Keeping the Secret of Genetic Testing
What is genetic risk ?
Genetic risk refers to your chance of inheriting a disorder or disease .
People get certain diseases because of genetic changes .
How much a genetic change tells us about your chance of developing a disorder is not always clear .
If your genetic results indicate that you have gene changes associated with an increased risk of heart disease , it does not mean that you definitely will develop heart disease .
The opposite is also true .
If your genetic results show that you do not have changes associated with an increased risk of heart disease , it is still possible that you will develop heart disease .
However , for some rare diseases , people who have certain gene changes are guaranteed to develop the disease .
When we are diagnosed with a certain genetic disease , are we supposed to disclose this result to our relatives ?
My answer is no .
On the one hand , we do not want this potential danger to have frightening effects on our families ' later lives .
When people around us know that we have got a certain disease , their attitudes will easily be changed , whether it be caring about us too much or keeping away from us .
And both are not what we want , since most of us just want to live as normal people .
Surrounded by such concerns , it is very likely that we will be too distracted to worry about these problems .
It is a concern that will be with us during our whole life , because we will never know when the ''potential bomb' ' will explode .
On the other hand , if there are things that can help us to control or cure the disease , we can go through this process with the whole family .
For example , if exercising is helpful for a potential family disease , we can always look for more chances for the family to do exercise .
And we can keep track of all family members ' health .
At the same time , we are prepared to know when there are other members who have got this disease .
Here I want to share Forest 's view on this issue .
Although some people feel that an individual who is found to carry a dominant gene for Huntington 's disease has a moral obligation to disclose that fact to his or her siblings , there is currently no legal requirement to do so .
In fact , requiring someone to communicate his or her own genetic risk to family members who are therefore also at risk is considered by many to be ethically dubious .

Nothing is absolutely right or wrong .
If a certain genetic test for a disease is very accurate and it is unavoidable and necessary to get treatment and to make it known to others , it is OK to disclose the result .
Above all , life is more important than secrecy .
Genetic risk does carry its consequences and should not be taken lightly within the family circle .
After all , what affects one family may or may not affect another , although families have a common genetic make-up , shared by either of the parents .
In cases where an individual has gotten to know of a genetic disorder , disclosing it or otherwise to his or her relatives is solely a matter of preference within the individual moral code .
The issue of the right to know or not to know is highly debatable . Although there is a genetic risk , one can not be entirely sure because the genetic information could possibly come from the family of either parent - their maternal and paternal uncles , aunts or cousins .
This also means that as soon as a person is made aware of his or her genetic profile , he or she concurrently has knowledge about others .
This knowledge may be relevant to them , and vice versa .
An example that may serve as an illustration is breast cancer .
It is hereditary .
Does someone who suffers from this disease keep it a secret or inform their relatives ?
In retrospect , it is also one 's duty to ensure that they undergo periodic health checks of their own .
Sometimes some family structures and cultural beliefs can influence the pattern of communication .
Depending on who the genetic risk was discovered in : the son or daughter , for example , the parents who know about this would decide who gets told and who takes precedence in being 'allowed ' to tell .
For example , within a family , regardless of who had first received the information , parents were seen as having the primary responsibility for passing on information to any offspring , or adult , at risk .
In addition , a woman testing positive for BRCA1 would be expected to allow her brother or sister to disclose such information to a niece or nephew rather than do it herself , although this may be further complicated by an individual 's response to risk information as they may not want to know .
Hence , there were also tensions if participants felt that they could neither pass on information to relatives who needed to know ( such as nieces and nephews ) nor persuade those with authority ( the parents ) to do so .
The notion of authority also extended 'vertically' .
For example , a grandmother may have more authority to pass on information than an aunt , even when she is not at genetic risk herself while the aunt is .
From a practitioner 's perspective these findings are important because , if lay constructs of the family and kinship are a social construct , they may not be in line with geneticists ' views of family relationships , or about which blood ( or non-blood ) relatives should be informed and by whom ; this is also likely to be dependent on the cultural and ethnic context .
Ultimately , one must draw attention to who may benefit from such information and assist those at risk to make considered decisions about disclosure .
Whose duty it is to inform at-risk relatives or not greatly depends on the personal moral code and the nature of how 'directive ' the risk is to them .
People with a close blood relationship generally carry some similar genes .
In this case , if one of the family members or close relatives is found to carry a genetic risk , it is better for the patient to tell his/her close relatives about the issue and let others know about the risk so that his/her family members are able to do some daily exercises to prevent the potential disease or they may go to hospital and check for the corresponding .
In my opinion , although the disclosure of carrying a genetic risk involves the issue of personal privacy , it is necessary for the carrier to be obligated to tell his or her relatives in order for them to prevent the potential disease .
I agree with this statement to a large extent .
I will focus on the negative side of the disclosure of genetic risk first .
Large numbers of patients with genetic risk would want to keep it a secret as the genetic risk may indicate their high chance of carrying a certain disease .
This is especially the case for young people who are unmarried . If he/she is known to have some genetic risk , there may be a chance that his/her child will carry the same disease , but not for certain .
Therefore , to keep the information secret from his/her future spouse would help the relationship .
Secondly , disclosing the potential risk would cause the family member to be scared of this issue . Although the might not be that serious , people would still fear that they will have some potential disease in the future , and so , go to hospital and do additional checks or take more medicine in order to prevent the disease , and this creates unnecessary costs for the family .
Furthermore , the disclosure of genetic risk would affect the relationship with the relatives as , sometimes , others may not want to stay too close to the carrier , so that they have less chance of getting the potential disease .
On the other hand , if the genetic risk is kept a secret , although it may benefit the carrier to a certain extent and help to protect privacy , it has much greater negative impacts on the family members and relatives .
First , in the case of marriage , people should be honest and tell their spouse they may carry a certain genetic risk that might affect their offspring .
It is better to let the other party know the facts , rather than wait until after the baby is born and a certain type of genetic disease is found .
It is better for both parties to be honest .
Secondly , genetic disease has a close relationship with the together with their daily habits .
For example , if a carrier is told that he/she has the risk of having diabetes .
In this case , the carrier could eat fewer candies and chocolates to prevent taking in too much sugar , and at the same time , if the carrier tells this information to the relatives , it will be useful for them to know that they may have diabetes in the future because of related genes , and they can do the same exercise to take in less sugar to prevent the disease .
Otherwise , if the other parties do not know , they may end up with diabetes in the future without any prevention .
In conclusion , we can see that the benefits of disclosing genetic risk to the carriers ' relatives outweigh the costs .
Therefore , it would be better for the carrier to be obligated to give the information to the relatives , in order to let them know and prevent the potential disease through daily exercise .
A large number of different kinds of disorders are caused by genetic factors .
Genetic disorders may or may not be hereditary diseases and it is sometimes hard to find out whether one has these kinds of diseases .
There is a long-standing debate about whether a carrier of a known genetic risk should be obligated to tell his or her relatives that his or her disease is caused by a gene .
Legally , the answer is no but , ethically , the answer should be yes .
We ca n't pass a law to compel a carrier of a known genetic risk to tell his or her relatives about his or her genetic problem .
It is immoral and impractical .
Firstly , what kinds of diseases someone has is a matter or personal privacy .
Privacy belongs to one 's human rights .
If a law requires someone to tell others their private details , especially when they are not willing to do so .
It is againt their human rights and it is against the spirit of the law .
The spirit of the law also includes fairness .
What is the basic difference between genetic disorders and other disorders ?
It is unfair to pass a law only pertaining to genetic disorders .
In addition , it is impractical to pass such a law .
A good law should be clear and easy to enforce .
However , there are many problems with asking a carrier to tell his or her relatives the cause of his or her disease .
Firstly , what is the range of relatives ?
For example , does the carrier only need to tell their direct relatives , like parents and brothers and sisters , or do they also need to tell relatives like their grandmother 's sister 's son 's daughter 's nephew ?
If you say they need to tell direct relatives , it will be against the law .
Other relatives may have the same possibilities of having this kind of disease .
How can a law passed by the government exclude such a group of people from preparing to face their potential disease ?
However , from the ethical point of view ,
the carrier should have a feeling of responsibility to tell their relatives about their genetic disorder .
By doing this ,they may be able to save the lives of their relatives .
This is because a carrier with a bad gene may not necessarily develop the genetic disease if they can have a healthy lifestyle before the age that the gene 's function becomes stronger .
A typical example is genetically caused hypertension .
Hypertension can be caused by genetic problems which make it harder for the carrier to digest the fat and salt in blood which can cause hypertension .
People usually get this kind of hypertension after they become adults .
However , if they already know they have a gene that may make them have a greater possibility of getting hypertension .
They can adopt a daily habit of eating less salt and fat and thus avoid hypertension .
, our society ca n't compel genetic problem carriers to tell their relatives about their disease but they should be willing to tell their relatives about their genetic problem .
If they do so , fewer of their loved ones will suffer from the genetic problem .
In an age of rapid technological advancement , a lot of medical breakthroughs are made possible .
Genetic testing is made possible and available for .
It is able to detect illnesses or diseases and even a child 's parentage .
However , it will become a controversial issue as it becomes a dilemma for a carrier of a known genetic risk whether to inform his or her relatives .
If the knowledge of the genetic risk was to be shared with the family or relatives , there might be chances for them to have it in their blood which they may take the necessary precautions to prevent .
But , if the genetic disease is a terminal disease , most relatives will be disheartened upon learning about it .
Therefore , some carriers will want to keep it a secret .
This essay will discuss whether a carrier of a known genetic risk should tell his or her relatives or not .
Some say that the genetic risk that is found in a person should be kept secret because it is considered as personal information which should be kept confidential .
Most patients will be depressed after finding out about their condition .
If someone has a genetic disease , after the test , they might not wish to inform their relatives as they might end up disheartening their extended family .
Some will wish to keep it to themselves and hope to ensure that they will not bring any pessimism into their family .
Furthermore , some will wish not to become a burden to anyone , as seeking medical attention is relatively costly .
Hence , some see it as being considerate by keeping the genetic risk of getting the disease confidential .
On the other hand , others may think that it would be considerate to tell the relatives , because the latter will have a higher chance of having the same genetic risk .
Hence , they will be able to seek help from medical specialists to find a cure or to take some measures to prevent the risk of getting the disease .
Nevertheless , it will depend on what kind of genetic disease , in the context of current medical technology .
For example , breast cancer is a genetic disease and it can be cured if it is detected in the early stage .
Hence , with the knowledge of having a genetic risk , the relatives of someone with this genetic disease will have a medical check-up , which might save them by detecting it at earlier stage .
In conclusion , it would be considerate to inform relatives of the risk of getting the same genetic disease .
Although there might be a lot of challenges along the way when seeking medical attention , such as financial issues , everyone should be given the right to know their family 's inherited medical conditions .
