UOI 2 - How We Express Ourselves (Summative Assessment) - Persuasive Essay
Disadvantages of Using Social Media
Created by Marsya
Nowadays, social media plays a major role in our lives. Despite that, I believe that we should not let social media evolve around our lives. Social media users can lack face – to – face communication, they could make people feel insecure and they give people an unspoken right to be hurtful to other users.
To begin, according to an American study in 2013 conducted by ABC News, teenagers were experiencing a decline in intimate friendships as they chose Facebook over face – to – face communication. There are many popular social media platforms used by many people around the world. According to Patricia Greenfield, a UCLA developmental psychologist and the director of the Children's Digital Media Center, some people that use social media are used to being the center of attention that they tend to avoid direct communication because it has a smaller group of audience. Nowadays, people are becoming anti-social because they prefer to talk to their friends online instead of going outside to play and socialize. Some social media users got used to talking online that they fear intimate friendships or direct social interactions. It is not good to stay in a room for hours talking online. Even though this happens to almost all social media users, this problem occurs more to teenagers as they are easily addicted to social media because they are psychologically unstable and tend to search for attention.
Moreover, based on theguardian.com, many instagram users – especially women – feel anxious and insecure on social media. They feel like they have to look a certain way to get a certain number of ‘likes’. They let the number of ‘likes’ on a picture define on how attractive they look. If a picture they post does not have the number of ‘likes’ they want, they start to wonder if there is something wrong with them and they start to feel insecure on how they look. Michelle Linker, 24, stated that she feels insecure if a picture that she posted on the social media got a small amount of ‘likes’. Like Michelle, many other women also stated that they feel insecure on how they look on social media. They will delete a picture that does not get enough ‘likes’, because they think that they look unflattering or ugly. They feel anxious and loose self-confidence just because they think that the number of ‘likes’ they get in a picture defines how they look. Social media may be a good way to express yourself. But in order to expess yourself, you need to stay true to yourself and others. When you alter the way you dress or look, it is not considered as expressing yourself.
Lastly, in social media, a person can say anything they want. Whether hurtful or helpful, they will not be charged or punished for something they should or should not say. Cyberbullying has been a popular issue around the world. The impact of cyberbullying to people around the world is sometimes inevitable and unbearable that sometimes it goes out of hand. Cyberbullying is not always directed to one person, it is sometimes directed to a group of people who are the same gender, race, or religion. According to nobullying.com, ask.fm has caused a serious problem among teenagers, resulting in a bullying behavior that has been difficult to stop. The tragic suicide of a 14-year old girl in 2013 was linked to ask.fm. The new owners of ask.fm asked to stop the bullying or shut down the site altogether.
In conclusion, we should not rely on social media to make friends or to express ourselves. We could lack direct social interactions, we could feel insecure and uncomfortable with our own selves, and it can give people a reason to be hurtful and cyberbully others. While using social media, we should remember that humans are social creatures that needs to socialize in-person in order to stay sane and be aware of what is happening around them. We should also remember to stay true to ourselves, the number of ‘likes’ in a picture does not define on how we look, and we should ask for help if we feel uncomfortable with something while using social media. For many reasons, social media is just a tool and we should not rely on it everyday.
References:
Dakin, P. (2014). Social media affecting teens' concepts of friendship, intimacy. Retrieved September, 2017, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/social-media-affecting-teens-concepts-of-friendship-intimacy-1.2543158
Gajanan, M. (2015). Young women on Instagram and self-esteem: 'I absolutely feel insecure'. Retrieved September, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/04/instagram-young-women-self-esteem-essena-oneill
Hill, K. (2014). Generation antisocial: how social media is affecting our teens. Retrieved September, 2017, from http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/07/23/4051927.htm
Nobullying.com. (2016). Social Media Bullying Has Become a Serious Problem. Retrieved September, 2017, from https://nobullying.com/social-media-bullying-has-become-a-serious-problem/
The Advantages of Smartphones
Created by Cathleen
“There are so many apps and features on the latest releases that you don’t really need to leave with anything else besides your phone.” Smartphones have been developed more and more over the years and they have been used worldwide. Unlike other devices, smartphones enable you to communicate, they can entertain you, and socialise through social media.
To begin, smartphones enable you to communicate with each other. Communication can play a huge role in our lives. Based on express.co.uk, 88% of the people worldwide text or call daily. There are a lot of people that have long-distance relationships which means they prefer to call or text with their significant other. People tend to socialise through text and calling because it is easier to type or speak. During urgent situations, calling can come in handy. Calling could help when a family member has gotten into an accident because you will receive a fast response. For people that are deaf-mute, texting can come in handy. They will be able to express their feelings through text instead of talking, which they cannot do. Either way, communication is one of the important features of smartphones that help us keep in touch with other people.
Furthermore, smartphones can entertain you. Being a busy a person is complicated especially when you have kids to take care of. Having a smartphone for your child can help keep them entertained when you are gone for work. Smartphones have become a big impact in children’s lives. During these past few years, children have been using them for homework, research, and of course, entertainment. Even if you are not a busy person, you will be able to have a family movie night to entertain not only you, but also your family. Entertainment comes in handy when you are single because you do not have anyone to be with when you feel lonely.
Finally, you can socialise with people through social media. According to express.co.uk, 62% of the people worldwide use social media each day. Social media has been developing more and more each day. People can find a lot of friends through these different social medias. Instead of texting through texting apps, some people rather use social media to text other people. Through social media, people are also able to see pictures or videos of their past friends and socialise with them. Socialising can be important in a person’s life especially when you are a person with not many friends.
In conclusion, smartphones should be used more for communication, entertainment, and socialising through social media. Smartphones have made very big impacts in our lives. Smartphones have certainly made all of our lives convenient. Smartphones are devices that we can really rely on. They have made our lives much more easier than we expected.
Reference:
Express.co.uk (2017) REVEALED: Top uses of our smartphones - and calling doesn’t even make the list. Retrieved March 13, 2017, http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/778572/Smartphone-phone-common-reason-use-call
The Advantages of Using Smartphones
Created by Mesaya
The use of smartphones has become an inalienable part of everyday life of people. These days, people are always relying on smartphones on various ways. Smartphones can keep us always entertained, easier to complain about products and service, and convenient to check our communication.
First of all, according to eukhost.com, with a smartphone, waiting for things become less of a pain, mentally, because your smartphone can keep yourself entertained, by reading a news from a website, play video games, listen to music, watch videos, and so on. Smartphone also help us to relieve our stress and make us turn into a good mood because they entertained us with some of the features.
Second of all, complaining about products and services become a whole lot easier when you can do it through Social Media on your smartphone, because many companies these days use Social Media as a part of their customer service.
Third of all, having smartphone makes it much more convenient to check your email, Social Media account, and even your bank account. So, you can check at your bank balance before making any purchases. You can do it right away in anytime and anywhere.
In conclusion, having smartphones has a great way to help us on our daily routines/life, such as: keep your self-entertained, easier to complain about products and services, and convenient to check our communication. It also helps us when we are not in a good mood, or when we are in a rush. In many ways, smartphones are your guidance on our daily routines.
Reference:
Sys, L. (2012). 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of having Smartphone. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from: https://www.eukhost.com/forums/forum/general/technology-forum/17752-10-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-having-smartphone.