Is social media good for you?

We often hear about the negative side of social media. But what are the benefits? Watch this video to find out.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Transcript

Elena: Hello, my name is Elena. I'm 14 years old and I'm from Ruse in Bulgaria. My question is, what are the benefits of social media? This question is important to me because a lot of people consider social media unhealthy.

Joe: We see it all the time. There's loads of stories around about how bad social media is for us and how large parts of our lives are in the hands of a few massive companies.

I'm Cybersecurity Reporter at the BBC, which means that a big part of my job is holding these big companies to account. I spend a lot of time looking at the negative sides of social media and I pretty much take the positives for granted. So getting this question is actually really good for me because it can remind me of all the good things that have come about since social media was invented.

I grew up in a time before social media. Not quite that long ago! We still had mobile phones and the internet, but it wasn't quite like it is now. Everything was much slower and much more difficult. People still mainly communicated by phone call, which means that if you made plans, you had to stick to them. Or you could leave your mate waiting in the rain.

And now we're more connected than ever. Most of us are spending time every day with our friends online and sharing our lives with people across the world. If you're feeling isolated or lonely or if you feel like there's something you need help with, you can find a community through social media who can share their experiences and help you out. All this communication can lead to a greater understanding of each other and also bring some real change. It's hard to imagine something like the climate strike movement spreading as far or as fast as it has, without social media. It helped amplify the voice of a 15-year-old activist in Sweden, so she's been heard around the world. And there are some pretty direct benefits too.

Tools have been made that encourage people to make the world around them better, whether that's by giving money, telling your friends and family you're safe or by donating blood. In fact, this alone has led to more than 50 million people becoming blood donors around the world, literally life savers.

So, there really are some great benefits to social media but it's still really new. These apps are emerging technologies and when things affect the way that we live and work and do things as much as social media has, it takes a long time to work out what the knock-on effects could be. It's probably up to the next generation to work through some of these problems and hopefully, if they do a good job, we'll be talking a lot more about the positive sides of social media in the future.

© BBC

Discussion

For you, what are the positives of social media?

Average: 4.4 (5 votes)
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Comments

Submitted by Sofia_bitvynovskaya on Fri, 02/02/2024 - 15:49

We can find information which is good and help with a people's problems.

Submitted by random_person250 on Thu, 11/02/2023 - 12:50

I think social media realy helped me in a hard times there are people that are on there tho help poeple so i understand there are bad people but also look at the good side i say

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Submitted by FlowerQueen on Mon, 01/02/2023 - 18:36

Hi!
It's the easiest way to stay in touch with friends and family, and on social media it's sometimes easier to find new friends.
Flowerqueen~♡

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Submitted by bookishgirl on Thu, 07/28/2022 - 12:43

I'm a bookish creator on Instagram. Even if there are so many creators around my topic, I think I can make some voice among y followers. So I like creating ideas. Even if I have less than a k followers for two years. But then, keep going!!

Submitted by PolinaLogvinenko on Sun, 06/19/2022 - 11:42

I think that social media can help me to connect with my friends. I can study online and learn new information without leaving home.

Submitted by eoerenozkann on Tue, 06/07/2022 - 19:21

I think social media is good for those who use it productively

Submitted by UtkuKublay35 on Wed, 06/01/2022 - 08:00

I think social media is good people's agenda, they learn the news from social media, but too much is asocial and I think this is bad.

Submitted by Alexthebest on Sun, 04/03/2022 - 18:10

Was a interessant Text.

Submitted by AugustDiaries on Fri, 02/11/2022 - 16:11

Social media has surely helped me to look for better concepts and contents and staying in touch with like minded people around the globe.

Submitted by mickeysmart on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 14:28

I think social media help me connect with friends and study online through the Covid-19 pandemic.
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