Pros of Online Social Networking

A study focused on the virtual reality program "Second Life" found that online interactions seem to enhance real-life social skills. By giving users a common world and environment, the program facilitates social connection. The author of the study concluded that while our social and communication skills may be changing, they're not eroding.

Honestly, though -- out of all those hundreds of friends you have on Facebook, how many of them would you invite to a party, or to your wedding? How many of them would you call when your car breaks down? You're more likely in these situations to turn to your core ties.

And how about dating? How do your online social networks affect your personal life? More and more, we're hearing stories of miscommunications due to Facebook. Mostly these are just amusing -- for example, the couple who decided to move their relationship status from public to private and were immediately inundated with messages and condolences from concerned friends about their supposed breakup. Some are more serious, like the woman who found out her husband was divorcing her by reading his status update. Incidents such as these simply underscore the importance of meaningful communication.

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A LinkedIn even lets you write recommendations for people you know, and allows them to return the favor. There's an old adage that states, "It's not what you know; it's who you know," and social networking sites prove that to be true. Social networking and the job market are such a great match that some colleges even offer seminars on how to network online.	E The growth of these weak ties, as they're also called, is exploding. Online social networks allow us to collect weak ties and maintain them better than we would have without Facebook or Twitter reminding us of their existence. And even though we call them "weak," in certain situations your weak ties provide you with the most benefit.
B The important thing to remember with online social networks, as with the Internet in general, is that nothing can really replace face-to-face contact. Your networks should enhance your social and professional life, not replace it. If your online social networks replace or damage your real-life relationships, you may want to evaluate yourself for Internet addiction.	F Online social networks take that local network you have and make it global. There's even a new word for it - glocalization. You can search for a job in your area via your social network's job boards. You can cyber-flirt with an online cutie. You can look up a plumber online and then find customer reviews from people who've used him before.
C One of the big draws of online social networks is the constant flow of information. Experts call this information -- the status updates, posted notes and thoughts, photos -- ambient information. These little bits of data floating around in your brain ("Chuck had a really great roast beef sandwich yesterday!") can even lead to more meaningful face-to-face interactions. Knowing all these little tidbits about each other eliminates the need for fact-finding small talk, letting friends get right to the good stuff when they're meeting up after work or school.	G However, research shows that the social capital of communities has declined considerably over the past few decades. Experts attribute it to urban sprawl. People don't all live in close proximity to each other anymore. They also blame television, busier lives and, sadly, a decline in our overall trust in each other.
D Yes, these examples are extreme, but they do illustrate the power of social networking and social capital. Even though none of these people knew each other in real life, they still reached out to help -- because of their connections to each other online.

READING (gap fill –missing phrases)

Read the text about using social media in emergencies. Some phrases have been left out of the text. Choose from phrases A-J below to complete the gaps. There is one phrase you are not going to need.

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