B2. View/counter-view : (5 marks) Write your counter-view in a paragraph on the following views. ‘Social networking sites are not a necessity.’ Views : There are other ways of connecting and staying in touch. • People may resort to dishonesty. • Cybe…

Counter-view on ‘Social networking sites are not a necessity’

I disagree with the view that social networking sites are not a necessity. It is true that there are other ways of staying in touch, but no other way is so quick, so cheap and so wide. A student can attend a class online, a farmer can learn the price of his crop, a small shop can find customers and a family can see a son working abroad — all through these sites. The fear of dishonesty and cyber crime is real, but the fault lies with the cheat, not with the tool; banks, schools and offices now run on the same networks and protect themselves with passwords and checks. Personal information can indeed be misused, yet every user is free to keep his account private and share only what he wishes. In a country where millions own a phone but not a computer, social media has become the cheapest classroom, market and meeting place. To call such a powerful means of communication a luxury is to ignore the opportunities it gives to ordinary people.