We owe much to the development and expansion of the Internet. It has enabled one of the main technological and cultural revolutions in recent history: theemergence of social media. Over the last 10 years, online social media have grown extremely fast and become central to the lives of hundreds of millions of people.Social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Plus allow us to communicate with family, friends, and people that we would have never had the chance to meet regularly. Some social media such as LinkedIn and Meetup are becoming important tools for our work and business networking.However, although many people spent considerable part of their lives interacting with social media, others refuse to engage with online social networking. Let's dissect some of the benefits and dangers of social networking. The pros of social networking Social networks allow us to keep in touch with people that we meet at different points in our lives and reconnect with old friends that we may have not seen in years for various reasons. Online social media help bridge previously insurmountable physical distances. Before Facebook, it was difficult to follow what your friends were doing. You could write emails, and before that letters, but the sense of proximity that people get by reading comments and things friends share and seeing their pictures on the social media is something never achieved before. Instant messaging services, such as Whatsapp, and conference call software, such as Skype, add to this new feeling of proximity with people that may be leaving thousands of miles away. Social networks offer their users the capacity to get almost immediate access to information about things happening elsewhere. When something important happens in the world people often find out almost immediately through social media. Just by spending five minutes on your Twitter, Facebook or Reddit feed you can learn about global social, cultural and economic events and trends.They even allow to shame the politicians and other people that have done or said something unethical or wrong. These platforms also allow for global interaction with people from different backgrounds. Before social media, interacting with people from distant places was almost exclusively the privilege of those who could afford travelling. Now through social networking sites we often engage in discussions and can establish friendships with people very different from us. Some social media even facilitate people meeting face-to-face. For instance, networks such as Couchsurfing allow you to live for some time with people you might have otherwise never met. Likewise some social networksspecialized in dating help people meeting others and often establish long term relationships. Thanks to the social networks some people and small companies cangain visibility for their products and creations without having to invest much in advertising. Social networks can also very effective ways to find a job, a business partner or an employee. Finally, social platforms, such as netivist, help to promote public participation andcivic engagement. People have new means to express their views and defend causes they find worth fighting for. Protest movements around the world, such as the Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement and the European Indignados employed social media for the mobilization and organization of protesters. At the same time, the use of social media, such as Twitter or Reddit, by Obama during his campaign for the White House is a good example of how politicians and citizens can interact more directly to the benefit of political participation and democratic processes. The cons of social media However, social media may also have some negative effects on our lives and the way people interact. First of all, it is argued that social media may insulate us from the people that surround us. Although these platforms make communication easier and more flexible with those far away, they can have the opposite impact on our relationships with the people we live with. Who has not been in a family or friends' reunion, where everyone is just looking at their smartphones or tablets rather than speaking to each other? Social networks serve to disseminate information, but the validity of this information cannot always be verified. Thus, social media can be used to spread rumors, propaganda, and misleading information. Sometimes this information canhave negative impact on the lives of people. Apologies and rectifications tend not to reach as many people and travel as fast as flashy erroneous information. Harm is not always undone or compensated. Social networking distracts us. Social media have become a source of entertainment but also a means of procrastination. With people often checking Facebook, Whatsapp, or Twitter every five minutes, it is likely that their productivity at work diminishes. We are constantly bombarded with notifications from social media. Many of them are of no use to our lives. Worse even, in many cases social media mayturn into an addiction or obsession with negative psychological impacts on our lives. Privacy is also at risk because social media. Pictures and videos of everyone arecirculating through the internet. Even if we try to be careful, there is no way we can prevent other people from posting pictures of us or our families on Facebook, Twitter or other social media. How many times have you found yourself removing a tag from a somewhat inappropriate picture taken at a party? Social media are also making it more difficult to separate our professional and social lives. We end up being "Facebook friends" with colleagues, and in some cases this may backfire. Social media platforms store too much information about us. Potentially this information could be used by governments and corporations to control us. Most networking platforms extract large amounts of information from their users. It is difficult to understand the terms and conditions of use of the platforms, usually captured by long and extremely technical legal documents. Moreover, this information collected about us is not always secured. There have been notable cases in which hackers have managed to steal information about thousands of users. Finally, these platforms have become fertile grounds for offences and crime. Many people suffer stalking and bullying through social networks. This has led to dramatic cases where users have ended up committing suicide. Social networks have also been used to collect information about victims by kidnappers and burglars. Many terrorist organizations recruit members and raise funding through social media.
