Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Nguyen Hue’s Gottalent Contest.

First of all, we would like to faithfully send our best wishes to the judges. Hoping that
this contest will be a triumph. My name is Viet My. And I am Minh Thu. We feel very
grateful when taking part in this competition. Standing here today, we will talk about
an intriguing and newsworthing topic nowadays: Social Media and Its Impacts on
Students’ Life. Do you feel inquisitive about it. So now, let’s get started!
1. More than half of the world’s population are using the internet. This is highlighted by
social media users increasing by 21% since 2015, with 2.8 billion users reported globally in
2017.
(PP) We can exclude from the data here that 70% teens use social media more than
once a day and most of them just check their phone whenever they have time.
The primary reason we use social media is to stay connected. The modern world is a
place where the connection between individuals is simplified by the various channels
and platforms available on the internet. The impact of social media on millennials and
Generation Z has been more evident in compared to older generations. 
In fact, according to a report by the non-profit child advocacy group Common Sense
Media, one in five teens said social media makes them feel more confident, while only
4% who said it makes them feel less so. In the survey of more than 1,000 13 – 17-year-olds,
28% said social networking made them feel more outgoing versus 5% who said it made
them feel less so; and 29% said it made them feel less shy versus the 3% who said it made
them feel more introverted. When it comes to relationships with friends, more than half
(52%) of teens said social media helped to improve relationships versus just 4% who said
it had a negative impact.
(PP) Figure 4
As can be seen from the information we have given, Social Networking has become an
important part of a student’s social life. It is not only a tool for student to relax and
improve their surrounding relationship but also is now considered as a learning
platform which helps in improving student engagement and capabilities.
Such platforms provide school children the opportunity to connect, get in touch,
access information, and do research. In today’s global era of connected learning, the
influence of social media platforms is a strong controlling factor. Social Media in the
21st century helps people to connect from far distances. With some apps such as
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, the world has merely become a small place.
Several schools are also using these platforms to provide online studying.
2.Social media is something that we take for granted because it is handy,convenient
and multipurpose. But is it that advantaged? Or is it a two-edged sword that can have
a counter-productive effects on students-who are considered as a young and naive
generation ?
Obviously, Social Media has many positive effects on education including better
communication, timely information, socializing online, learning, enhancing skills,
making a career among others. But the same has some negative effects which include
identity theft, cyber bullying, and social isolation. Let’s discuss in details the most
crucial aspects of Social Media; both positive and negative to get a closer approach to
its impacts on education.
Firstly, let’s come to see some positive effects of Social Media
It hasn’t been long since we had to study online at home due to CoVId19 right? During
that time the process of education had plenty of difficulties. Social media played a role
as a connector between us since we could exchange the homework, ideas about our
project or call video to study together like us- we use Skype to call and practice IELTS
Speaking without having to go out or paying any money. Thanks to it, we could easily
connect to each other, therefore, we not only didn’t feel lonely or isolated but also had
oodles of fun when studying online and meeting others. Social Media has encouraged
Online Learning a lot. With the advance use of Social Media platforms ,the students
get encouraged and motivated to learn. The use of YouTube to watch educational
videos, easy access to e-books, online notes, learning via video calling are some of the
major aspects which contribute to educational development. Distance learning which
is one of the best ways to learn from a reputed organisation by being at any location is
what Social Media has made possible. In fact, there are many study groups online of
different subjects on Facebook, Instagram,etc. that students can join and gain
knowledge from the same.

Nowadays, college and university students often spend a lot of their time on social
media. Why? Maybe because Students are free to do as they choose and socialise with
whoever they like. Through social media networks, they can create new friendships,
express their views and opinions, and even create ‘new identities’. For example, thanks to
some Social Media like Facebook or Instagram,… we can make friends with new
individuals from all over the world, therefore, we can gain our knowledge about their
countries, their cultural identities. Even we can be given some methods of learning new
languages or operating a business,etc. By that way, we will be able to have more
companies, which may help us a lot in our career.

