Listen to five different people talking about communication in the digital world. Match the ideas to the speakers. There are TWO EXTRA ideas that you do not need to use. Link: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening/advanced-c1-listening/living-online
Speaker 1 a. Has recently learned about some of the negative effects of excessive online
communication.
Speaker 2 b. Is suffering from the fear of missing out.
Speaker 3 c. Has witnessed great changes in the way we communicate over recent years.
Speaker 4 d. Thinks that the amount of time teens spend online is alarming.
Speaker 5 e. Is quite happy for any photos of themselves to be posted online.
f. Thinks limiting teenagers’ access to technology is unfair.
g. Wishes people would talk more in person.
Transcript:
Speaker 1: I think that even up until just a few years ago we could never have imagined how our behaviour would change about using mobiles and tablets. I know that I would find it incredibly difficult to live without my mobile. I’m constantly looking at my phone to see if I’ve got any new messages or updates, and checking my apps to see what’s new. I wouldn’t say that I post my life online, not like some people I know, but I do like to keep up with what people are up to – friends,family and even other people I know but maybe haven’t seen for years, like old school friends, and check out photos of what they look like now, ha ha ha (laughing)
Speaker 2: In a way, I think it’s quite funny that we’re always worrying about teenagers and young people becoming obsessed with online communication, but if you ask me we need to worry just as much about adults! At the office where I work, even when we have a break, nobody talks to each other unless they absolutely have to, which is a sorry state of affairs to say the least. Everyone’s too busy checking their social networks and sending messages to have time to communicate face-to-face! People spend their lunchtime glued to their screens or barely glance up from their phones. Even during meetings, people can’t resist subtly checking their phone, and what really irritates me is when you are trying to talk to someone and they’re more interested in looking at their phone than paying attention to what you’re saying, even though you're right in front of them! Phubbing, I think it’s called!
Speaker 3: I was listening to this discussion on the radio the other day talking about online communication and they were talking about FOMO or, what was it, Fear of Missing Out, which apparently is a kind of modern-day psychological syndrome which we’re affected by because of our obsession with online communication. Basically, they were saying that the reason why people feel that they have to be connected 24/7 and communicate everything they’re doing and keep up with everything that other people we know are doing is down to this fear of missing out. We’re worried that everyone is having more fun than us or doing
something more exciting than us. They also said that because we’re spending more time communicating in the online world, we’re losing the ability to enjoy the present.
