Social Media Addiction

1. Social media has long been a topic of debate and of media reports, many questioning whether it does more harm than good to our social relations. The two texts in the exam tasks are newspaper articles that deal with the topic of social media and present various views on the topic. I will look at each of the texts and outline the main points they make about social media use.

The first text, “Internet addiction even worries Silicon Valley” is an article by Tracy McVeigh and was published in The Guardian in 2012.
The news report informs the readership about the dangers of social media which are to be discussed at an upcoming conference in San Francisco by leaders of social media companies.
Most of the views on social media, expressed in the

4-6); “In China, Taiwan and Korea, internet addiction is accepted as a genuine psychiatric problem with dedicated treatment centres...” (ll. 15-18)

Text 2, “Teenagers and social networking – it might actually be good for them” was written by Clive Thompson and published in The Guardian, in 2013.
In his article, Clive Thompson argues that, based on some studies, teenage use of social media is not as dangerous as it may seem. On the contrary, it helps them develop new kinds of social skills. Consequently, the author tries to present the readers some positive aspects of social media use.

One of Clive Thompsons main points in the article is as follows:
Teenagers who use text messaging a lot are more likely to also engage in real-life interactions: “…the most avid texters are also the kids most likely to spend time with friends in person.” (l. 72-74)

2. In what follows, I will look at the way Clive Thompson argues for his

In order to make his points more credible, he includes himself as a party directly interested in the topic, as he is the father of two children: “As a parent of two boys at primary school, I’m not immune to worry about these issues.” (l. 15-17)

Further on, he supports his points by quoting studies and statistics that support his views: “As it turns out, the diversity of use in this group of friends is confirmed by research. Fewer than 20% of kids send more than 200 texts a day; 31% send barely 20 or fewer.” (l. 57-61).

Additionally, he inserts specific individual examples which make the article more realistic and introduces some persons whom the readers might relate to: “Take Tavi Gevinson, a 17-year-old student who founded and edits Rookie, a site that features articles by and for young women.” (l. 117-121)

Lastly, he tries to give a sort of balance to the article and admits that social media use has some negative effects on teenagers, but he immediately minimizes them with the help of statistics: “As wrenching as the worst-case scenarios of bullying are, and as urgently as those need to be addressed, they are not, thankfully, a daily occurrence for most kids. Even sexting may be rarer than expected...” (l.