英語趣味課堂：社交媒介-Social Media

Alex: So Maria, do your parents use any of the social media sites.

Maria: They do. Both my parents are on Facebook. My mum is not that active on Facebook. She has a profile and she has pictures and I think she's online whenever she wants to get in touch with her kids mostly, which is me and my sister. But my father he uses it regularly and I sometimes get weird like comments from him. It's not that bad, but, for example, when I'm traveling and he can't call me, he just writes like that looks awesome to weird pictures and it kind of gets awkward sometimes. But they do have, they are very active on the internet and my dad he's a journalist, so he's good with words, so whenever we have to write each other, I always get these long mails like that's very cleverly worded and humorous and it's so cool. He's so cool. My mum is more behind.

Alex: What about Skype?

Maria: Skype yes but mostly only to get in touch with me and my sister.

Alex: OK, cool. What about like do they ever have MySpace?

Maria: No, none of us have.

Alex: No, it's a word I haven't heard in a while too, MySpace?

Maria: Yeah.

Alex: What about Twitter?

Maria: I'm not active. My father keeps talking about it. I don't know if he wants to start a Twitter account because he keeps mentioning that it's kind of a good idea but he's not there. I'm not because I think I have Facebook that should be enough for me at least. I don't know if, they are not into social media so they will just like open it for fun. Google Plus is definitely not a solution at the moment because there is Facebook and that's like a big deal in the first place.

Alex: Have you ever wanted to de-friend your parents on Facebook?

Maria: Nope. I am very open about my Facebook profile. I never wanted to close it to anybody so I try not to, I'm trying to make sure that there won't be anything embarrassing on it so I manage it so there won't be any need for like de-friending them and they're not that annoying. They text me sometimes and they comment my things if it's something important but they're being nice. They're good parents.

重點詞匯：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

awkward

It gets kind of awkward.

In this case, 'awkward' refers to something that is socially uncomfortable. Notice the following:

He is a bit awkward when you first meet him, but he's really funny once you get to know him.

It's always a bit awkward to see someone you haven't seen in a while.

cleverly worded

I always get these long mails like that's cleverly worded.

When something is 'cleverly worded,' it is written in an intelligent, funny or witty way. Notice the following:

His cleverly worded comments always make me laugh.

They are known for their cleverly worded advertisements.

active

What about Twitter? I'm not active.

If you are not 'active' in something, it means that you are not a member or you don't participate in it. Notice the following:

He used to be active on MySpace, but he closed his account.

Are you active on Facebook, or do you just have an account?

keeps mentioning

I don't know if he wants to start a Twitter account, because he keeps mentioning that it's kind of a good idea.

When someone 'keeps mentioning' something, it means that they talk about it a number of times over a short amount of time. Notice the following:

He keeps mentioning the school that he goes to, because he wants to impress me.

I think she keeps mentioning her trip to the Caribbean just to make me jealous.

de-friend

Have you ever wanted to de-friend your parents on Facebook?

'De-friend' is not an actual word in the dictionary, but it has become commonly used in recent years. When you are a member of a social media site, you can choose your friends on that site who can view your information. When you 'de-friend' someone, it means that they can no longer view your information on the site. Notice the following:

He doesn't have very many friends on Facebook because he's always de-friending people.

I haven't seen or talked to her in years, but I'm still surprised that she de-friended me.