However , some think that it might be better for those who are ignorant of it because they will continue leading a happy life .
In addition , some may think that even knowing about having a risk of a disease will just add to their misery as there is nothing that they can do about it .
All-in-all , it depends on the individual and also the nature of the disease , but people should be obligated to inform their relatives if there are possibilities of curing or preventing the condition .
Genectic testing is a personal decision , made with the knowledge that there is a possiblity that one could be a carrier or not .
Those who are born into a family with a history of genetic disease should be allowed to undergo genetic testing , even if there is no risk at all .
Early pre-examination is healthy as it will remove unwanted doubts and affect the thinking of those who are affected .
For a genetic risk carrier , there should be a choice given with regards to informing his/her relatives .
They should not be forced or obliged to do so , as it may negatively and drastically affect the emotions of the genetic risk carrier .
With regard to this choice , there must be some rules to regulate and exercise personal freedom of choice .
If the genetic risk carrier is a minor , then most likely the decision about informing the relatives should be made by the patient 's parents or legal guardian .
Such patients are still emotionally volatile or they may be unaware of the consequences of the genetic disorder due to their young age .
Furthermore , the act of informing others without the consent of their parents or the patients themselves could harm the psychological state of the affected family .
Thus , much thought needs to be put into the immediate family , as it could cause a chaos of unwanted events for the patient or the family members themselves .
Some family members may feel hurt with regards to their family pride or reputation on having the knowledge of a genetic disorder running in their family .
However , there is a and a sense of responsibility to inform their relatives since it is a genetic disorder .
There might be a possibility that the genetic disorder could also affect their relatives and any other families within the same family tree .
The importance of informing relatives of a genetic disease is vital as it may help to raise awareness and prevention of the genetic disorder .
Also , this information will help their relatives to make informed decisions and to similarly undergo genetic testing to find out about the outcome .
Thus , having the knowledge that the genetic disorder is benign would be beneficial to their emotional well-being .
And if the results turn out to be otherwise , then the family can be prepared emotionally and psychologically for the future outcome and this will aid them in making upcoming decisions .
In addition , the genetic risk carrier would be showered with moral and emotional support from their relatives if it has been made known to them .
Having support from relatives is vital as they assure the genetic risk carrier that he/she is not alone in facing this illness , and it will certainly provide a morale boost , as the whole family will share a common feeling with regards to the future prospect of the genetic disorder , which could be inherited by anyone in the family .
Therefore , the decision to inform relatives of a genetic disorder will be dependent on the situation and background of the affected family , with the freedom of choice given to them in making the decision about informing others .
A person with a disorder , whether it be a mental or physical disorder , is always by his or her family .
When it comes to genetic issues , it is not that simple anymore .
Genetic disorder , but not all of the offspring show the relevant symptoms .
Sometimes a family with a risk of potential genetic disorder may not be able to detect the potential harm inside their bodies as none of their members display any observable symptoms .
As a result , when one of the members happens to feel uncomfortable or unwell , he or she should be aware of whether the disorder in his or her body is a genetic risk or not .
Afterwards , the carrier will face a serious ethical issue , which is whether to reveal the problem to his or her relatives or not .
If the disorder symptoms are displayed by a child , the parent will be informed by the medics , then the whole family will be alert to their bodies ' condition .
In contrast , if the carrier is an adult who has their own choice to choose whether to inform their relatives about the risk , that will be more complex .
One might think that if the carrier is a caring person who loves their family more than themself , there is no doubt that they will tell their family about the issue .
That is true and , of course , it is the obligation of a family member to protect and take care of the family .
Conversely , if a child in the family knows that he has the risk of becoming a genetic risk carrier , and the risk might also be inherited by his child in the future , he will be in a dilemma his whole life .
And of course , he or she will think of not having any children after getting married , and the same thought occurs to the cousins as well .
As a result , the family line stops the moment the adult carrier announces his problem .
In China , the older generation with a traditional cultural background will always think of having more children as well as grandchildren , to make the family more lively and stronger .
The reason behind this is that after WWII the population of China decreased dramatically and so the government encouraged the people to have more children .
During that period , if one of the family members displayed genetic disorder symptoms , he would be in an ethical dilemma for sure .
The medical technology during that time was not advanced enough to completely cure him .
He had to choose whether to protect his family or make his family more prosperous with a potential genetic risk .
And so , he would have chosen not to undergo genetic disorder testing and to let the truth be buried forever .
This kind of ethical issue can not be judged by others because they will not understand the position and duty of the carrier in the family .
In conclusion , people should think carefully about what the consequences are of telling the relatives about their genetic disorder .
It is an obligation for a carrier to inform his relatives , but also an obligation for a family member to add to the family .
Even if the disorder is rarely fatal or it does not cause any inconvenience to the carrier , revealing the truth is always the right thing to do .
In my opinion , the carrier should tell his or her relatives about it .
One of the reasons is that , as a carrier , she or he needs moral support to go through this situation .
It will be hard for an individual to deal with the issue on their own .
If they tell their family , other than being a support , they could possibly help them to find alternative solutions to the problem that they are facing right now .
Other than that , I believe that the strong bond we have with our family is the biggest pillar of support to the carrier .
Furthermore , as it is a genetic problem , it would be better for the carrier to inform his or her family , as other family members might experience the same thing .
If they are made aware of this genetic problem , they could have a full check-up and it would be better if they could even prevent it from happening to them .
I think that it is important to family members , especially if it is contagious . The carrier could prevent the disease from spreading to society .
For every action there are always pros and cons .
I believe that some carriers will choose not to reveal their disease to family members , as they do not want to make their family members worry and feel uncomfortable or even to feel ostracized by them .
Furthermore , as it could involve spending lots of money on the treatment , the carrier might not want to be a burden to their family .
I can understand the feelings of the carrier .
She or he does not want to be the source of unhappiness in the family .
However , we will never know whether these negative effects will arise when the carrier decides to tell his or her family about his or her condition .
In conclusion , personally , I feel that it is better for the carrier to inform their family members about the issue .
The carrier should be honest about his or her feelings , and I think that it is the right of the family members to know what is going on in his or her life .
If anything bad happens in the carrier 's life without their having informed the family members , it could lead to a huge regret in their life if they leave without them knowing about it .
On top of that , it is better to think about solutions to their problem with the family members , as there are more heads to think about it rather than thinking about it alone and struggling on their own .
Finally , I believe that support , whether mental or even financial , from their family could help the carrier to fight against the genetic disease .
There are lots of cancer patients who were given a second chance to live as normal people because they had strong moral support from their loved ones .
In my opinion , as long as we keep our mind healthy and strong , we can fight any disease , because they come to us when we are fragile and weak .
As technology has advanced , it has reached a stage whereby the advancement triggers some ethical dilemmas in relation to the actual use of technology .
Genetic testing has been made possible ; it has become easy to tell if one is a carrier of a known genetic risk through genetic testing .
If used for a good purpose , it can prevent unnecessary unhappiness . However , it could also make a situation worse by revealing who the carrier is , in the family .
The question is whether a carrier of a known genetic risk should be obligated to tell his or her relatives , and I think that the carrier should not be obligated to do so , because I believe that he or she has the right not to know .
Firstly , genetic testing is not something that is compulsory .
Of course , some people may do it to make their futures slightly happier . However , the carrier , before the testing , can choose not to go for the test and simply live with unknowns and accept the facts .
If he chooses to live with the uncertainty that the gene holds and is willing to accept it , he can do that , and it was something that was 'normal ' for everyone in the past , as genetic testing was not possible .
It could even be better for him or her that way .
Some people might say that it is a form of prevention against giving birth to disabled offspring and making them suffer in real life .
I personally think this is the right purpose of going through genetic testing , so that a family who can not afford to have a disabled child do not have to give birth to their child and make the entire family suffer .
However , I believe that the carrier has the right not to be obligated to tell anyone , but has a responsibility to take action to prevent any ethical dilemma .
If the result turns out to be something that the carrier can not accept , then it would have been better not to know the truth .
I believe that even the carrier has the right not to know the facts .
After he or she realizes that he or she is the carrier , the emotional damage would be hard to bear .
It could possibly cause a problem in a family and cause more unhappiness in the family .
Overall , I believe that it entirely depends on the carrier whether to share the hard facts and face it with relatives , but he has no obligation to tell .
In fact , I strongly believe that the carrier should weigh both the positive and negative consequences of undergoing genetic testing and take the appropriate action based on the results .
The depression that the carrier might suffer and the sense of guilt could be more than expected and could be a burden for the rest of their life .
On the other hand , without knowing about any genetic disorder and accepting the fact , the family will stay positive and work together to overcome the disability .
I think the family will stay mentally healthy as it is , without having emotional stress .
Debates have been around for years , as to whether a carrier of a known genetic risk should be obligated to inform his or her relatives .
Any individual at risk of a disorder has the right to undergo genetic testing , but whether the results should be disclosed to others , especially close family or distant relatives , is a topic worth discussing .
This is an issue that needs to be addressed as a family-related ethical dilemma is involved .
In this essay , a few arguments will be put forward in support of any carrier of a known genetic risk telling his or her relatives .
When we were born , we were surrounded by our relatives , with them welcoming us to this new world .
We were crying hard but we were not alone . It 's our family that bring us up .
Hence , they are people we should be grateful for and the people we would like to share joy with .
However , in the case of any health issue or to the extent of a serious disorder , there may seem to be no point in sharing , but this involves more than just sharing of bad news .
One definitely has the right not to disclose one 's health issues to anyone , but it 's also one 's responsibility to inform the family .
If a health issue is related to genetic risk , with the emphasis on " genetic " , this highlights the risk of passing on the disorder to the next generation .
Therefore , I would agree that it 's obligatory for a carrier of a known genetic risk to tell his or her relatives , to avoid any family-related ethical dilemma that could arise in the future .
Although one may argue that it 's still up to the individual whether to disclose such a health issue or to keep it to him/herself , it 's certainly helpful to share with close relatives , for a proper discussion about solutions .
By doing so , one will feel less stressed in facing such a health risk .
Relatives will certainly be supportive and show more care towards the carrier of a known genetic risk .
As a result of informing them , the carrier is never alone in fighting the battle with such a health risk .
On top of that , as the genetic risk may pass down to the next generation , it will involve more than just one family .
It is for this reason I would agree with the obligation to tell the relatives of both parties when one is about to get married and has a plan for raising a family .
This would avoid the incidence of more family-related ethical dilemmas .
There are more intangible advantages that could support informing the relatives once the results are known after the test has been conducted .
In conclusion , in order to avoid family-related ethical dilemmas , it is best for any carrier of a known genetic risk to inform his/her relatives .
