Experts criticize social networking for several reasons: 1. No one can predict social networking's long-term impact. 2. Managers are frustrated by the amount of time employees waste on social networking sites at work. 3. People may become addicted to social networking and have difficulty disconnecting from sites, reducing real-life relationships. 4. Spending long periods in front of screens for social networking can negatively impact physical health. 5. Social networking may weaken personal connections that bring communities together. 6. Users may share private details with strangers without knowing who they are sharing with.

1. CRITICISM OF
SOCIAL
NETWORKING
S U M M A R Y W R I T I N G
C O N T R I B U T E D T O I B AT E F L . C O M B Y M U H A M M A D M A L I K

2. GENERAL POINTS
• A maximum of 6 marks available for content
• Content marks will be awarded even if you lift directly from the text.
• To be on the safe side students are advised to find a 7th content point and write
it as well.
• Even students who are weak in language can score full marks in content.
• A minimum of 90 words and 120 words maximum.
• If less than 90 words, marks will be deducted for language.
• If more than 120 words, marks will be deducted for language. Anything after
the 120th word will not be read. Furthermore, any content point written after this
limit will not be counted. Do not waste words to write a long introduction. A
summary does not require an introduction or a conclusion. It is better to start
the summary in conjunction with the question.

3. GENERAL POINTS
• Sometimes a summary has only one dimension like the one we are doing
now.
• Sometimes a summary has two dimensions.
Dimension 1 Dimension 2
When a summary has two dimensions, 3 content points under each dimension must be
written. If a student writes, 4 content points for the first and 2 for the second one, the
total marks for content will be equal to 6. Why?

4. CONTENT POINTS
• Read the text carefully and underline all the content points.
• If you are doing a one dimension summary label them as C1, C2, C3…...
• If you are doing a two dimension summary label the first dimension as D1 and
the next one has D2. The first point under D1 can be labelled as D1-1, D1-2
so on. The same for D2.

5. GENERAL POINTS
Problems children may face:
• 1 can be frightening in an unfamiliar situation
• 2 struggle to make new friends / not easy to join friendship groups
• 3 missing home
• 4 separated from extended family / separated from their families in their own country
• 5 language barrier / learn a new language
• 6 unfamiliar customs
• 7 may feel lonely
These are the content points for an example summary. As you can see
there are up to 7 for dimension 1. So its safe to say scoring marks for
content in an O level summary writing is very straightforward, but precise
reading is required.

6. TWO DIMENSION SUMMARIES.
In a two dimensional summary it is best to include 3
contents points from each dimension.
 However, sometimes students will notice that for one
dimension there are more contents points than the
other.

7. TWO DIMENSION SUMMARIES.
There are 7 content points in the first dimension, but there are only, 4 for
the 2nd.

8. TWO DIMENSION SUMMARIES.
• If candidates do not provide at least one correct advantage and one
correct disadvantage a maximum of 3 marks can be awarded for
language.
• If answers exceed 120 words a maximum of 4 marks can be awarded
for language.
• What if the student includes 4 content points from one dimension and
2 from the other? Will the student be penalised?

9. FINDING THE CONTENT POINTS
• Take a look at the text.
• Follow the method, find and label the content points.
Remember, try to find 7.
• This text is not very easy
• You have 8 minutes

10. CONTENT POINTS
• 1 - Nobody can predict its impact in the years to come
• 2 - Frustrated at the amount of office time that is wasted by their
staff
• 3 - People who find it almost impossible to break away from these
sites / They will suffer from a form of social networking addiction
• 4 - Social networking will reduce real life relationships
• 5 - Physical health will suffer as a result of sitting for long periods in
front of the screen.
• 6 - Personal links that close communities together might disappear
• 7 - Offering private details to complete strangers
• 8 – Don’t know who you are inviting to your life

11. LANGUAGE
• 0 marks: no understanding of the task / no relevant content / meaning completely
obscure due to serious language inaccuracies
• 1 marks: copying without discrimination from text / multiple language inaccuracies
• 2 marks: heavy reliance on language from the text with no attempt to organise and
sequence points cohesively / limited language expression making meaning at times
unclear
• 3 marks: some reliance on language from the text, but with an attempt to
organise and sequence points cohesively / language satisfactory, but with
some inaccuracies
• 4 marks: good attempt to use own words and to organise and sequence points
cohesively / generally good control of language
• 5 marks: good, concise summary style / very good attempt to use own words
and to organise and sequence points cohesively.

12. LANGUAGE
• You will not be awarded more than 2 marks for language
unless, you try to use your own words.

13. TWO METHODS
•There are two very simple and effective ways of
paraphrasing.
–Replace method
–Reorder method

14. THE REPLACE METHOD
• In the replace method, we select certain words from the content points and we
replace them with suitable synonyms.
• DO NOT REPLACE ANY TECHNICAL WORDS
• Example
Nobody can predict its impact in the years to come
Nobody ( can be replaced with - No one / not a single person)
Predict ( can be replaced with - forecast / guess / foretell / foresee etc.)
The years to come ( can be replaced with – the future / the years ahead
etc.)
So now we have
No one can foretell its impact in the future.
Does it have the same meaning?

