BBC 6分钟英语学习 社交媒体与青少年健康

From BBC learning english com. Hello.

This is six minute English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil. Bet. What are you doing?

Get off your phone. Oh, sorry.

And I'm Beth. Are you addicted to social media?

It wouldn't be a surprise. With so many different apps out there, snapchat, tiktok and the latest threads, it's easy to spend a lot more time on your phone than ever before.

Yes, I don't think I'm addicted, but I definitely spend more time on social media than I'd like to.

However, there are plenty of studies out there looking at how social media affects mental health, with some saying it can be as addictive as gambling.

Research in the US has found that adolescents who spend more than 3 h a day on social media have double the risk of developing depression and anxiety.

An adolescent is someone aged ten to 19, between childhood and adulthood.

With that in mind, it's no wonder paren'ts are worried to help with this.

The US is currently in the process of regulating social media apps for teenagers.

Some scientists think the UK should do the same.

There has been growing agreement among health experts about the negative chronic health effects of social media use on teenagers.

They have revealed in surveys that social media makes them feel worse about their body image, and 64% of teens have said they're regularly exposed to hate based contents.

In this program, will be discussing how social media affects teenagers, and, as usual, will be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But 1st, I have a question for you, beth.

The app Snapchat is a very common way that teenagers communicate these days.

This is partly because messages and photos disappear after a certain time period.

But what percentage of 13 to 24 year olds you snapchat?

Is it A 70 %? B 80% or C 90 %?

Hmm, I'll guess 80 %? OK, beth, I'll reveal the answer later in the program.

Now, a lot of social media platforms, such as TIKTOK, work by showing and suggesting similar accounts in content to those someone has already searched for Professor Devi Shredar, the chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, thinks this can be concerning, as she told BBC World Service Program Inside Science.

And this is worrying, e.g., with young girls and eating disorders, if they're being fed that in an addictive way, in the algorithm is saying, oh, they like that content, we want to keep giving it to them because it keeps them on their phones.

And I think that's the really vital message here of any of these apps, is that their revenue comes from advertising.

Teenagers are being fed content in a way that is addictive.

If you are fed something, it means you're given something.

In this case, it refers to content, not food.

The content is addictive because social media uses algorithms.

Algorithms are a complex set of rules and calculations that prioritize and personalize the content a user sees.

But we need to remember that social media platforms use algorithms to keep users on the platforms for as long as possible, because the revenue comes from advertising.

Revenue is the money a company earns.

They are paid by other companies to use the social media space to promote their products.

This could be seen as social media platforms prioritizing making money over the mental health of users, a worry for paren'ts.

Professor Devi Schridar talked about the challenges of having a teenager addicted to social media on BBC World Service program Inside Science.

And so I think the challenge here, as a paren't listening to this is, what do you do about it?

And I think the illness has really been put on paren'ts and concerned results to find solutions on their own.

And that means debates with your child over what are you on?

Are you using this? But it's a losing battle, because it's their entire social network.

Professor Shrida says that when it comes to helping teenagers navigate social media, the owners has been put on paren'ts to find solutions.

The owners means the responsibility or duty.

Paren'ts need to be able to challenge their children when they need to, even if this is a losing battle, fight they cannot win.

As teenagers have their entire life on social networks.

OK, beth, I think its time I revealed the answer to my question.

I asked you what percentage of 13 to 24 year olds you snapchat?

And I said it was 80, and that was, I'm sorry to say, the wrong answer.

Actually, 90 of people age between 13 and 24 you snapchat quite a lot.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this program, starting with adolescent, a person aged ten to 19, between childhood and adulthood, if you are fed content, you are given content.

This is what the social media platform offers you automatically, rather than what you search for yourself.

Algorithms are a complex set of rules and calculations that prioritize and personalize the content a user sees.

Revenue is the money accompany ends, which could come from sales or advertising.

If the owner is on someone, it's their responsibility or duty.

And finally, a losing battle is a fight you cannot win.

Once again, our 6 min are up.

Join us again soon for more useful vocabulary here at 6 min English.

Good Bye for now. Bye 6 min English.

From BBC learning english dot com.

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