The benefits of doing so outweigh its disadvantages .
More support must be provided through different means to give better guidance when someone is deliberating whether they should inform their relatives .
The decision to undergo genetic testing can only be made by the individual at risk of a disorder .
This is the common law in society .
However , it leads to a new problem that can be summarised as " should a carrier of a known genetic risk be obligated to tell his or her relatives ?
" This issue has been discussed for a long time .
However , there is still a diversity of points of view among people .
Thus , we are going to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the issue .
Firstly , I believe most of us will agree with the sentences below : " I would be anxious about my family member if he or she told me that he or she was a carrier of a known genetic risk " .
Frequently , the reason for the carriers not wanting to tell their families is to continue their own life without the anxiety of their families .
It is obvious that it will be better for one person to be worried than many .
However , many of the carriers are not strong enough to overcome the challenges on their own .
With the families ' support , there must be more energy to fight against the demon .
The demon is not easily defeated and it requires much energy and psychological support .
Families give you the courage and support which you can not find by yourself .
That is the most essential element to overcome the challenges .
Besides that , the risk of the known disorder is so serious that it can not be described .
The seriousness can be bigger than our imagination .
Lying on a bed for the rest of your life , and even dying immediately , these are consequences which we can not imagine .
Families are the dearest people in our life .
Without their concern and support , .
They play an important role in our life which can not be substituted .
A known genetic risk can also critically affect the next generation .
Therefore , it is our responsibility to tell our relatives , to prevent the occurrence of undesired consequences .
Generally , the clinic or hospital will not tell the carrier 's family without the agreement of the carrier .
It is the ethic of staff in a hospital to keep the secret of any patients .
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However , the hospital can provide a counsellor to advise the carrier about the action that can be taken .
Therefore , this kind of circumstance will not happen again and again .
It is a method that benefits the two parties , which is a win-win situation .
In conclusion , a carrier of a known genetic risk is encouraged to tell his or her relatives about the known genetic risk .
However , there may be some special case that is hard to define .
Thus , advice from the hospital plays an important role in this .
The carrier is responsible for balancing his or her own interests and the benefits to the family and even society .
It is a hard decision to make but by choosing the most appropriate way , it will create great circumstances for the carrier and their family in the future .
With the risk of having a genetic disorder , many individuals have made the decision to undergo genetic testing .
With the knowledge that the results will be known once the tests are done , each individual that is diagnosed as being a genetic risk carrier faces an ethical dilemma : should they warn their relatives about the risk of being a carrier of the same genetic risk ?
Or they can choose to keep silent until the next carrier is diagnosed .
In my view , a carrier of a known genetic risk should not be obligated to tell his or her relatives , for the following reasons .
First of all , from the point of view of human rights , a genetic risk carrier should not be obligated to tell the truth to others .
This diagnosis can be regarded as a private matter to carriers .
They may not want this truth to influence their life or may want to keep it as a secret and not let others know about it .
This is reasonable since exposure of the truth of being a carrier may make them be discriminated against or by others , which are not positive factors brought to their life .
Secondly , the relatives of the carrier can also choose to undergo genetic testing , regardless of the diagnosis of the carrier .
When people want to check whether they are genetic risk carriers , they can go and approach a doctor to consult about it .
If they do not want to think too much about it and view it as a problem , they may just ignore the possibility .
However , if a diagnosed carrier is obligated to tell his or her relatives , the relatives will be forced to know their higher chance of being genetic risk carriers .
This their own wishes as they have to accept the truth , which may make their subsequent life miserable .
Many people may argue that establishing an obligation may help more people who are the relatives of carriers save their lives because of early diagnosis .
However , this is not exactly true when other factors , including psychological influence , social influence , are taken into consideration .
If one such relative is told that he or she may have a higher risk of getting sick , he or she may be scared about the future , partners , spouse and colleagues may choose to leave , and many other situations may arise , which means the relative 's life may be ruined .
On the other hand , as stated above , a person who wants to confirm and has been prepared to face the result can choose to do the genetic testing individually .
In summary , a carrier of a known genetic risk should have the right to decide whether to tell their relatives or not .
This should be accepted from the point of view of human rights , freedom of acceptance of relatives and for many other social reasons .
Otherwise , making it an obligation will restrict the choice of carriers and bring a lot of confusion to their relatives .
For a carrier of a genetic disorder , knowing the fact that he or she is a carrier causes more dilemma than getting the disorder .
I agree that a carrier of a known genetic risk is obligated to tell his or her relatives .
There are four reasons why people should n't be shy and should share their problems regarding a genetic disorder .
Firstly , the carrier and his or her family can take precautions , physically , through actions to reduce the chance of it being inherited by offspring and , mentally , if the action fails to prevent it being inherited .
Many syndromes , such as Down Syndrome and Taylor Syndrome , can be prevented from occurring if the mother undergoes proper medication and does n't consume harmful foods during the pregnancy period .
This information may not be known by the mother if she does n't tell her relatives about her condition .
The more people ( relatives ) know about her problem , the more information channels are provided .
If all efforts have been made but the children still suffer from the syndrome , then the family have to accept this fact and do whatever they can to provide a good environment for their children 's growth .
This is not the parent 's fault because there are still chances of the gene being inherited .
So , they also have to prepare mentally .
Secondly , genetic diseases cost a great deal for the treatment and medication .
Albinism is one of the examples .
People with albinism have sensitive skin and it needs regular treatment .
Unlike people with a high proportion of skin pigment , people with albinism are prone to sunburn and other skin diseases .
If they do n't treat their body well , for example , by using sunglasses or wearing sunscreen outdoors , there is a good chance that they will get skin problems that may also lead to cancer .
Once you suffer from cancer , the medication costs are very expensive .
To prevent the bigger problem from happening , it takes a lot of effort to take care of your body .
If the carrier does n't tell his or her relatives , it may be too late to get their support and prepare financially .
Thirdly , some diseases are not noticeable and may lead to serious health problems .
One of the diseases is sickle cell anaemia .
Usually , people are not aware if they carry the sickle cell gene and this may lead to circulatory problems such as blood clots .
If the parents know that one of them is a carrier and disclose the information to their relatives , then they can take their children to undergo genetic testing and do n't need to be shy about it because it is for the sake of their children 's health .
Fourthly , it is important for the parents to give mental encouragement to their children with a genetic disorder .
When their children become teenagers , a lot of social problems may arise .
Strangers and friends often mock your condition .
A strong mental condition and conviction must be built from within and by the closest people .
If not their family , then who else will be willing to do that ?
It is not a difficult job for the family if they have prepared their minds first by disclosing the information about the probability that their children may suffer from the genetic disorder .
In this modern world , technology has improved a lot compared with the last century .
Particularly in the medical field , there is great improvement in many treatments for many formerly incurable diseases , and genetic testing is one of the methods which are used to diagnose whether an individual is at risk of a genetic disorder .
The medical authorities claim that only the individual who is at risk of a genetic disorder can make the decision to undergo genetic testing .
However , once a test has been conducted and the results are known , a family-related ethical dilemma is born .
The question is whether a carrier of a known genetic risk should tell his or her relatives .
In my opinion , the carrier of a known genetic risk has to tell his or her relatives about this .
This is because his or her relatives have the right to know about this .
As many people realize , a genetic disorder can be passed on to the carrier 's relatives , that is , one of the family members being at risk of a genetic disorder means that other family members also have almost the same risk of having it , so this problem should be treated seriously by the family .
Every family member has the right to know what is going on with them .
If they do not even know that they are at risk of a genetic disorder , ?
For instance , John is informed by his doctor that he is at risk of a genetic disorder but he does not tell his sibling , James , about this .
Although telling James about this is horrible to some extent , he should know what is likely to be going on with him .
It might be beneficial for his future if he is aware of the risk of having this disorder .
The next point is that telling relatives can raise their awareness of having the same genetic disorder , preventing certain genetic disorders from affecting them .
Genetic disorders are innate , but the great improvement of medical treatment makes it possible for humans to prevent the disorder or to reduce the negative effects of the disorder on them .
In addition , doctors usually quote a statement , " Prevention is better than cure " ; this gives us an idea that preventing a disorder from happening has far more advantages than curing it .
Awareness of having a genetic disorder may help in diagnosing a genetic disorder in a person , and therefore , this may make the prevention of a certain disorder possible .
For example , hypertension is partially due to genetic factors , but environmental factors also play an important role .
People who are aware of having a disorder can prevent the disorder from developing by adopting a healthy lifestyle , including having a balanced diet and having at least 30 minutes of exercise every day .
To sum up , a carrier of a known genetic risk should be obligated to tell his or her relatives .
It is their human right to know about that , and this may also save their lives by preventing the disorder from developing .
Together with the advancement of technology over recent decades,medical progress has increased exponentially and further enhancements are still constantly being added . Empowered with advanced medical knowledge,doctors are able to diagnose and carry out genetic testing for patients to help them prevent illness and take the necessary steps to protect their life.However , once a test has been conducted and the results are known,the question of disclosing the results to relatives becomes a challenging issue for both patient and doctor.I feel a strong urge to support the obligation to inform patients ' relatives .
As it is a genetic risk,the patient 's next-of-kin might have a high chance of carrying the risk . Hence , the need to inform their relatives is important so that necessary preventative measures can be taken before unforeseen circumstances arise.For example,if you are the only child in a family and , unfortunately,you are suffering from a genetic disease , the genetic trait might be passed on to the next generation if you have a child . Hence , by making your family members aware of the situation,you would lessen family stresses and suffering owing to their forcing you to settle down and have children.However , social ethical issues like discrimination and privacy are the biggest concerns and potential barriers to forcing patients or doctors to disclose information to patients ' relatives.It challenges confidentiality and privacy principles.Currently , under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( HIPAA ) in the United States,there is no legal obligation to disclose information to relatives . It is up to the patient what they wish to disclose to their family members.Early disclosure to family members brings a positive reaction and prevention,as in the case of Angelina Jolie . She chose to disclose information and underwent treatment to reduce the risk of breast cancer significantly to under five percent.I still can recall her reason for disclosing her own story was that she does not want to live in the shadow of cancer .
However,there are still people who are against the decision to reveal private information.As in the case of Alzheimer 's patients,it is the patient 's own choice to disclose information.However,research has shown that doctors have tried to interpret how and to whom Alzheimer 's disease will be disclosed to minimise potential negative impact on family members ( DementiaToday,2012 ) .There are associations who provide help to Alzheimer 's patients , like the Alzheimer 's Association ( Alzheimer 's Association,1980 ) .Although there are still thousands of people with genetic diseases out there that might not be receiving help and support from everyone,the need to receive immediate understanding and support from family members is the utmost help that patients need in their difficult time .
In conclusion,the state should pass a legal bill to measure and provide information to doctors a doctor should opt to inform relatives about the genetic disease and in which situations it should be left to the patient 's decision.In addition,the state could also encourage the creation of assistance schemes to offer the necessary help to patients to encourage them to open up for their own benefit and for that of family members.Although it may face challenges from social ethical issues,in the long term,with appropriate encouragement and aid from the government,more individuals would have a different view of acceptance and take appropriate measures to protect their own health and that of their loved ones .
Nowadays , studies in the genetic field are going further and further due to high-velocity technological advancement .
Not long ago , the human genome project , sponsored by several large multinational corporations ( MNCs ) , was started .
, in the field of genetic testing , which enables people to be aware of the risk of a possible genetic disorder , as the technology is very mature already , an even more popular topic arises .
While most people agree that each individual has his own right to decide whether to undergo a genetic test or not , they have different stands regarding whether it is the patient 's responsibility to share the result with his or her relatives .
In my opinion , the patients who are carriers of some known genetic risk should share the truth with their family members .
Admittedly , it is a social obligation to be responsible for the life of other people .
For the whole society , it is a duty .
Take H1N1 as an example . All the people in Singapore , including students at school , travelers at the Changi Airport , workers in the offices as well as pedestrians on the street , are forced by law to take their temperature and report the result to the relevant government authority in charge .
For those family members who care about them , it is also a moral obligation .
How can they not tell their loved ones who they really are and put their loved ones in danger ?
The basis of a family is that everyone trusts and loves each other with no doubts .
Without trust and love , there is no difference between a family and a bunch of strangers living together .
Hence , it is essential to tell family members about the risk of a genetic disorder , both as a social responsibility and as a favor to conserve the family .
Moreover , telling family members the truth is the fastest and easiest way to get their support .
Without the support of loved ones , patients ' lives are no better than death .
Family members , as one of the closest groups of people from whom patients can get comfort , are a crucial factor for them to successfully get over any possible problems as a result of genetic disorder .
A study by New York University in 2010 showed that patients with family members around generally recover 2-4 days faster than those taken care of by professional nurses .
Even for those patients with terminal diseases , the duration of their survival is 30 % longer due to family support .
Some people may say that telling the truth may give rise to some unnecessary doubts and panics which will endanger family harmony .
While every family needs to go through this or that kind of troublesome situation , the more problems a family has gone through together , the greater the bond will be between the family members as well as the greater amount of trust , love and understanding .
Hence , for a family in which every member truly believes in each other and loves each other ,all these problems are just tests to make them stronger .
Just like in the lyrics of Kelly Clarkson , what does n't kill you makes you stronger .
Being in Asian society , where genetic testing is not a common practice , I do think that it is the choice of the patient whether he or she wants to tell his or her relatives about his or her disease .
The courage to take the genetic testing and to inform their relatives about the risk that they may have may result in people being judgmental while , actually , it is just a risk and not a confirmed case .
Furthermore , since it is the person 's gene that is affected , he has the right to determine with whom he wants to share the information .
Nevertheless , while I feel that a carrier should not be obligated to tell his or her relatives about the genetic risk . I would like to suggest the person at least shares the information with her or his potential partner ( husband or wife ) , since the individual 's genetic risk may affect their future children .
Many people in our society are not well informed about many genetic diseases and many of them will be most likely to judge or at least discriminate against those who have genetic diseases , since they feel that the patients are abnormal or 'weird' .
This is because many relate genetic diseases to others such as Bubble-Boy disease , autism or Down 's syndrome .
In those diseases , many who are affected do actually have different physical characteristics compared to those without the genetic diseases .
While we do know that we should not discriminate against them based on their limitations , many people still do it with or without them realizing it .
In this particular case , we are discussing whether a person should tell his relatives about their having a RISK of a particular genetic disease .
It is normal for people to demand fair and similar treatment to others and , therefore , it is normal for people to try to keep some of their secrets or personal issues to themselves in case some people judge them or treat them differently . Many people really love to hear what they want to hear and , therefore , they may just ignore the word 'risk ' and assume that the person has suffered from the disease .
To prevent that from happening , I do feel that it is up to the person whether he wants to share the information with his family , since his family may either be paranoid or judge him and act differently .
Especially when it is just a risk , the option is really his , since he is not an actual sufferer .
There may be some people who say that it is necessary to tell the family members about the risk , since some of them may be affected . While I do think that this view has some validity , how much you can trust your family regarding this issue may also be a case .
Maybe we can trust our immediate family members , but can we really trust all the other relatives ?
Furthermore , since the genetic risk or genetic disease is a very personal case , it is up to the person whether to tell the relatives about it .
However , as I said earlier , it is better for the person to at least tell his or her future partner about the potential risk , since his genetic risk may affect his children later .
This information needs to be at least acknowledged by the other party before they make the decision to get married and have children .
There may be a possibility that both the husband and wife are carriers , and , therefore , they should not have any children since their children may not be able to survive even after they are born .
Or in a less extreme case , the child may be disabled .
This piece of information does play a role in family planning matters . Therefore , although no one is obliged to tell anyone about their genetic risk , they should be encouraged to tell their future partner .
In conclusion , whether or not the carrier wants to tell his relatives about his genetic risk , the choice is his because it is his own gene and he has the full ownership of it .
He may have different considerations or it may result in making his family worry for nothing when thinking of whether he should tell his relatives , but no matter what choice he makes , we need to respect it and we have no right to say that he must tell his relatives about it .
We all know that life is priceless and we have no right to judge a person 's death .
With the improvements in technology , a new life with a genetic risk can be detected .
Genetic risk refers to the chance of inheriting a disorder or disease .
Therefore , an entirely new dilemma is born : should a carrier of a known genetic risk be obligated to tell his or her relatives ?
This essay will discuss the reasons why the relatives are obligated to be informed that their children have a genetic risk .
One of the reasons that the parents should be informed is that they have to decide whether they are capable of raising a child with a genetic risk .
The child with a genetic risk may not have the ability to work , or to build up the family with the others , and most of the time they are not acceptable to the majority .
They may not be able to enjoy a life normal people can enjoy .
This competitive world is cruel to those who are not able to survive .
Parents and relatives have to work longer than expected and endlessly to care for their child if he/she is not able to look after himself/herself .
The situation may become worse if the child has diseases like cancer or heart disease , which means that parents have another heavy burden called medication fees .
Not only the child but also the entire family will suffer .
It is still early for parents to decide whether they can take care of a new life that is not able to work and may suffer pain for their entire life .
The other reason that parents should know the baby they have is a carrier of genetic risk is for a nation 's good .
There are always newspaper reports that a new born baby has been abandoned at hospital after parents realized the baby had diseases that need a huge amount of money to treat .
For countries like Singapore , they are short of manpower to contribute to the nation .
However , every year the government has to spend a lot to help the disabled such as through medical subsidies and building special schools to educate them .
Without an increasing number of disabled people in a nation , the government is able to concentrate on developing in other directions like the military and education .
As citizens of a nation , they have a responsibility to support their country in many ways .
Moreover , in the world we are living in today , many abortions are conducted in hospital every day .
It is easier for people to accept it morally .
Therefore , I believe the parents have the right to know about the healthiness of their child .
Many people may support the theory that all people have the right to enjoy the world , especially people with religions .
However , the problem is , will the people really enjoy their life if they have to stay in hospital every day and with all the needles and endless pain ?
Parents know what is best for their children , so they will make the right decision after they have been informed .
Also , human beings should improve the medical field in order to prevent this tragedy happening .
I think a carrier of a known genetic risk should not be obligated to tell his or her relatives .
Genetic testing is a personal choice .
A person should have the full control of his/her information and it is his/her right to decide whether or not to disclose it to someone else .
When a couple are going to have babies , they run a few tests and see whether they could have some genetic diseases .
The results are disclosed to the husbands and wives .
This is not the case I am talking about here .
The most obvious reason of those who argue for this opinion is that the relatives of the carrier are at high risk of carrying these diseases .
They have the right to know whether they are at risk .
Also , telling them the result can allow them to greatly reduce the cost of multiple testing .
They can also take immediate measures to reduce the possibility of having this disease .
If a person has a disease C that might be a result of gene A .
He can run a test and find out that he has the gene AA .
This means both of his parents have gene A and they are both at high risk of having disease C. They could save the cost of running two separate tests to see whether they are at high risk of having disease C. If he runs a test and finds out that he has the gene Aa .
This means one of his parents has gene A and one cost of testing could be saved .
His relatives can then take measures , if this disease can somehow be prevented , to stop this disease from taking their lives .
However , this can also be achieved .
A person can choose to tell their relatives if they are at risk .
Most people care about their relatives , so , if there is no serious consequence of telling them , I assume most of them will tell their relatives to be careful .
They might also choose to hint to or encourage their relatives to run a gene test if they are concerned about negative consequences that come about when they disclose their genetic results .
There are possible negative consequences that people might face if they disclose their genetic results to their relatives .
If a person is obliged to tell his/her relatives , he or she might be discriminated against by those who do not carry this gene .
He or she might even be advised not to get married or have children .
For example , if an unmarried person has gene Aa and gene aa is sufficient for a very serious disease .
After he takes the test and is obliged to tell his relatives , everyone will know that he is a carrier .
So , if all the married couples run a test and find out they are not carriers , they might subconsciously see him as different and worry that he will find a wife who will carry this gene as well .
Third , it is hard to define relatives .
If a gene runs in the family , and one of the family members tests positive , whom does he need to tell .
If it is a big family , is he obliged to tell everyone ?
Spouses usually have very close relationships . If person A tells his family that he has this gene , his uncle C knows and tells his wife D that he needs to run a test because his nephew has this disease .
However , wife D is not even at risk of having this disease .
Then wife D might tell her mother , who likes to gossip on her way to the theatre .
In less than a week , half of the town knows person A has a risked gene , and his family might be a genetically at risk family .
Then nobody wants to marry A , or his relatives .
This is the potential consequence if one does not have full control of one 's information , especially when the party that one is obliged to disclose one 's information to is a potentially large group ( relatives ) .
In conclusion , a carrier of a known genetic risk should not be obligated to tell his or her relatives .
A carrier of a known genetic risk should be obligated to tell his or her relatives
Nowadays , people not only pursue the comfort of their own lives but also the better development of future generations .
Since the technology of modern society is so advanced , it has become possible for people to make a decision to take genetic tests so as to be clear whether or not they carry a genetic risk which could affect the next generation .
The debatable question , an ethical dilemma , is whether people are responsible for telling their relatives that they carry a known genetic risk .
In my opinion , the responsibility to tell family and relatives is quite obvious .
And there are two basic reasons .
The first one is the importance of being responsible for your own health and the health of your relatives , and the second one is being responsible for the next generations .