15. THE REORDER REPHRASE METHOD
• In this method we reorder or rephrase the sentence.
Many bosses and managers are frustrated at the amount of office time
that is wasted by their staff.
• It’s safe to replace one or two words here as well.
• Frustrated – Annoyed
• Amount – Quantity
• Staff – Workforce / Employees
• We could reorder and rephrase as
– Managers feel that employees waste a great deal of office time and are
annoyed due to this.
– Does it have the same meaning?

16. LINKING WORDS
• There are two types of linking words.
– Joining similar points
– Joining contrasting points.
– It is always a good idea to jot down the linking words that you aim to use before you
begin to write down the summary.
Joining Similar Points Joining contrasting points
Furthermore,
Besides,
Moreover,
In addition,
However,
In contrast,
On the contrary,
Nevertheless,

17. LINKING WORDS
Use linking words such as:
Firstly, First of all, Secondly, Apart from that, which
means that, not only….but also, as a result,
consequently, Finally
Use colons and semi-colons where necessary :;

18. STUDENT TASK
• Now write the summary on your own.
• For some content points use the replace method.
• For others use the reorder / rephrase method.
• It is advised to use a variety in your summary.
• You have 15 minutes. Once you finish your summary, give it
to the student next to you.
• Check the content and award marks. Check for the language
and award marks.

19. MODEL SUMMARY
Experts say there are many downsides of social networking.
Firstly, no one can foretell its impact in the future. Managers feel
that employees waste a great deal of office time and are annoyed
due to these sites. Furthermore, individuals discover that it is
virtually unbearable to stay away from such sites. Experts agree
that real-life relationships have diminished after social networking
sites gained popularity. As a result, personal relations that bring
societies together have started to disappear. In addition, many
people’s physical well-being have also been affected due to
prolonged periods in front of their devices. Finally, many people
have offered their confidential details to strangers and had to face
the consequences. (111 words)

20. SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSES
• The following sample student responses have been written by real
students studying IGCSE English as a second language.
• We thank the student’s school for granting us permission to reproduce
them.
• It contains many learning points for other students.
• They have been typed exactly as the student has written it.

21. SAMPLE STUDENT 1
All the errors in
spelling and
punctuation will bring
down the language
marks substantially.
A little over 70 words –
too short for an
extended summary
Wrote 5 content points,
one of them makes no
sense. So 4 out of 6 for
the content.
Too many language
errors scores 1 out of 5
for language
Total 5 out of 11
nowadays millions of people are using social
networking. we are in the middle of a social
revolution that is moving so rapidly that noone
can predict its impact in the futear, and
completty office times are wested by employees
and when we look to our socaity now real life
relationships are braking and parsonal links
that close communities together might disapear
and you are taking unknown people and you
dont know who you are inviting to your life.

22. SAMPLE STUDENT 2 Errors intrude
Not sure which detail. This
content point will not be
credited as the intended
meaning has been lost.
Wrong word used here.
Meaning has been lost, so
this point will not be
credited.
The word limit has been
observed. Tried to write 7
content points, but 2 points
failed to earn credit. So
scores 5 out 6 for content.
Even though there are
errors, student has made an
attempt to use own words.
Scores 2 out of 5 for
language.
Total 7 out of 11.
Million of users have signed up to social
websites. First of all No one can annoy its
impact in the future. Employees who works
in office are wasting their quantity of time by
using. social networking. Moreover, social
networking will decrease real life
friendships. Also, if you are spending too
much time infront of the device, this will
effect your health. Sometimes you may not
know who who are bringing to your life. And
you may be giving the details to an unknown
person. Finally, personal informations that
close to the society together might be gone

23. SAMPLE STUDENT 3 Content : Student has written 7 contents
points which is very good. This means that
even if the 7th one is wrong, student can
still score full marks for content.
6 out of 6 for content
Introduction has digressions
Furthermore is one word – minor
error
Computer not computers
Student has replaced some of the
words. But it is advisable to use your
own words. The student didn't
reorder or rephrase any. However
meaning is safe. But there are
digressions in the last part.
2 out of 5 for language
Scores 8 out of 11
There are many critics of social networking
sites. Firstly, no one can predict its impact in
future. Managers are frustrated at the
quantity of time wasted by their employees.
Some people even find it difficult to stay
away from these sites, which results in
decreasing real life relationships. Further
more, as a result of spending hours infront
of the computers, many of the people are
facing physical health problems. Moreover,
the personal links that close societies
together might disappear. Finally, offering
personal information to strangers might also
be a welcome to some.one who you don’t
know.