likes on
Facebook
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3. Read the following text.: PROS AND CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA READING COMPREHENSION
The use of social media has boomed in recent years and has changed the way we communicate, do business,
get our daily news fix and so much more. Nowadays there are roughly two billion social network users in the
world. But is it really all this appealing?
That depends on who you talk to and how you're using it. In the middle of this entire buzz about social media
here are some of the major pros and cons that most people are familiar with. As you go through them, ask your-
self how you can take more advantage of the pros while minimizing the cons whenever you decide to check out
your favorite social networks.
Pros of Social Networking
Ability to connect to other people all over the world. One of the
most obvious pros of using social networks is the ability to in- VOCABULARY BOX
stantly reach people from anywhere. Use Facebook to keep up
with your old high school friends who've relocated all over the Rely on: depend on
country, get on Google+ with relatives that you barely see, or Available: at our dispoosal
meet brand new people on Twitter from cities or regions you've
Bonus: advantage
never even heard of before.
Easy and instant communication. Now that we're connected Customize: personalize
wherever we go, we don't have to rely on our landlines or letters
Catch a break: to make a brief pause
to contact somebody. We can simply open up our laptops or pick
up our smartphones and immediately start communicating with Overwhelmed: unable to deal with
anyone on platforms like Twitter or one of the many social mes-
Concern: worry
saging apps available.
Real-time news and information discovery. If you want to know Target: objective
what's going on in the world, all you need to do is jump on social to fit in with their peers: to be accepted
media. An added bonus is that you can customize your news and by equals
information discovery experiences by choosing to follow exactly
what you want.
Great opportunities for business owners. Business owners and other types of professional organizations can
connect with current customers, sell their products and expand their reach using social media.
General fun and enjoyment. You have to admit that social networking is just big fun sometimes. A lot of people
turn to it when they catch a break at work or just want to relax at home. Since people are naturally social crea-
tures, it's often quite satisfying to see comments and likes show up on our own posts!
Cons of Social Networking
Information overwhelm. With so many people now on social media tweeting links and posting selfies and shar-
ing YouTube videos, it sure can get quite noisy. Becoming overwhelmed by too many Facebook friends to keep
up with or too many Instagram photos to like can lead to lots of news feeds with too much content we're not
all that interested in.
Privacy issues. With so much sharing going on, issues over privacy will always be a big concern. Whether it's a
question of social sites owning your content after it's posted, becoming a target after sharing your geographi-
cal location online, or even getting in trouble at work after tweeting something inappropriate sharing too
much with the public can open up all sorts of problems that sometimes can't ever be undone.
Social peer pressure and cyber bullying. For people struggling to fit in with their peersespecially teens and
young adults the pressure urging you to do certain things or act a certain way can be even worse on social
media than it is at school. In some extreme cases, the pressure to fit in with everyone posting on social me-
dia or becoming the target of a cyberbullying attack can lead to serious stress, anxiety and even depression.
Online interaction substitution for offline interaction. Since people are now connected all the time, it's a lot
easier to use online interaction as a substitute for face-to-face interaction. Some people argue that social media
actually promotes antisocial human behavior.
Distraction and procrastination. How often do you see someone look at their phone? Browsing social media
can also feed procrastination habits and become something people turn to in order to avoid certain tasks or
responsibilities.
 L-1: APPS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS
4. Do you agree or disagree with the contents of the article? Can you add any pros and cons?

5. Find words or expressions from the text with the following meanings
a. attractive
b. staying in touch with
c. trying persistently to persuade someone to do something
d. grown or developed rapidly
e. hardly
f. approximately
g. excited interest or talk about something
h. lack of concentration

6. Complete the following sentences with words and expression from above
a. Social networking sites are very useful for ______________________ what is happening in the world.
b. Addiction to such sites can ____________________ students from their studies.
c. Nowadays, younger generations __________________________know what it means to write, send and
receive letters.
d. There is a real ________________around the topic of social networking sites.
e. The popularity of hashtags has ____________________________as they help people find posts and
messages about a specific issue on social media.
f._____________________70% of Facebook users access the site on their smart phones.
g. Social media has become very _______________________ to businesses as it allows them to post
advertisements and reach their customers easily.
h. Many schools and universities are _________________________ teachers to use technology in their
classes.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION
7. You are going to listen to a two-part recording. Discuss these
questions with your partner. Then, listen to part 1 of the recording and answer the questions.

http://www.onestopenglish.com/13737.file

a. How many social media sites are there on the internet?

b. Do all social media sites have the same status among internet users? Explain.
c. What do statistics tell us about social media sites?
d. How many minutes does an average user spend on social media per day?
e. Which age group has an average of three social media accounts?
f. What is the average number of social media accounts per user between the ages of 25 and 34 in the UK?

8. Listen to part 2 of the recording. Then, complete the following sentences.

http://www.onestopenglish.com/13738.file
 L-1: APPS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

a. There were an estimated ____________________________ users of social media in the world in 2015.
b. In 2018, the number of social media users is expected to reach _______________ worldwide.
c. Facebook has ____________________________ active users.
d. WhatsApp has _________________________ users, ahead of the Facebook messenger app, which has 700
million users.
e. Twitter is ____________________________ on the list and LinkedIn is last. f. In eighth place, we find Skype,
Google+ and _______________________, with 300 million users each.

g. In the second quarter of 2015, the number of mobile-only active users of Facebook reached
________________________, which is double of what it was the year before.
h. This means that 62% of social networks users and __________________________ of Facebook users
accessed the site on their mobiles.
i. WhatsApp and ____________________________ are very popular among voice calls and instant messaging
fans.
j. LinkedIn serves ____________________________ who use social media for business reasons.

WRITING

9. Write a balanced paragraph about the advantages and disadvantages of using social media. Your
paragraph must contain the following elements:
a topic sentence to introduce both aspects (advantages and disadvantages)
arguments to substantiate each aspect
examples to illustrate your arguments
a concluding sentence or restatement to end your paragraph

Useful language

expressing contrast giving examples connecting ideas and

sentences
... but ... For example, ... ... and ...
However, ... For instance, ... Not only but also ...
On the one hand, ... To illustrate this, ... Moreover, ...
On the other hand, ... As an example, .. Furthermore, ...
Nevertheless, ... Nonetheless, ... In addition, ...
Similarly, ...

.
L-1: APPS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS