Reading Passage 7
You should spend 20 minutes on questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 7.
Their social life online: a parents' guide
Rachel Carlyle
Worried parents take heart - a growing body of research shows that teens who use social media are not reclusive geeks: they actually have a wider circle of real-life friends, a better sense of identity and belonging and are developing the essential technical skills they need to be citizens of a digital age.
'Social networking has become an embedded part of modern childhood,' says e-safety pioneer Stephen Carrick-Davies, who advises parents and schools on technology.
'Children do not consume media - dipping in and out to buy airline tickets or check emails as adults do - they inhabit it. That's neither good nor bad - it's what you do with it that counts.'
What teenagers mainly do with it is socialize with friends they already know. 'It's the modern equivalent of hanging around at the bus stop to share the in-jokes and catch up on the gossip: a kind of virtual bus stop,' says Tim Mungeam, a parenting consultant who runs social networking seminars for teens and their parents.
And it performs a similar function: helping teenagers develop a sense of identity away from their parents and learning to get on with their peers. Professor Kevin Durkin, a psychologist at Strathclyde University, says: 'Adolescence is a time when you are asking, who am I? Who do I want to become? Social networking can help you develop that self-identity: you can post notices about your favourite music or sports, discover what you enjoy, and you are constantly reminded that other people have different ways of looking at things and have different tastes. Research actually shows that keen social networkers are not as self-absorbed as others who don't.'
He says that embracing social media can also help shy teens blossom: 'They tend to find computer-mediated communication more comfortable than face-to-face, and there may be benefits from practising social skills in a less-threatening environment.'
Professor Andy Phippen, of Plymouth University, who is researching the use of social networking sites by teenagers, feels that these sites can also boost the confidence of children traditionally on the edge of friendship groups. 'Unlike in our day, when there were the Alpha* kids and those very much on the periphery of friendship groups, social networking can bring in the ones on the periphery so there's not so much difference between them,' he says.
It can be a life-saver for the quiet, geeky child who has a specialized interest because it can allow them to connect with others with similar interests. 'If you are one of only three kids in your school in Cornwall who is into Emo* culture, traditionally you would have felt quite isolated. But if you discover a social networking group of like-minded teenagers, there's suddenly a necessary critical mass and you can still be popular, just in a different context,' Professor Phippen adds.
Experts always used to advise monitoring your children's social networking activities, but there is a growing consensus that once they reach 13 or 14, and parents are happy they know the ground rules (stay civil, be kind, don't give out personal details to those you don't know in real life) they should trust them to get on with it.
It's the teenagers who are able to find new interests online, join networks of likeminded individuals - and then create their own content - who are really harnessing the potential of social networks, says Pamela Whitby, the digital education expert and author of Is Your Child Safe Online?
'Social networking is becoming a creative force: teenagers are making videos, joining YouTube groups, podcasting and blogging about the things that interest them. Sites like Pinterest, which is like a digital look-book, and Instagram, a photosharing network, are transforming creativity, and I think niche networks are going to become more and more common.
'I recently went into a school and thought I would be telling all these teenagers about how to use Instagram - but many were already using it. The keen photographers were networking with each other, learning skills, swapping images and deepening their own interest. This all adds to their employability and will undoubtedly benefit them in the workplace.
'Every single business is using social media to sell and to increase brand-awareness - and you need to understand how it works and how it can create customers. For example, if you develop a product and you have 700 friends on Facebook and 300 on other networks, they are all potential customers for that product. If you link all those networks together there's your customer base right there.'
Teenagers who use social networking as a creative force will reap the benefits in the world of work, agrees Mungeam. 'One of the fantastic aspects of Facebook and YouTube is the opportunity for collaborating with others to create content, then sharing it with others. Collaboration is a real 21st-century skill, and an essential part of being employable in a digital age.
'Social networking helps them find out what they are passionate about. They can be in touch with people all over the world sharing ideas and gradually they can build their online reputation: signing up to campaigns or joining groups to make their voice heard.
'Social networks amplify one person's voice, and no one appreciates this more than a teenager.'
Teenagers who use social networks will reap the benefits in the world of work.
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* Alpha kids - most dominant children in a group
* Emo - a style of music/a community of emotionally sensitive people
Part 1
Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information in the text? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
1 Social media discourages adolescents from developing real friends.
1
2 Young people use the Internet to book tickets for concerts.
2
3 The majority of teenagers use online networking sites to meet new people.
3
4 Socializing online helps teenagers to collaborate with people of their own age.
4
5 Teenagers who socialize online tend to be more introverted than others.
5
Questions 6-7
Label the diagram with words taken from the passage. Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD.
Skills that improve employability
| Social networking |
↓
| 6 6 |
↓
| 7 7 |
↓
| Enhanced employability |
Questions 8-13
Complete the summary with letters (A-H) from the list in the box.
NB There are two extra words on the list.
Early research into 8 8 and social media suggested that teenagers who socialized online might be afraid of mixing with their 9 9 in real life. However, recent research has shown that adolescents who 'meet up' with their friends on social networking sites are actually less 10 10 , have a stronger sense of their own 11 11 and have more real friends than those who do not. Furthermore, online networking sites can offer less- 12 12 adolescents a safe platform from which to interact with their social circle, potentially reducing the distance between more assertive, popular group members and 13 13 individuals, who traditionally hover on the edges of their social group.
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A quieter B adolescence C identity D intelligence E peers F isolated G confident H parents |