Social networking sites

Social networking sites are a part of people’s life. People usually use them when they communicate with other people. It is a good idea to use them but they have some bad sides. I am going to discuss the positive points and negative points of using social networking sites.

People can contact with their friends and families who live far away by using social networking sites. In the past, it was not commonplace to have computers and gadgets such as laptops and iPhones, but, nowadays, almost of people have these tools. In my case, when my brother went to America to study English, my parents and I could not to call him because a calling fee was very expensive. We chose to talk each other by sending letters. It took 1 or 2 weeks to get them from my family in Japan to him in the USA. However, I can talk with them by using LINE which we can use to call and send a message for free even though I am in New Zealand, now.  Moreover people can get back, and keep, in touch with old friends. For example, they can find them by searching for their names and their school names on Facebook. In addition, personally, I have gotten a lot of friends who are from foreign countries. Some of them have gone back to their countries but I can still talk with them on sites such as Instagram.

On the other hand, there are some reasons which social networking sites have negative effects on people’s relationships. First of all, they can socialize with other people without meeting so some people do not try to see one another in the flesh. One of my friends is a person who is influenced by them. He used to be outgoing when he was a university students. However, he always stays at his home now. When he wants to chat with someone, he just uses Facebook messenger or LINE. I have not seen him out for a long time, therefore, he might lack communication skills in the future. Also, people spend on using social networking sites much time at home alone. It means they might not talk enough face to face with friends and family members. In my case, I sometimes talk with my friends who live in other countries too much by using such sites in my room so I do not chat with my host family in New Zealand. It is a good opportunity to speak with Kiwis so I do not think that I behave as the correct way.

In conclusion, social networking sites can make our social life easy and convenient. I believe that we cannot live without these sites because we are used to communicating with our friends and families through such sites. However, we might reduce our precious opportunities to talk face to face with them so we should use them carefully.