Channel URL: https://www.youtube.

com/c/LearnEnglishLab

Lesson URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG6fJ9vD_n0&list=PLmwr9polMHwuqZt7Mc2jtJMEaBtenxd8d

Advanced Spoken English Class #3 – Social media

Transcript

Let’s talk about social media. Do you use social media?

I use YouTube. I use Facebook too but not as much. I’ve tried Twitter in the past, but I never got the
hang of it. I’m not really big on social media generally, aside from YouTube, which I use a lot, both for
watching videos and for publishing my own like this one.

You just mentioned YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Why are these sites called social media?

Well, the key word is social. Because these sites are all about people sharing information. I would say
that that’s the defining feature of social media. And the term social media is used in contrast to
traditional media where the listener or the viewer is only a passive recipient; information is presented to
us and we passively consume it, and if we want to share that, if we see something on television and we
want to share that with somebody, we have to either call them up or tell them in person. But on a site
like Facebook, if you see something interesting, you can immediately engage with it on the platform
itself – you comment on it, like it, share it, and if you share it, that gets pushed out to all your friends.
Obviously, you can’t do that with your television or a newspaper. So social media sites are driven by
people sharing information.

Why do people use social media?

I think the social element is itself the primary motivation for people. Because it’s a basic urge for human
beings to seek attention from others. And social media takes advantage of that very well. When we
share something, say even a selfie, these algorithms are designed to push that out to all of our contacts
and generate likes and positive comments. When that happens, we get a temporary boost of self-
esteem. But then that fades quickly, so you have to post another selfie or share something else. That
keeps us coming back; it’s a form of instant gratification. I don’t know that that’s a good thing. But that’s
what makes social media so addictive in my opinion.

It sounds like you’re saying social media is a bad thing.

No, not necessarily. There are advantages. For one, it allows us to stay in touch with people in our social
circle. We can let people know about the good things that are happening in our lives. In a world where
we’re so strapped for time that we hardly ever get to meet up with friends or relatives, social media
allows us to stay in touch with them. And it’s not uncommon to run into old friends on Facebook from
way back and reconnect with them.

And then look at what YouTube has accomplished. For many people, it has completely replaced the
television. And more than that, I think it’s just astounding how much learning material is available free
of charge on the site, and it’s nothing short of revolutionary – you can learn anything you want on
demand, free of cost watching videos. And of course, I make videos myself, so it helps people like me (I
guess the term for that is creators), it helps independent creators connect with their potential audience.
That would have been almost impossible before the advent of social media.

Do you think social media is good for children?

No, I don’t, and I say that with apologies to my young viewers. I think there’s a reason why social media
sites have a minimum age requirement to have an account on their site. Because there are inherent risks
involved for children in using platforms where they can come into contact with strangers. When we
were growing up, our parents used to tell us not to talk to strangers, but that rule is not easy to enforce
when your child can be interacting with random people on an electronic device.

Beyond that, I think the bigger problem is that children can be exposed to unfiltered material on social
media. See, if my child was watching television, as the parent I would know that the content that they’re
exposed to is going to be curated to some extent. But on social media, people can say what they want,
post what they want, share what they want, and children (including teenagers) often lack the judgment
to know that something is inappropriate; that certain types of behavior or language or ways of saying
things are not acceptable in society. So, I don’t think children ought to be using social media, honestly.

Does social media also have negative effects on society as a whole?

See, I don’t want to be seen as bashing social media here. But, it certainly has negative effects on society
that we cannot ignore. One is that it’s often a tremendous waste of time. The fact that social media apps
are so easily accessible on mobile devices means that whenever people are bored, they can just open up
Facebook or YouTube and get their dose of instant gratification, and they don’t have to make the effort
to socialize with human beings in real life, or pick up a book and learn something. And then like I said
before, some of the content that goes viral on social media is just not of the positive kind; a lot of stuff
that I see is offensive and obnoxious, or even things that are plainly false. It’s really easy to spread false
information, fake news via social media. And the lack of accountability I think also tends to bring out the
worst in people sometimes.

But for all its flaws, I believe the advantages that I mentioned before certainly do outweigh the
disadvantages. So, the important thing is to view social media as something that can add value to our
lives and to seek out positive experiences while being wary of the negatives.

OK, thank you very much.

Thank you.
Vocabulary

1. get the hang of sth

 learn how to do sth, get used to sth

2. not big on
 not very interested in sth

3. all about
 this phrase is used to indicate the focus of sth or the most important aspect of sth

4. defining feature
 the most important feature

5. in contrast to
 in opposition to; this phrase is used when comparing things

6. passive recipient
 a person who receives sth but is not very active

7. in person
 being physically present

8. driven by
 operated by; the source of power to make sth happen

9. urge
 a strong desire that is difficult to control

10. seek attention

 to act in a way that makes other people notice us

11. self-esteem
 self-respect, self-confidence

12. instant gratification

 immediate satisfaction that does not last very long

13. for one

 just one reason or example

14. strapped for

 short of sth, not having enough of sth; ex: strapped for cash, strapped for time

15. hardly ever

 almost never, very rarely

16. run into

 meet someone unexpectedly

17. from way back

  from a long time ago

18. astounding
 very surprising; often used with victory or success

19. nothing short of

 nothing less than; equal to

20. advent
 the time when something begins (ex: technology)

21. curate
 select things carefully for publication (ex: music, movies or TV shows)

22. lack judgment (US) / judgement (UK)

 judgment = the ability to make good decisions

23. bash
 criticize harshly

24. get one’s dose of

 get a necessary amount of sth
 dose = a certain quantity of medicine taken at a particular time

25. socialize
 spend time with other people in a fun way

26. obnoxious
 very unpleasant; ex: obnoxious person, obnoxious behavior

27. accountability
 responsibility for one’s actions or behavior; having to explain one’s actions to sb

28. bring out the worst in sb

 make sb show their worst qualities; make sb behave badly

29. for all its flaws

 even though sth has disadvantages, it is not totally bad
 flaw = fault, weakness, disadvantage

30. wary of
 being careful or cautious in order to avoid danger