Social media also exposes students to a whole new way of learning. It helps in enhancing
creative skills, making students more innovative and exhibit better memory. Quite
often a student’s hidden talent is revealed when he/she starts to take pictures and use
online editing skills to make it look aesthetically appealing. Lots of youngsters are also
engaged in creating videos for YouTube, which helps them to realise their potential for
making it a career.

Moreover, Social media usage in any classroom can be a great source of education
which enables students to obtain knowledge. If the online technology is used in the
right way, it helps in achieving the right kind of education. It opens up new avenues for
researching, encouraging students to get creative and think outside the box - which in an
age where innovation is highly prized, can go far!

You are unsure how well an essay or a project is going? With social media, you can send
it to your friends, family, and lecturers in order that they will provide insights
throughout the process. You can get more ideas for your Project, correct your mistakes
and make it as fascinating as possible.

Let’s take our preparation for Gottalent Contest as an example. In order to make our
performance be able to satisfactory and attractive, we have not only read many articles to
find information but also watched some English Speaking Contest videos on YouTube so
that we could learn their manner, confidence, the ways they show their opinions and
persuade others. Those videos inspired and motivated us a lot, help us more energetic
and self-confident!

3.Along with so many positive aspects of Social Media on education, the same has
quite a few negative impacts too.

(PP) Problems…

Here from the chart, a wide range of problems have to be faced with when it comes to
joining social media, electricity bills peak, bandwidth...

What about you? Do you often check your phone every minute when studying? Do
you sometimes chat with your friends or lover and forget your homewok?

The answer is Yes, right?

Social Media platforms are a major factor that are leading to distraction and hindrance
of mind. These days students tend to lose their focus from studying and rather enjoy
browsing on Social Media. They prefer to chat with friends for hours. All of this leads
to wastage of time without studying, playing or learning new skills. It is often said that
a long-term friendship or relationship is developed when people meet each other,
spend time and share their experiences. But this virtual way of communicating with
each other does not lead to a natural, friendly experience and hence cannot produce a
healthy relationship with those friends. Also, these relationships tend to terminate due
to a lack of personal contact. Furthermore, most of the time, students are incapable of
submitting their work in the specified time frame because they are more focussed on
using Social Media platforms.

Besides it, use of social media sites with sheer negligence can have mental as well as
physical effects on one’s health. Students do not take their meals on time as well as
taking proper rest and by continuously being on phone or laptop can also have adverse
effects on their eyes. Such acts make students lazy and unmotivated to study or even
go out and meet people. It is advisable for parents to keep an eye on what their
children are doing while using the internet. Too much use of Social Media can be
counterproductive in view of students’ minds and they may also be exposed to bad
posture, eye strain, physical and mental stress.

Also, with the extensive use of Social Media, students these days are depending more
on such platforms to gain information and knowledge rather than looking out for the
same in books, journals or notes. As it is easy to extract information online, reading
habits of students along with their learning and research capabilities are reducing.

Now, let’s take a look back to 22nd March 2019, a 9th-grade student girl was hit by 5
classmates and then the video recorded went viral on facebook. When the victim
chose to keep silence, social media is where the truth can't be hidden. However,
watching the video of themselves being cruelly slapped and smashed like that was a
depression to them. Lots of them then had to rely on anti-depressant or tranquilizer to
get through. In another case, a student boy in Yên Bai province commited suicide
when the video of him being kicked and hit in the head was uploaded on fb. Moreover,
social media can't surely be conveyed with the full message, the truth can be distorted
and the victim can become a target for cybernetizen to criticise. It's time we have to
contemplate whether social media is still a place for students to communicate

4. In conclusion, social media is created to make society a better place for people,
especially for students who are still at the very impressionable age. It can be either
good or bad, useful or harmful, depending on the ways we benefit from and spend
time on it. Considering all of the above pros and cons, it is necessary to develop
certain regulations over the use of such social networking sites, especially for high
school and college students. But still, students should get the choice to spend time
socializing in an effective way. It should be kept in mind that social networking sites
create virtual worlds that drastically differ from reality. Students should develop the
cognitive and intuitive ability to analyze how much time they want to spend on social
media. It is left up to the students to decide what really matters in their life and how
much of this virtual life translates to real life.

Thanks a lot for your listening!