Your relatives ' awareness of your genetic risk is good for your own health and the health of your relatives .
Because if you are carrying that genetic risk , then there is a great possibility that your relatives , like parents or siblings , are carrying the same genetic risk as well .
The genetic risk that you carry may or may not affect your health and put you in danger .
If you have n't undergone genetic testing , it 's just what will happen to both you and your relatives .
However , if you have undergone tests and found out that you are a carrier , you are responsible for your whole family .
Even though you can not eliminate the risk completely , you can at least try to be alert to avoid getting the disease .
As for those in your family who are more likely to be affected , they can go to the hospital to have checks regularly .
Therefore , telling the families and the relatives to get prepared for fighting the disease and even preventing getting the disease is your responsibility .
Furthermore , you are also being responsible towards your future generations by telling the truth that you are a carrier of a genetic risk .
If your wife is not aware of the truth and gives birth to a baby , it will be possible for your child to carry the same genetic risk as well .
Being the parent , you are not being responsible towards your next generations , since you allow the genetic risk to be passed on from generation to generation and are aware of it .
However , if you tell the truth to your wife and relatives , you offer a choice about whether to have a child or not .
And if you still decide to have the baby , since the technology has been developed to such an advanced level , it might be possible in the future that the possibility of altering genes is perfected and widely used , and you can then choose to give birth to babies by giving them a brighter future .
This is the responsibility of being a parent .
And in my opinion , this seems to be the main purpose of undergoing genetic testing in the first place .
As a conclusion , once you have undergone the genetic testing and are aware of carrying some specific genetic risk , there are responsibilities to your relatives , yourself , and your future generations to tell your relatives and family the truth .
To tell or not to tell ?
Consider a case . We decide to undergo genetic testing and have found out the result of it .
We found out that we actually are a genetic risk carrier .
Then it becomes a dilemma whether we need to tell our relatives , who may carry this genetic risk as well .
There are really a lot of things we need to consider .
Every choice we make may have a huge impact on their whole life .
As a result , what should we do ?
Tell them or keep this secret until we die ?
Many people feel that we should tell our relatives if we really care about their health status .
For example , diabetes is a kind of genetic disease .
Once we find out we are carrying this genetic risk , it is better for us to tell our family members , because they may carry it as well .
If we tell them , they may start paying more attention to their daily habits like eating less food containing sugar and .
And it is important for young people .
The earlier we tell them , and it will be for the rest of their lives .
What 's more , they may undergo genetic testing as well to see whether they are carrying it or not , which is also better for them .
However , some people may ask why we want to interfere with their lives ?
Sometimes it becomes extremely hard for them to accept this news , especially if they are going to find out that they or their descendants may have a severe disease like a blood disease which is untreatable .
Imagine you are living like a normal person but suddenly one day your relative comes and tells you that actually there are some possibilities that you may contract some disease in the future . What kind of feeling would you have ?
It may affect our daily lives and we will think about it every day .
We become so anxious that we can not focus on anything .
At the same time , there will also be chances that the genetic test result is not correct , which means they are actually wasting their lives worrying about this thing . So , actually , we are bringing them trouble .
Personally , I feel that we should still accept our responsibility to tell them the situation .
Since this will really affect their lives , what we should do is to try to do it in a positive way .
We can not let it go .
We should know that although we may affect their lives , we can still let them make correct choices in the future .
Only after we tell them will they start paying attention to their health .
They will consider whether to give birth to a new baby because of this genetic problem and they will start finding ways to try to prevent their baby carrying this genetic risk as well .
They always have a choice about whether to undergo the genetic test or not .
Maybe after we tell them , they will go for it and know more about themselves .
I know it will have a huge impact on them , but we should know that they are our loved ones . We need to tell them and help them .
A genetic risk carrier should be obliged to their relatives .
Genetic testing will be conducted when the individual is at risk of some possible disease .
Once the test is done , whether the results should be open to the patient 's relatives has caused extensive controversy .
Some say it is a kind of invasion of privacy for the carrier and that privacy should be protected .
He or she has the right not to tell anyone .
However , in my opinion , it is the obligation of a carrier of a known genetic risk to tell his or her relatives about his or her actual situation .
This essay will illustrate two aspects .
First of all , it can be a warning to the family members of the patient and let them be aware of the possible disease that they may also have .
As we all know , genetic risk carriers are likely to pass on the genes to their family members .
Once one person in the family is found to be carrying a faulty gene , other members in his or her family may also have a risk of disease .
Some of the diseases may not show symptoms until the carrier is old enough .
Therefore , telling the relatives about the situation may avoid a lot of trouble and save a lot of time for proper treatment .
Sometimes , lives may even be saved if they are told early and undergo timely treatment .
So , for the sake of the other family members , the relatives should be informed .
Secondly , it can avoid genetic diseases being passed to the next generation if they intend to have babies .
They should let their spouse know about their situation before marriage .
They need to ask for a doctor 's advice before they plan to have a baby .
Some genes will pass only to boys rather than girls ; some vice versa .
If the carrier refuses to tell the truth to his or her spouse , another life may be at risk of inheriting the genetic disease .
I noticed a real story in a newspaper years ago .
A couple in China had a son of 5 years old .
Their son unfortunately fell ill and he was diagnosed with a kind of genetic disease which is very serious .
They were told that the wife 's family was carrying the polygenetic disorder and could pass it only to boys rather than girls .
Therefore , their son had inherited the genetic disease .
However , the wife actually had already known about the polygenetic disorder before the marriage and she did not tell her husband .
The son died after one year 's treatment and the couple got divorced after that .
If the wife had not hidden the truth and had asked for a doctor 's advice before they had a baby , the tragedy would not have happened .
In summary , a carrier of a known genetic risk has the responsibility to tell his or her relatives .
On the one hand , it can tell members of the carrier 's family about the possible disease they may have and they can undergo treatment in time , if possible .
On the other hand , if the carrier hides the truth , they may pass the disease on to the next generation .
Nowadays , with the advancement of technology , it is easy to do genetic testing .
We can not deny that genetic testing really helps people a lot when they face .
However , I think that genetic information is a person 's personal private information which should be protected by the law .
Therefore , I think a person with a known genetic risk should not be obligated to tell his or her family or relatives .
There are three reasons .
Firstly , the information concerning genes is something personal which is also a private matter like people 's PINs .
Other people should not be told without the person 's permission , even if they are his or her family or relatives .
The government should establish a law to protect this kind of privacy .
Once people 's genetic information is told to other people .
They may know the person 's potential disability , disease or other bad things .
They may discriminate against this person or even abandon him or her .
People do not have the ability to choose their genes , they should not be thought badly of because of a bad gene .
So I think whatever the genetic risk is or whether the gene matches with their parents , it should not be told to anyone , even his or her family or relatives .
Secondly , the carrier of a known genetic risk may destroy the peace of a family or even break the relationship between children and the adults .

However happy they were before , there would be some barriers which will truly gradually destroy the family .
The relationship between the parents and their children should not be tested only in terms of genetics ; it is something much deeper and tighter .
The parents give knowledge and love to the children . Meanwhile , they feel happy in the company of the children .
The children rely on the parent to live .
When they grow up , they take care of the old parents and thank them for their dedication .
The relationship between parents and children is about love and dedication .
No one wants to see the scene of a broken family due to the carrier of a known genetic risk .
Therefore , I think a carrier of a known genetic risk should not be obligated to tell his or her family or relatives .
Finally , the technology of testing the genes is not very mature now .
There also exists some probability of wrong testing .
If the wrong testing was not found by the doctor , the parents and the children may be sad and have a struggle for their whole lives .
Therefore , I think a carrier of a known genetic risk should not be obligated to tell his or her family or relatives .
Therefore , considering people 's privacy and the existence of wrong testing , for the peace of the family , I agree that a carrier of a known genetic risk should not be obligated to tell his or her family or relatives .
A Carrier of a Known Genetic Risk Should be Obligated to Tell His or Her Relatives
More and more illnesses have been discovered to be related to genes through the development of medical technology .
People will know about whether they carry a disease in their genes after they have undergone the genetic test .
If there is no problem , that will be wonderful .
However , not everybody is so lucky that they can make sure they do not carry any disease genes .
Therefore , once people find out they are carrying the disease genes , it is their responsibility to tell their relatives , or at least their close family members .
It may be awkward and embarrassing for a person to tell relatives that he or she is a carrier of a known genetic risk .
But they are all from one family and have the same forefathers , so of course they have the same genes to some extent .
Therefore , there is nothing to be shy about or afraid of .
If the person tells their relatives that they are carrying a disease gene , their relatives can go to hospital to check whether they have also got a disease gene .
Then the relatives can prepare themselves to prevent the disease from occurring .
They can also prevent the disease being passed on to their offspring .
If the relatives are carrying that disease gene , they can share the experience with him or her and give some help . They will also teach him or her how to communicate with others about this issue .
If he or she is married , he or she must tell his or her partner that he is carrying a disease gene .
Then they can have a healthy baby with the help of the doctors .
Or else , if he hides the genetic risk , they may have an unhealthy baby and that may cause the death of the baby or the end of their marriage .
There is a story I watched on TV .
A couple did not have a child after being married for a long time , so their parents were anxious about that and asked them to go to the hospital to check what the problem was .
After he came back from the hospital , the man told his parents that the problem was that he was carrying a disease gene , so they could not have a baby .
The woman did not know the test result , but she overheard the conversation and decided to divorce her husband .
After he got the divorce certificate , the man showed her the test report ; it said that the woman carried the disease gene instead of the man .
At that time , the woman realised how much her husband loved her , but she had ruined her happiness .

People can not avoid carrying disease genes , which they are born with .
However , they can avoid the disease genes being inherited by their children .
By telling their relatives that they may have a risk of carrying the disease gene , they can make their family members bond more closely , and many risks and conflicts can be avoided .
Genetic testing has become a beneficial way to identify and protect each individual at risk of a disorder .
However , this gives rise to a family-related ethical dilemma regarding whether it is right to tell a carrier 's family once the test has been conducted and the results are known .
I am most inclined to believe that his or her relatives have the right to know the result .
The answer is simply that everyone , especially our family , has the right to know the truth .
Though it is said that genetic testing involves emotional and social risks due to the test results , while the potential negative impacts of the risk still exist , the consequences will be significant if other members of his or her family do not know .
Then they are unable to have a suitable method to protect themselves and make emotional preparations .
Take Angeline Jolie , for example . She is famous but she still revealed the truth about her genetic testing and her breast cancer risk .
Everything is not that bad if you know how to look on the bright side , with hope .
People may feel angry , depressed , or even guilty about their results .
In some cases , a carrier can suffer tension within a family because the result is also related to the others ' risk somehow .
However , I believe it is just a normal reaction to this situation .
