Good morning, everyone.
I’m Chris Wong, the Chairman of the Current Affairs Club. Nowadays, various social networking sites develop rapidly and are extremely popular with us. However, have you ever noticed the harm the misuse of these sites could do to us? The subject of my talk today is exactly the danger of misusing social networking sites for teenagers and the right attitudes to social networking online.
To begin with, I’d like to introduce you to types of misuse of these friendship sites. The first type is the delivery of wrong messages. One of the hot issues presently is the discovery of a mass-suicide group on Facebook. With its startling title, ‘I have to practise suicide’, this group served as a platform for people to discuss the ways to and the plans of committing suicide. It seems to be an inside joke for the originator of that worrying group. This so-called joke gave youngsters the courage to commit suicide, which was the danger it posed to us. The group could endanger us simply by showing its title in a popular social networking site. How dangerous and terrible this kind of misuse can be.
The second type is cyber-bullying. Gossiping about someone and calling others names are the common means of cyber-bullying. Yet there is another shocking way too. An activist, Christina Chan, was sexually harassed over the Internet and her private photos were widely spread there too. She was insulted verbally on her Facebook because of her protest in the Olympics torch relay in Hong Kong in 2008. This might be an extreme case, but it revealed that teenagers’ behaviour can trigger off drastic reactions from the public on the Internet. The danger of cyber-bullying can directly harm our life. Because teenagers are still growing up, we may not be able to cope with our emotional problems well. Cyber-bullying, the verbal evidence on the Internet, can easily cause adverse psychological effects on us, which in turn affects our academic performance, daily life or even our invaluable future. There are countless internet users in the world. Only a portion of them bullying us through the Internet can already make us depressed. If this situation continues, how can we lead a normal life?
After stating all these examples of misuse of social networking sites, I’d like to point out the correct attitudes to social networking online. The first attitude we need is to be cautious about the use of these sites. We shouldn’t disclose all personal details and photos to others on the Internet. The Internet is a virtual world. Everyone can simply lie about his sex, age or other personal information. To protect ourselves, it’s sometimes necessary for us to hide our identity and photos when communicating with others on different social networking sites, so as to leave no room to users wanting to steal our personal details for illegal activities.
The second attitude, which is also the most important attitude, is that we have to be responsible users. It’s essential to know that we have to bear the responsibility for every action we take. When we intend to post an article, set up a group or comment on others’ articles on social networking sites, we have to consider thoroughly the influence of our actions on millions of internet users around the world. We may treat our message as a joke, yet it could encourage somebody to do wrong, or it could be a way of bullying others. The side effects could be immeasurable to both us and society. So, we have to be responsible internet users.
Last but not least, I hope all of us can think deeper about the use of these social networking sites. They are supposed to be a medium to link up the world. Starting from today, let’s use these sites in a correct way. Thank you.