重點搭配和句子摘抄： development and expansion of the Internet: 互聯網的發(fā)展和擴張 the main technological and cultural revolutions : 主要的技術和文化革命 emergence of social media: 社交媒體的出現 have grown extremely fast and become central to the lives of hundreds of millions of people: 已經極快的成為數億人的生活的重要(部分) 常見的社交網絡細節(jié)羅列： Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Plus communicate with family, friends: 與家人、朋友交流 had the chance to meet regularly: 有機會經常見面 are becoming important tools for our work and business networking: 越來越重要的工具為了我們的工作和業(yè)務圈子 spent considerable part of : 花了相當大的一部分 to engage with online social networking: 加入在線社交網絡 keep in touch with people : 與人保持聯系 reconnect with old friends : 聯系老朋友 bridge previously insurmountable physical distances: 跨越之前不可逾越的物理距離 the sense of proximity : 親近的感覺 Instant messaging services: 即時通訊服務 offer their users the capacity :給他們的用戶提供xxx的能力 get almost immediate access to information: 幾乎立即獲取信息 Just by spending five minutes on your Twitter, Facebook or Reddit feed you can learn about global social, cultural and economic events and trends allow for global interaction with people from different backgrounds. 只要花五分鐘在Twitter、Facebook或Reddit的最新消息上就可以了解全球社會、文化和經濟事件和趨勢， 并能讓你與來自不同背景的人交流。 interacting with people from distant places was almost exclusively the privilege of : 與遙遠的地方的人交流是幾乎完全的特權 engage in discussions: 參與討論 establish friendships with people : 與人建立友誼 facilitate people meeting face-to-face: 促進人們面對面的見面 networks such as Couchsurfing allow you to live for some time with people you might have otherwise never met: 網絡如Couchsurfing讓你跟可能從未見過的人生活一段時間。 specialized in : 擅長于xxx establish long term relationships: 建立長期的關系 gain visibility for their products and creations : 獲得對其產品的視野和創(chuàng)造
to promote public participation and civic engagement: 促進公眾參與和公民參與 new means to express their views and defend causes they find worth fighting for: 用新手段表達自己的觀點、捍衛(wèi)他們認為值得為之戰(zhàn)斗的事業(yè) employed social media for the mobilization and organization of protesters: 使用社交媒體動員和組織*者 insulate us from：使我們與xxx隔絕 make communication easier and more flexible : 使交流變得更容易、更靈活 have the opposite impact on our relationships with the people : 負面的影響我們與人的關系 in a family or friends' reunion: 在一個家庭或朋友的聚會 Social networks serve to disseminate information, but the validity of this information cannot always be verified: 社交網絡服務于傳播信息,但不能總是確保這些信息的有效性。 spread rumors, propaganda, and misleading information: 散布謠言、宣傳和誤導信息 have negative impact on the lives of people: 對人們的生活有負面影響 flashy erroneous information: 庸俗的錯誤信息 become a source of entertainment : 成為娛樂的來源 a means of procrastination: 拖延的一種手段 productivity at work diminishes: 工作效率降低 are constantly bombarded with notifications from social media: 不斷地收到社交媒體的通知 turn into an addiction or obsession with negative psychological impacts on our lives: 變成一種癮或癡迷并給我們的生活帶來負面的心理影響 is also at risk : 處于危險境地 circulating through the internet: 通過互聯網傳播 removing a tag from a somewhat inappropriate picture : 在有點不合適的照片里刪除一個標簽 also making it more difficult to separate our professional and social lives: 也使得更加難以分離我們的職業(yè)和社會生活 store too much information : 儲存太多的信息 extract large amounts of information from their users: 從他們的用戶那里提取大量的信息 the terms and conditions of use of the platforms: 平臺使用的條款和條件 long and extremely technical legal documents: 長并且非常技術性的法律文件 There have been notable cases in which hackers have managed to steal information about thousands of users. 在有些知名案例中,黑客成功竊取成千上萬的用戶的信息。 become fertile grounds for offences and crime: 成為罪行和犯罪的肥沃 suffer stalking and bullying : 遭受騷擾和欺凌 This has led to dramatic cases where users have ended up committing suicide. 這導致了戲劇性的情況, 也就是用戶最終自殺。 collect information about victims by kidnappers and burglars: 收集關于綁匪和竊賊的受害者的信息。 recruit members and raise funding : 招募成員和籌集資金 Citation： https://netivist.org/debate/social-networking-pros-and-cons 適用題目： 2013.8.10 Some people like to record their life by sharing pictures and other information on social-networking sites. Others keep this information to themselves and never share it online.