In addition , though it can be possible in some cases that he or she and the family can suffer specific discrimination in employment and their social life , how can people face more dramatic tragedies such as sickness or death if they can not even overcome this harsh situation ?
Life is hard but people can not blame it on it being unfair .
It is just because you do not become strong enough to overcome the hard times .
Furthermore , living with a secret is not a good feeling , especially if the situations of other relatives become worse . You could feel guilty and depressed .
Moreover , the truth can not be hidden forever but when it is revealed , it will be more shocking and upsetting .
As a result , it is in the interests of the carriers and their relatives , so telling the genetic testing result is necessary .
Last but not least , though genetic testing is a personal matter , telling the result to your family can improve and develop understanding and sympathy for each other , as well as promoting awareness of taking care of everyone 's health .
That plays an important role in the possibility that relatives can overcome the discrimination of society and their anxiety about the risks .
In summary , I believe that people should have the obligation to tell their relatives about the genetic testing result for the good of their health .
It could be very difficult for them , but necessary for the carriers and their family .
In addition , emotional preparations and the ways you explain your genetic condition are also important so that you can convey the correct information to your family and relatives and , if necessary , guide them if they wish to conduct similar genetic testing .
The Impact Of Social Media
Social media play a vitally important role in our lives today .
It is almost impossible for us to keep away from it .
I started using Facebook one year ago,when I had just arrived in Singapore .
And now I have over 500 friends on Facebook .
We know each others ' status , changes and so on through social media .
For example , if we change our contact numbers , we will not send an SMS to each other individually any more .
Instead , we will post a and tag our friends to inform them of this kind of change .
And if you are not on it , you will just get lost .
In certain respects , social media have brought us quite a lot of convenience .
It is becoming even more convenient than talking on the phone , since it is free .
We discuss everything we like and we have more personal space.Our friends also get more access to what we are doing and what we like .
And also , we get a chance to talk to public figures like celebrities and know their life better .
In China , a lot of government organizations have open blogs to communicate with people , like firefighters , police stations and so on .
Social media allow them to explain to or inform people about what is going on .
And , actually , lots of rescue jobs are done with the help of social media , like looking for people who are lost and so on .
With more convenient and communications , the relationship between government and people is largely improved .
What 's more , various cultures can be shown to us through social media .
We can know more news and cultures through social media .
, social media have shortened the distance between us .
However , we get less chance and give less importance to talking face to face because social media are so convenient , advanced and interesting .
And even when we gather together , most people find they have fewer topics to talk about than before and choose to .
When we are far away , social media make it as though we are in front of each other ; sometimes , when we are by each others ' side , we seem to be further than far away .
This kind of feeling makes people 's relationships not as stable , secure and reliable as before .
Besides , there are more people showing their pictures of yummy food or travelling experiences .
To some extent , this makes our life more luxurious and .
Personally , I long to visit some places after I see those beautiful pictures taken by my friends .
Sometimes I even can not sleep well because of excitement .
Social media make our pace of life so fast and leave us less time to think about our life .
Social media are becoming more important and we need to think more to make them serve us better and better .
Interpersonal skills , like any other skills , require practice .
Besides that , these skills require time to develop and adapt .
The burgeoning social media definitely has its , but , like all good things , it is better to have it in moderation .
Convenience and efficiency are two very important aspects of social media .
While millions of users are connected at any one time , any information can be readily available for their perusal .
This improves the connectivity between the users .
For example , one is able to send notifications and other information we used to have in hardcopy over the web , and the process takes seconds .
The recipient will then receive the information almost immediately , depending on the quality of the network .
This convenience can be perceived almost in real time .
Next , communication is also greatly improved .
In the past , communication was done by one of many means , such as telegram , snail mail and poor-quality voice calls .
With the advent of applications such as Skype and Facetime , any individual can phase out most of the old communication methods .
Aside from hearing the voice , a webcam can also be affixed to emulate 'real ' interaction with expressions and gestures .
Communication would have taken a different turn without the readily available social media .
However , it is good practice not to intensively use social media all the time .
Intimate interaction is greatly lacking in social media interactions , particularly touch .
Having to meet and interact for talks allows one to be closer to the recipient .
It involves a level of dynamic interaction which utilises the motor , thinking and verbal cortex of the mind to .
Unlike social media , where most of the interaction is done by thinking and typing .
As a result , one does not practise the necessary skills required for proper interpersonal relations .
It is also entirely wrong to blame social media alone for the lack of interpersonal skills .
Howard Garner studied the effect of multiple intelligences in people and stated that interpersonal intelligence is a type of skill on its own - some have it , some do not .
Howard Garner mentioned that the different intelligences can be charted , utilising tests , and ranked .
Fundamentally , those who scored lower for interpersonal skills are more likely to stumble when this skill is needed .
Though social media need not be necessarily bad , it must be used appropriately - for work , family , friends .
The types of use must also be taken note of - informing , interacting , discussion and others .
The distance between the parties must also be looked at .
For people who are living very far from one another , the intensive use of social media is justified .
Those who live within the community should at least meet up , and not use social media as the primary means of communication with each other .
And at the same time , this improves interpersonal skills , through dynamic practices between individuals and realtime presence .
The inclusion of close proximity and touch could also lead to a better rapport between those interacting .
Recently , the rise of social media has helped people to have a closer connection with each other . It is a more convenient and cheaper way to have online contact compared with face-to-face meetings .
In my opinion , social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook will not affect the chance for people to have face-to-face contact and thus negatively affect interpersonal skills .
It may even increase the chance of having face-to-face contact between people .
First , social media networks have a large user base , and they help to link people from different parts of the world .
In the days before social networks , people did not have the chance to know others from different countries or people they had never met before .
The number of people that they knew was only limited to the people they met in daily life , like classmates and colleagues .
Therefore , social networks bring more and more connections between people and they may have a chance to chat with people they never knew before , and this helps to develop interpersonal skills as well .
Secondly , although social networks take time for people to chat online but not face to face , they may still decide a time online to meet others face to face in daily life .
In this case , the social network helps people to increase the frequency of talk .
For example , if a social network does not exist , business people need to meet each other face to face and it is time consuming . Even sometimes with business that is not so important , it still requires a lot of time for travel , which is a waste .
However , social networks help people to meet and chat much more easily . They can even use video chat and create a group chat to chat with multiple parties at the same time .
Nowadays , some companies even conduct online video interviews with their applicants , as it saves time and money .
The social network may also have some negative impacts for people .
The biggest negative impact is that , due to the online network , some people start to use and rely on the internet all the time .
They spend too much time on using online social networks and thus do not have time to have their daily meeting with people in their real life .
It not only affects interpersonal skills but also is bad for people 's health if they spend too much time on social media .
Secondly , social networks may leak certain personal information to the public . As the cyber environment is not perfect and not safe , people may not protect their privacy online effectively and , sometimes , some people may use others ' personal information to deceive .
In conclusion , although the unsafe online environment and spending too much time on the internet may be potential negative aspects of using online social networks .
It provides people with more convenient contact and improves the frequency of meeting with others .
It also helps people to develop their interpersonal skills through online chatting .
Overall , there are more benefits than disadvantages .
The world is increasingly becoming flat as a result of all kinds of social network websites such as Facebook and Twitter .
We can even know what a friend who lives thousands of miles away ate for lunch through these kinds of social media .
From some points of view , social media really have a lot of advantages by letting us communicate with friends more cheaply and more conveniently .
However , their disadvantages also can not be ignored when you consider them as a platform to show off and a stage for cyber crime .
Social network sites provide us with a great deal of convenience .
Without hanging out with friends or talking with friends on the phone , we can know their latest news by scanning the webpage .
They can help us know more about each other .
They can make people become closer as well .
For example , if you find out one of your friend 's favourite singers is Justin Biber through Facebook , you can give him or her Justin Biber 's new album or a concert ticket as a birthday gift .
It will be really and you two will surely become closer .
In addition , social network sites can help you keep in touch with friends living very far away .
I met some Canadian friends in Egypt .
Without Facebook , we might have lost contact .
However , thanks to Facebook , I can still keep in touch with them and I know what they have been doing recently , as we live close to each other .
The disadvantages of social media are quite undeniable .
Research shows that people will unconsciously hide their real thoughts when they say or post something that will be exposed to the public .
It means that one can not know another 's real thoughts and personality by reading things that they put on social media .
It will make them quite upset when they communicate in real life .
In addition , with all those " nice " guys around on the social network , one may neglect people surrounding one and just communicate with friends on Facebook .
It is a common scene that two people sitting next to each other seldom talk with each other but just look at their cellphones .
This kind of behaviour is not good for people 's psychological health , according to research .
Cyber communication is quite different to face-to-face communication , and people who depend on cyber communication too much will not get used to real-life communication .
In addition , cyber relationships can not always work in real life .
With no close relationships in real life but only close cyber friends , one is more likely to feel lonely because a physiological need of human beings is to feel the bond with others through our five senses .
With the desire of people to become the best among others , social network sites have now become a place to show off .
Some people will post their expensive thing or the overseas places of interest they have been to on the social network and get a feeling of satisfaction by doing so .
It is a mental illness and it may cause people , especially teenagers , to become materialistic .
Last but not least , with all kinds of personal information on one 's social network page , it is convenient for criminals to make use of this information to commit a crime .
Above all , a social network site is like a double-edged sword and people can only take good advantage of it by avoiding the possible disadvantages of it by putting less personal information on their Facebook page .
The modes of communication have been changing over the years , from letter writing to social networking .
This phenomenon is caused by rapidly changing technology , which has made communication faster than ever before .
Today , social media sites , such as Facebook and Twitter , are relatively common within contemporary society , and , people can communicate with each other , online or offline , on these social networking platforms .
They can even make new friends with similar interests on these platforms , which will be able to connect almost everyone closely in many parts of the world .
However , critics may argue that the existence of social media sites has reduced physical human interactions between people as they prefer sitting in front of a computer to going out and meeting new friends .
This essay will discuss both the benefits and downsides of using social media in contemporary society .
Nowadays , social media are able to disseminate information faster than any other media .
About 50 % of people learn about breaking news from social media .
This is due to people spending comparatively more time on social networking than on reading newspapers .
Furthermore , with the current technology , smartphones are able to get access to social media sites which have been made easier for consumers to use .
Hence , social media have benefited the masses by equipping them with a powerful tool to disseminate information almost immediately to the people around them .
However , critics may argue that not all information or news disseminated is reliable .
There might be false information or hoaxes spreading around on social media .
For example , in 2012 , there were false rumors of fires , shootouts , and caravans of gunmen in a Mexico City suburb which had spread through Twitter and Facebook .
This caused panic among the people , who flooded the local police department with phone calls , and this resulted in temporarily closed schools .
