Please review my IELTS essay (RTI - TEST 9 - TASK 2)

TOPIC (adapted from ROAD TO IELTS - TEST 9):

Nowadays, young people communicate with friends and family mostly through social networking sites, rather than other ways of communication like talking on the phone or face to face.

Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answers and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

MY ANSWER:

In recent times, social platforms are a more common way of connecting teenagers with their families and friends than talking on the phone or meeting face to face. In my opinion, this is truly a positive development for several reasons.

The first reason relates to the cutbacks in people’s expenditure on subscription fee. In many countries, making a call requires people a large amount of subscription fee whereas social networking sites allow people connect with the others free of charge. Therefore, social media websites especially attract young people who do not have much money to spend on such a luxurious service like talking on the phone. Additionally, social media websites provide various free services that are similar to simple functions of a phone such as texting or calling, but with a more incredible experience. For example, Meta, also known as Facebook, brings an amazing experience for its users via many attached effects on its application. People can do many activities besides chatting, like sending adorable emoji or playing games.

The second reason is the flexibility of social networking sites. Arranging a face-to-face meeting is not an easy task because it takes people lots of time and money to determine the place, the date, and even the means of transportation to meet up. Instead, social platforms help people connect with the others just by some clicks or presses within a few seconds. More importantly, in this time of pandemic, this is the best way to strengthen bonds among people without direct meetings, which put individuals in a dangerous situation. Many infected cases of COVID-19 has had a chance of keeping in touch with their close relatives and friends during the period of isolation.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that the popularity of social media platforms has a positive effect on both young generation in particular and the whole community in general owing to its flexibility and economical feature.

(317 words)