BRAINSTORMING TECHNIQUES: Social media has made us less sociable. Do you agree?

1) random thoughts This comes most naturally to all of us. Just tap on your ideas without restriction by any boundaries. 2) o!"t#a!$E#onom"#$So#"a!$Cu!tura!$En%"ronm&nta! This helps to avoid too narrow a treatment of the issue. It allows you to consider the issue from the full spectrum of perspectives to ensure adequate scope. This method can be used either to generate a point or an example. Political: Politicians now have to use social media to reach out to young voters, as cyberspace is the latters turf territory. Thus politicians now more sociable, as they have to straddle both the real world and virtual world! neighbourhood wal"abouts and meet#the#people sessions, as well as set up faceboo" accounts and blogs$ Economic: %oing business on social media, whether its blogshops or using social media to reach out to potential clients. Thin" faceboo" accounts set up by financial planners, private tutors, real estate agents to widen their business contacts. Social: People now tend to be preoccupied with social media, to the extent of neglecting family and friends, esp when it comes to online gaming and twittering or sms#ing. Cultural: This includes also the &eligious 'oral perspective. %esire to "now more people from different cultural bac"grounds and learn about their cultures$This is made possible now that the internet allows one to reach out to people from far flung places Environmental: (sing )aceboo" to campaign for environmental issues *e.g. save dolphins from &+,-. .ne would have to meet up with some organi/ations and fellow supporters whether online or offline if one wants the campaign to be a success. ') ()$1H +hat0 +ho0 +here0 +hen0 +hy0 1ow0 What? +hat "ind of social media0 %epending on the types of social media, it can ma"e us more or less sociable, e.g. some social media have no webcam facility *chatrooms forums- or photos, so the danger quotient is higher. This could ma"e us more wary and less sociable on social media. Who? Thin" of the people who use social media or whom one meets online. Politicians0 .lder people0 Poor people0 Those with no IT s"ills0 ,exual predators0 2hildren

under parental guidance0 (gly people0 1andicapped0 %eaf *cant hear, but can see and type-0 %iscriminated race0 ,ic" people who are bedridden0 ,hy introverts0 .ld grandparents who want to maintain ties with children or grandchildren overseas but too old to ta"e planes0 People with low 34, socially aw"ward$.. Where? Inevitably, you always want to thin" of whether rich or poor countries0 Traditional conservative or liberal0 )irst world or third world or ,ingapore0 ,ome emblematic countries you want to consider! (,. 2hina. 5orth 6orea, India, ,ingapore, Islamic nations li"e Iran, ,audi 7rabia. When? Is it in the past *where IT infrastructure not so developed and social media unheard of-0 .r in present day modern conditions where social media is ubiquitous, at least in developed nations0 Why/How? Thin" of the features of social media e.g. anonymity, extensive reach, non# permanance, instantaneity, devoid of full#sensory experiences$.. *) &+am,!& -a#.tra#. to ,o"nt (sually, we will thin" of a point first and then come up with an example to substantiate the point. 8ut if the point doesnt come to you, try to see whether you can thin" of an example first, then use the example to generate the point9 in other words, wor" bac"wards: EXAMPLES PO !" which #i$coura%e &eo&le 'rom (ein% $ocia(le

myopia, pain in bac" ,wrist, finger health problems, *hence not sociable ;oints9 arthritis, onlinecyberbullying *thin" Jac" 5eos hostility online *hence not sociable <+e 5ot 5aughty-, online racist both online and offline0slurs, coo"#a#pot#of#curry incident campaign, circulation of nude or controversial pics prospective employers chec"ing up on you online, esp via your faceboo"9 blac"mailing via nude photos ta"en using webcams, etc$. ''.&P= li"e +.+, dota 'aple wary that information exchanged can be used against oneself$privacy compromised $*hence not sociable online-

,tory, popularity addiction to online gaming *as opposed to offline games or activities that require real interaction-

() #ons"d&r th& oth&r 11 r&/&#ts %ont ignore the other >> qns that youve re;ected because all qns are intertwined in one way or another9 so use them to help you come up with a point for your chosen qn. 'il" every drop out of them before you discard them: (sing the ?@>> A7 level paper, can you see the lin" with 4n >, ?, B, C, D0 0) r&-ut +hen all else fail, loo" at the points you have on the paper and as" yourself whether you can rebut them. This may give you the additional point that you need before you can embar" on writing. Thin" of it as playing the devils advocate. 3=! Thin" of the earlier point on economic perspective, i.e. business. 2an argue otherwise that attempts to widen business contacts online will not be successful as people are often distrustful of people who advertise or do business online due to anonymity or unreliability of info. .nline transactions also lac" the human touch and sincerity which real world interactions afford. 3=! The earlier point on how ugly *as in physically unattractive- people may have more confidence sociali/ing online due to the faceless nature of the internet. This can also be rebutted. Indeed, others wont be able to see their face. 8ut the fact remains that they may still have difficulty transplanting the interaction to the real world to bring the relationship to a higher level E unless of course if there is no intention to meet the other party at all: 1owever, if you want to, you can counter#rebut this to swing bac" to the earlier point again by saying that their chances of having a successful relationship in the real world can actually be heightened with social media, as the faceless social media allows others an opportunity to get to "now their Ainner beauty without any pre#;udgement on their loo"s. .nce people have a chance to pee" into your inner beauty, they will not mind so much about your loo"s *or lac" thereof- and accept you in the real world. 3=! The point that people may not want to sociali/e via social media due to health problems can be rebutted by saying that technological advancements nowadays mean that anti#glare screens and ergonomic designs in chairs, "eyboards and mouse can alleviate such health issues. 1) 2u&st"on th& assum,t"on ,ometimes, the statement in the question may contain an implicit assumption which you can challenge. &ealise that the credibility of the statement rests on the validity of the assumption embedded within the statement itself. ,o if you can prove that the assumption is not valid, then the whole statement will fall flat. Thus, this brainstorming method is more for generating a point on the %I,7=&33 side since you are demolishing the statement via shattering the embedded assumption. (sually, this technique is best used as the last point for your essay E and limit it to only one point-. 7ssumption embedded in the statement of the question! n the &a$t) (e'ore the a#vent o' $ocial me#ia) &eo&le were actually $ocia(le* +e can argue this may not even be true in the first place. )or all we "now, even in the past during the period of traditional media, people were already not so sociable *say maybe due to wor" stress-. Thus the advent of social media should not be made the scapegoat.