Prime Time 5/6, Writing, Arbeitsheft

3 56 Text types Sample prompt: Essay As part of a project which your school has started with an old people’s home, you have been asked by the manager to write an essay for their in-house magazine about the use of social media and its consequences. In your essay , you should: • describe how people use such media • discuss possible dangers linked to such media • outline the consequences of using these media Give your essay a title . Write around 400 words . Sample essay Today almost every person under the age of 60 and many who are older use social media sites like Facebook or tools like WhatsApp, many of them extensively. But is this a positive trend or is it just another way to waste one’s time? The users of these sites get in touch with their friends, share information and exchange views on a regular basis. In many cases such contacts would not have been possible a few decades ago. All this is exciting and challenging, which is the reason why these sites and services are so popular, especially among the young. One downside of this trend is, however, that many young users are often negligent with the content they share. We should always keep in mind that whatever we have sent to the internet, we will never be able to get rid of. It can be stored on a computer beyond their control and shared without them knowing about it. As a consequence, everybody should be extremely careful what they post. Among employers it is common practice nowadays to check the internet for infor- mation on job applicants before taking on new staff. Another aspect is that internet companies and service providers record every move people make on their computers (especially if this could be relevant for their businesses). Although they know about these practices, many internet users tend to trust international companies or have given up worrying about their privacy because these companies provide an essential service to their users, namely communication. When we access a company homepage or look for a specific product on the internet, our data are added to our profile, and soon we get advertisements specifi- cally targeted at us. So, the compa- nies preselect the information that is offered to their users on the basis of the data they have provided freely. In spite of this, many people seem to be addicted to their social media habits. Sharing private information has turned many into social media producers who try to create their own virtual identity by what they post, share or like. However important these contacts are, many seem to forget that there is life outside the digital world. For many interacting on such sites is more important than anything else. When people write about how dangerous websites like Facebook or apps like WhatsApp are, they seem to forget that it is the users and not the companies that might cause trouble. When using social media sites, one should exercise a high degree of self-discipline in order not to be exploited by the large players in the market. Only then can these sites have a positive effect on the lives of the users. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Privacy on the net Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigent m des Verlags öbv