Esl 099 - Social Media - Imagine a World Without Social Media Networking

Anh Nguyen (Amy)

Gregory Conner

ESL 099

Essay #1 (AC)

Topic:

 Imagine a world without social media networking: Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and all the rest suddenly disappear tomorrow. What would happen? How would it affect your day-to-day life? Write a short description of what you think would happen- in your own life, and in the world at large.

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        Ten years ago, when smartphones or all of modern communications in general or social media in particular did not exist, children like us enjoyed the life by gathering into a garden to play games such as rope jumping, blind man’s bluff and human chess, ... instead of staring at Ipad games as modern children are doing now; adults in the past went outside to communicate with each other face-to-face instead of checking their Facebook every ten minutes. However, people cannot deny that the innovation of technology and social media nowadays brings about several benefits to our society. Therefore, I cannot believe if social media totally disappeared tomorrow, everyone in the world, including me would have both considerable inconveniences and great experiences in life.

        Without social media, people would have a lot of inconveniences when contacting or communicating with someone. My mom would have to spend about $200 for a normal ten-minute call from the US to Viet Nam by Verizon service, or my cousins in Saigon might wait for a month to get a letter sent from California by my dad. Or what would happen if my sister wanted her friends to see her newborn daughter? Maybe she would need to print a hundred of pictures and send them to 20 people in Vietnam instead of uploading the pictures on her Facebook so that her friends could see those pictures easily. Without social media, the way that I was able to keep in touch with my past friends would become nearly impossible. Moreover, without Facebook, or Twitter, would you be patient enough to write detailed descriptions of your life everyday, or would you be willing to spend a large amount of money for a short call?

        Actually, social network media are very interactive and fast. Without it, the news around the world would be very slow and the information that people want to know might be very hard to catch. For example, the BBC found out through Twitter that Michael Jackson was deceased. Being online people can keep themselves informed about what is happening in the world. When I ask my friend whether social media is significant in her life, her answer is “ without social media, I could not survive.” Therefore, a world without social media networking is a big problem for everyone.

        However, approaching this problem in a more positive way, we would obtain several fantastic experiences that we would never have if social media continues to dominate our lives. Without social media, fifth or sixth-grade students like my brother or even me would be unlikely to spend their weekends surfing on Twitter, making fake friends on Facebook, or playing games such as Pirates King or Candy Crush. Instead of that, they would go outside and find real friends, not fake friendships on Facebook. They could talk and play together directly; they also would be able to build a tight and lasting connection with anyone and obtain necessary living experience from their surroundings. For instance, they could tell their friends everything such as how to mediate a conflict between their friends, how not to get involved in fistfights, how to climb trees, which insects can they touch, which kinds of mushroom are not hazardous, and so on. I would be very happy if my friend called me at midnight to wish me happy birthday instead of posting something on my Facebook, or meeting friends and hanging out for dinner sounds fun compared to seeing who like my photos in my Instagram.