The spreading of false information can be a potential psychological threat to everyone , given that social media can disseminate information at a relatively fast speed .
Nevertheless , there are cyber police who roam around these social networking platforms to prevent these hoaxes spreading .
But , there will still be unreliable sources spreading false information on social media sites , despite high security to control almost every social networking movement .
Social media are able to improve relationships and help us to make new friends , provided that there is mutual trust and mutual understanding between both parties .
Many of the teenagers today claim that they are able to keep in touch with their friends through social media , regardless of their location .
In the past , people used to write letters to their friends and it would take a relatively long time for the letter to arrive .
Therefore , with the help of technology , people are able to catch up with each other conveniently .
Furthermore , it will be easier to make new friends who have similar interests or hobbies .
However , in order for people to maintain their relationships as well as make new friends , it requires mutual trust and understanding between both parties .
It might not be accurate to judge the other party 's feelings over social media as they may cover up their emotions while on social media .
In addition , there are also chances for people to miscommunicate with each other as they can not sense the tone of the other party on social media platforms .
This will result in unnecessary conflicts between two parties over miscommunication .
But , if there is trust and mutual understanding on social media , it will be ideal for people to improve relationships and make new friends .
In conclusion , social media in contemporary society are able to help one improve relationships and make new friends , as well as disseminate information efficiently to the masses .
However , there are risks of false information and chances of miscommunication .
Nevertheless , the advantages of social media will benefit the masses if the negative aspects can be carefully taken care of .
All-in-all , social media are the product of rapid technological advancement and there are more to come in the future .
Advantages : Social media sites have greatly facilitated long distance communication and interaction due to their accessibility and convenience .
With a globalised and interconnected world today , Twitter and Facebook are now the main platforms for social interaction .
With any media/electronic devices , one can easily interact and communicate with one 's friends without much hassle .
Thus , long distance relationships or friendships can be maintained and keeping in touch with your circle of friends has been made much easier .
The sharing of personal photos , posting of status or one 's personal feelings or experience and the ability to reply to these posts have allowed human interaction to and expand with ease .
Introverts , or those who are shy about communicating with their friends , are now able to do so in the form of words via social media platforms .
Thus , socialising can occur seamlessly and effectively with the use of such social media platforms.Meet-ups and appointments are no longer a barrier for humans to contact and communicate with one another , making human interaction possible at one 's own convenience .
Society will adapt to such phenomena as physical interaction is transformed into cyber interaction .
With the frequent use and reliance on social media and the Internet , a society that socialises through the Internet will be more advanced and adapted to the highly connected world .
This will greatly help a society to progress rapidly .
Disadvantages : One of the main concerns of using social media to communicate is trust .
The certainty of what is being shared or expressed can not be proven physically as media limit this physical interaction , except when using a webcam to chat .
We can not be certain of the reliabilty or truth of some posts or information we receive through the Internet .
We may in actual fact be communicating with a fake Facebook account of an online friend , which we assume to be real but , in reality , it is a fake account .
Photos and information retrieved from their profile page may be fabricated to suit a personal agenda .
Thus , the lack of face-to-face human contact through social media restricts actual interaction which can be stimulated through the media .
Although emoticons can be used to show certain emotions , this differs from the real emotion of your friends when you observe them through their body language and their facial expression .
The danger of such online socialising is the uncertainty of such communication due to the lack of physical interaction .
Furthermore , this lack of physical interaction has affected human interpersonal behaviour , since communication is conducted through social media instead of meetings .
This lowers the human ability to interact with one another , which can adversely shape one 's behaviour .
The lack of exposure to real life interaction with humans will not create the confidence and skills needed for one to interact seamlessly and effectively with others .
Therefore , for an effective and efficient society , there is a need to have a balance of both social media interaction and face-to-face human interaction .
Nowadays , people can even use their phone to read the news and everyone can be the first witnesses of what is happening in the world .
People use Twitter to follow the artiste or celebrity they love and Facebook to see what their friends ' recent activity is .
Nevertheless , they can still use a phone to make normal calls and send messages to contact people .
It is not only the phone that does jobs for them , but also devices like personal computers , laptops , tablets , and many other devices which are able to connect to the Internet .
It is obvious that the Internet saves people 's time and also connects people globally .
Several arguments have been made regarding whether social media actually have some inevitable disadvantages for people .
People can only use electrical devices to access the Internet .
Whenever they need to use social media , they have to use a phone or other device .
Generally , people need their eyes to look at the screen of their phone or computer and fingers to manipulate the relevant device .
As a result , they will not have eyes to make contact with and hands to express their feelings to people nearby , which means they have lost the tools they need for face-to-face communication .
This can be easily seen in restaurants or cafes nowadays .
A family of four having dinner in a restaurant without any chatting , because they 're holding and looking at their screen with one hand when the other hand is holding a fork .
A group of friends having high tea in a caf é without chatting as well , because they do not know what to talk about without clicking on their screen .
Children nowadays do not know what neighbourhood games are and who is beside them ; all they know is clicking on icons on screens .
These are some concrete examples of how social media reduce face-to-face human contact .
When people get used to using social media to contact other people , what will happen is that their interpersonal communication skills will be degraded and lost eventually .
Firstly , they have lost the courage to meet strangers , let alone the courage to talk .
Also , they will not have enough experience to communicate with people face to face and will not be trained in conversation skills .
As a result , social media help them do their jobs but indirectly affect their interpersonal skills .
Social media do have some other advantages besides their general benefits to human beings .
First of all , people save money by using the Internet to contact other people and read the news .
A father may be able to make a call to his daughter who is in another country via social media software instead of making an international call which costs a lot for a family on a normal salary .
He can even talk to his daughter face-to-face using video calls via the Internet .
Secondly , people make friends all over the world and are able to update their friends on their recent activity easily .
A man who is going travelling for months can easily tell all of his friends about his activities .
When one of his friends who is not aware of this has failed to contact him via telephone calls , he might be able to get his whereabouts using social media .
These are the advantages that save work most of the time .
In conclusion , social media benefit people in several ways , but at the same time harm people .
People should avoid the misuse of social media and use it in the proper way .
With the aid of social media , people bond globally , information flows rapidly , and human lives proceed happily .
All of us are living in .
Have you ever wondered why we use these tools to connect with other people ?
It started with the invention of technology , which has evolved tremendously over the past few decades .
In the past , we travelled by ship , and now , we can use an airplane to do so .
In the past , it took a few days to receive a message as we needed to post our letter , and now , we can use e-mail , which stands for electronic message , to send messages to our friends or even use our mobile phone to send our messages .
From the example that I have mentioned earlier , we can see that distances between us and our loved ones are getting further apart .
This is because with the ease of technology such as the airplane , some of our friends might be going overseas to continue their studies , or maybe you are away from your family pursuing your studies or even careers .
Thus , this makes Twitter and Facebook one of the media that we need .
Nevertheless,everything in life has positive and negative effects .
This is applicable to these social media sites .
The next two paragraphs will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in our society .
With the help of social media tools , we can stay in contact and keep ourselves up to date with our family and friends even though we are away from them .
Social media sites such as Facebook have allowed us to share our pictures or even chat online with our parents while we are overseas .
This approach helps parents to communicate with their children and know what kind of activities their children do when they are overseas .
The social media are beneficial as they connect you and your loved one even though you are separated by distance .
It might not be able to replace the joy that you have when you are with your family , but it could help to reduce the sadness of being away from your family .
As I mentioned at the beginning , there are also disadvantages to social media tools .
One of them is that they reduce the level of concentration , especially among the young people .
This is because it is part of everyone 's habit to check their Facebook page , as their friends will post something new every second .
Thus , you can see that some students will browse Facebook while attending lectures .
This means that the students are not concentrating when they are supposed to do so .
As a result , it could affect their lives and studies .
This then could lead to stress , as these students are not able to cope with their studies because they were distracted .
In my opinion , every individual has to take responsibility for their own lives by making the right decision .
There are advantages and disadvantages to using social media sites , but in this case , striking a balance between social media and life is the most important thing to do .
Nowadays , the use of social media platforms is commonplace in our lives .
In an increasingly globalised world , such platforms even enhance and complicate the links between individuals in the world .
Thanks to them , people can get to know one another online , without having to travel to meet up for business purposes or personal reasons .
However , it is also bringing about some social changes whereby such virtual worlds are overtaking the real-life world , resulting in some negative impacts on individuals ' daily lives and , therefore , becoming a big problem in society as a whole .
As people spend more and more time on such social media sites , the importance of face-to-face human contact has decreased .
As people feel more confident online , where they do not have to face real life on the spot , they feel more comfortable and , thus , prefer communicating online .
This results in a lack of interpersonal skills in individuals , especially young students , as they always have the option to turn their back on real life and go online .
This becomes a huge problem when they have no choice but to face things in real life .
As they are so used to having an online avatar , they may lose their sense of self in real life and may not know how to interact with people in real life .
Another problem with social media is that the benefits of investing such enormous amounts of time and energy is not reflected as something positive to the users .
The reason why it is so addictive is , that the more people get into social media , the more they seek attention from their friends .
However , such sparks of sudden attention are extremely short-term , so they do not add any value or meaning to the user 's life .
Also , according to research , it has been proven that users feel sadder after using Facebook , and this is because users unknowingly compare their lives with other people 's lives .
But seriously , most people only post the happiest moments in their lives .
Social media definitely have some other strong benefits that make the users stay , and one of them is the links between people .
Indeed , I myself use Facebook just because of the contact with friends that I want to keep .
However , friendship in such a virtual world is so superficial and is not so relevant to real life .
Also , as numerous profit-driven companies recognise the huge human traffic on such social media sites , they make it a pond to fish for customers by uploading many advertisements .
Furthermore , this also possibly triggers the privacy issues as Facebook allows some other profit-driven companies to have access to the information on the users .
As this happens , users are more and more vulnerable to any possible frauds .
Social media sites are at their peak at the moment . However , I believe that when people realize that such sites are not making them better people in real life , they will not indulge in it as much as they do now .
The users , soon , will realise that they do not need such social media sites to keep in contact with their friends because , if they really need somebody , they will get in contact with friends , no matter what .
We think we are all connected through all sorts of social media , but do we really get connected or fall apart ?
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are created with the intention of connecting people from around the world .
The idea seems great , and nowadays most people , even the older generation , will have at least one social media platform , like Facebook .
Parents are now the " friends " of their kids , and they can now " follow " their kids more closely and in real time .
People post about their random thoughts or daily activities via Twitter and post different kinds of photos on Facebook frequently to be connected with their so-called friends .
However , as we then tend to spend too much time on this and have significantly reduced face-to-face human contact , that eventually affects our interpersonal skills .
First and foremost , I would like to share the advantages of using such social media in my daily life .
