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Skills: Listening
Language: Social Media
Task: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being connected
In this week’s Premier Skills English podcast, Rich and Jack talk about how technology can bring people from all over the world closer together. The language focus is on language we use on social media. The task is to describe the advantages and disadvantages of always being online. There is a new football phrase for you to guess too. Enjoy!
How much did you understand?
In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. Do you know the words in bold?
Jack: Did you get my email?
Rich: What email?
Jack: I sent you a New Year gif!
Rich: Oh … no. Maybe it’s in my spam folder.
Jack: Your spam folder! Have you got my emails down as junk mail?
There were a few more tricky words in the podcast. Do you know what they all mean? Try the activity below, then, listen to the podcast again to hear how we used the words.
Activity 1: In this activity, try to match the words and phrases to the descriptions.
Where is the hashtag in this photo? Do you use them on social media?
Social Media
In the podcast, we spoke a lot about the language of social media and the things we do when sharing messages, photos and videos and also reacting to our friend's photos, messages and videos. We separated the language into four different sections:
- Messages
- Reactions
- People
- Platform
Let's look at some of the language we use to talk about each of the above sections.
Messages
Messages are usually used on platforms such as Whatsapp or other messenger services to send messages or an SMS directly between two people. On social media, we send a message to a group of people and we use different words to describe this depending on the social media we are using. For example, on Facebook we post something and on Twitter, we tweet something. When you post something or tweet something you can then pin it to the top of the page. This means that this post or tweet will stay at the top of your page until you unpin it.
Reactions
There are lots of ways to react to a post or tweet. You can like or love something. On Facebook, you can add different reactions. You can add a wow if you think something is amazing, a haha if you think something is funny, or a sad or angry face if the post makes you feel sad or angry. Another way to react to a post is by making a comment. Other people react in different ways on social media. Sometimes people are trolled online. This means that someone writes a comment to make you angry or make fun of you. People often try to troll famous people to get a reaction from them.
People
There are quite a few words we use to talk about connecting to people on social media. On Facebook, you can add a friend or friend someone. You can also unfriend someone if you don't want to disconnect from someone on social media. On Twitter and Instagram, you follow friends, famous people, companies and brands. You can also follow people on Facebook and you will get all their news in your timeline. You can also tag people in photographs or mention people or brands on Twitter. You might tag a friend in a photo to let them know about the photo or you might use a hashtag (#) on Twitter to be part of a bigger conversation.
Platform
These are the words you need to understand to use social media and other online services. You first need to register or sign up for services such as Facebook or Instagram, which is when you give a service your personal information. You then choose a username and a password which you need to log on each time you want to use the service. You need to remember to log off when you finish using the service.
In the activity below, look at the vocabulary and try to put the words into the correct category.
Activity 2: In this activity, you have to match the words to the categories.
Do you use social media on your mobile phone?
Advantages and Disadvantages
In the podcast, Jack and Rich spoke about some of the benefits and drawbacks of social media and always being connected to friends and family online. Have a look at this conversation from the podcast. Can you see the phrases in bold that are being used to contrast two things?
Jack: Why do people want to film the match? If you want to watch it, you can watch on TV.
Rich: Yeah, I know. On one hand you want to enjoy the match on the other hand you want everybody to know you were there!
Jack: Ah, so that’s what it’s all about.
There are other phrases that you can use to contrast ideas. Have a go at this activity to learn a few more useful phrases.
Do you follow any football teams on social media? Which team is this?
Advantages and Disadvantages of staying connected
Your task this week is to give your opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of always being connected through technology.
What are the benefits of being able to contact people whenever and wherever you want?
What are the drawbacks of being able to contact people whenever and wherever you want?
Can you think of two advantages and two disadvantages?
Write your answers in the comments section below. Try to use some of the phrases of contrast from the previous activity.
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