As a student , I tend to meet lots of people from different backgrounds and in different settings .
We may meet only once but we exchange contact numbers as well as facebook accounts in order to keep in touch .
Unlike just keeping contact numbers that we may not even call , social media like facebook are a great way for friends from different fields or even from different parts of the world to be connected .
Within clicks , we can check on a friend 's profile and read on for his/her updates .
On the other hand , we can update our profile by posting on the wall and our friends can read up on the newsfeed .
This allows friends that may not have the time to meet up to still be connected in a way .
Not only that , but new friends can easily be met through such online platforms .
Hence , our social circle is indeed expanding .
Nonetheless , what seems to make us connected can be the cause that makes us fall apart .
The obvious disadvantage of using social media is the time reduction on face-to-face contact .
This subsequently leads to poor interpersonal skills that inhibit the growth of our real social circle .
For example , we tend to send birthday wishes when Facebook prompts us " Today is someone 's birthday " .
In fact , we may have just forgotten our friend 's birthday .
We used to send greetings cards during festive seasons like Chinese New Year , and we felt so good to write one and of course to receive one with stamps on it .
Gone are the times , and now we do mass sending and the receiver may feel less meaning in such online wishes .
As time passes , we may have more " friends " on the list , but the meaning of friends needs to be redefined .
In summary , there are two sides to every coin .
The users of all social media sites need to strike a balance between the real world versus the virtual one .
We should maximize the benefits of such platforms but be careful of their impacts on the actual life that we have .
Ultimately , the best way to enhance interpersonal skills is still through face-to-face meetings , and social media sites are only tools to enhance it .
Nowadays , social media sites are commonly used in society .
I believe 80 per cent of people use social media sites .
These sites play the role of connecting people around the world .
It consists of connecting , sharing , interacting and advertising .
However , there are also some disadvantages due to the social media which are a cause for concern in society .
Therefore , this article is written to explain the pros and cons of using social media in our daily life .
First , with the function of social media sites that connects people , everyone is able to interact and communicate with friends and family , or even strangers , without any time and place constraints .
Through the social media sites , we can chat with our friends who are in Europe and New Zealand .
There are over a thousand miles between Singapore and these two countries .
However , we are able to chat with our friends without travelling to the countries .
It saves a lot of money and time as well as strengthening our relationships although we are in different places around the world .
Besides that , companies can also use the convenience of social media sites such as Facebook chat or Skype to facilitate meeting with project partners from around the world .
Substantial costs are saved without the tiring travel from one point to another point .
With the huge amount of cost savings , this capital can be utilized in other sectors , which benefits companies more and boosts the company 's profit .
However , there are two sides to every coin .
Some scholars argue that the usage of social media reduces the face-to-face connection between humans .
Since ancient times , humans have been interacting with others face to face .
Without the facial expression , it is easier to misunderstand the intention of speakers .
That is why facial expression is one of the most important elements in social learning .
In addition , " social media sites will affect writing skills " . That is the point of view in society .
According to statistical reports , the more time is spent on social media sites , the more writing skills will be reduced .
I believe most of us have the experience of suddenly forgetting how to write a word that we should know .
The autocorrection software is so effective when using electronic devices that we do not realize the importance of writing .
Writing is an essential skill for a person to express their own feelings and opinions .
'Privacy ' is a word that is popular in recent decades .
Humans have their own rights and privacy .
I believe that most of us agree with these terms .
However , there is news about the social media sites leaking users ' information to companies for cash reimbursement .
Everything we type in the social media sites is recorded in the server and then transferred to the companies for spying and advertising .
Although it looks like and it is your own space to speak and do anything you want , you are actually wrong .
You are not only controlled by government laws , but also spied on by the government .
In conclusion , there are two sides to every story .
It is our responsibility to identify the advantages and disadvantages of social media sites .
To utilize the technology well , we should make an effort to not only balance the pros and cons , but also to lengthen the pros and shorten the cons .
Thus , the new technology will be able to bring a prosperous future for our and the next generation .
With the widespread advanced technology , social media sites are becoming more and more popular .
Getting connected on social media such as Facebook and Twitter is a main trend as well as a daily activity nowadays .
With this situation , both advantages and disadvantages of using social media apply to our daily life .
On the one hand , it is obvious that many advantages have been brought to our lives .
Social media provide people with the opportunity to get in contact with each other anytime and anywhere .
Whether we are at home or at school , at work or on holiday , we are able to communicate and interact with our friends .
Even when people are thousands of miles apart , social media make it possible to have interaction by writing comments .
When our phones are accidentally , we can also use the social media to get in contact with our friends .
Some people who are trying to talk in public can also actively take part in group chatting via social media .
Besides , we can make more friends through such interactions when our friends also bring their friends in .
Therefore , the popularity of social media sites has made it more convenient for people to keep up to date with friends ' status and contact friends more frequently .
On the other hand , we need to think about the influences exerted by social media .
There are still many disadvantages to using social media .
Firstly , interpersonal skills may be affacted by the reduction in face-to-face human contact .
While social media bring convenience to people 's lives , people are more and more willing to use social media for chatting instead of face-to-face chatting , which has a time and place requirement .
People who are not good at face-to-face chatting may be more reluctant to talk to people , and their interpersonal skills can never be improved in this situation .
Secondly , people 's addiction may avoidably , to some degree , exacerbate social alienation , and this kind of alienation causes some social media users to suffer from over-dependence on virtual social networking .
More and more networking has been transferred to the internet from real life .
This is a potential danger for teenagers , who are growing up with .
Thirdly , a lot of updating of luxury living standards as well as other showing off may make people 's daily life more and more extravagant , which is not an .
Lastly , it is easy for people to waste a lot of time using social media .
Again , there is a trend for them to suffer from social media addiction and their studies and work may be greatly influenced .
Since we can see both advantages and disadvantages of using social media , and we can not deny the huge benefits that have been brought to us , this main trend of using social media may still last for a long time .
Therefore , whenever we use social media , we should take both sides into consideration and try to avoid being affected by the disadvantages .
Only by absorbing the essence and discarding the dregs can we make better use of social media .
In a sophisticated era like these days , experts keep producing inventions that are meant to make life easier .
Geographical and transportation borders are not a problem anymore because communication and information technologies have been continuously enhanced .
The telephone may have been perceived as the biggest innovation created ever the first time Graham Bell introduced it .
However , as soon as the internet was introduced , the telephone started to give way to social media sites .
Many advantages are given to the users .
Let us take the example of Facebook and Twitter , two of the most famous social media sites .
Through Facebook , people are able to maintain relationships with their old acquaintances .
This benefit can not be obtained by telephone or mail because people 's details and address may change from time to time , while on Facebook , people can keep in contact with old friends just by using name and photo , for example , as the identifier .
Facebook is like a combination of message and chatting service , personal profile , way of sharing , and other entertainment add-ons ( i.e .
social games ) which allow users to communicate with people who are far away , and also to keep up to date and express themselves at the same time .
Twitter , which has a more simplified function compared to Facebook , gives more benefit if used as an information sharing medium .
Twitter only allows users to give an update that is limited to short sentences in order to spread the words fast , messages are delivered .
With Facebook , a comprehensive way of sharing is offered , since multiple photos and videos can be uploaded , long notes can be published , and even documents and data can be shared through Facebook nowadays .
These advantages also come in handy as most of these social media sites are accessible through mobile applications on our smartphones .
Despite the luxury that is offered by social media , there are also harmful side effects which people may not recognise beforehand .
Research shows that face-to-face meeting frequency among people that are addicted to social media sites has been decreasing .
As a consequence , this affects their interpersonal skills .
People can think while typing and prepare what they want to say , but in face-to-face communication , every word that comes out of your mouth and may not be well arranged is a picture of your personality .
This skill requires practice and can not be done completely through social media .
There is a situation where a family is having dinner together in a restaurant but everybody is busy with their own gadget , posting pictures on Facebook , updating their status on Twitter , or even chatting with friends .
These social media serve the purpose of connecting people in spite of their geographical boundaries , but that should n't mean that people around us are neglected as a payoff .
This is related to the interpersonal skill that is mentioned before , that can decrease qualitatively if we are used to facing a gadget , rather than facing a human being .
Another disadvantage that affects other people is that by only showing selected parts of our lives , we build a " false image " in public .
We tend to only share our happy moments on social media .
Because of this , other people start to think that our lives are full of happiness with no problems at all .
Other people then are influenced by us and tend to do the same .
As a result , people have a low opinion of themselves and this may lead to depression and mental disorder .
It also reduces our sympathy .
This is a serious social problem and affects a lot of people .
As explained above , modern and sophisticated technology does n't always bring advantages .
There are a lot of disadvantages that people may not be aware of .
It is up to people 's discretion and understanding to decide which side they want to take .
So , we should never forget to think about and calculate the benefit and cost of every decision that we make .
Nowadays , the advancement of technologies greatly improves the lives of many people .
In most countries , there is an emergence of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter .
Many people think that the social media sites have benefits for the communication between people , while some others argue that there are several negative impacts for society .
One of the advantages which are offered by those social media sites is that they can connect us more closely than before .
In the past , when the social media sites were not yet fully developed , people connected with others who lived far away by using a phone , or even a letter .
However , calling a person by using a phone and writing a person a letter involve some cost , and sending a letter to a person who lives far away , especially in villages , takes a lot of time .
The appearance of those social media sites has caused those problems to be solved .
People connecting through the social media sites spend no money on communication , and it also takes only one or a few seconds for the message to arrive .
Therefore , this advantage of social media sites saves money and time , and also provides convenience for many people .
Moreover , this also provides an alternative way for people to contact a person whom they have not seen for a very long time , such as their friends from primary school and secondary school .
As we graduate from a school , we will probably lose contact with some of our friends .
Some of them may have changed their phone numbers and addresses , and we are not able to find them through a phone call or a letter .
If phone and letter were the only way to contact them , we would probably not be able to find them .
Facebook and Twitter can serve as an alternative route to making a connection between us and our old friends .
Hence , the social media sites serve as a platform for connection .
Everything that comes with benefits will also have its disadvantages .
On the other hand , social media sites also bring some negative impacts for individuals and society .
The advancement of those social media sites makes people rely on them so much that some of them prefer using those sites to contact each other to talking to each other face to face .
Many people argue that this is the most serious problem brought by social media sites .
The usage of social media sites indirectly causes a reduction in face-to-face human communication in real life , which will , in turn , cause the loss of interpersonal skills for many people .
As we all know , interpersonal skills are essential for us to communicate with each other and to present our views and ideas .
The loss of interpersonal skills results in the inability of people to present their ideas well .
As a result , they will gradually decrease in their ability to compete with each other in society .
In conclusion , social media sites cause both positive and negative consequences for people and society .
As a part of this modern society , we should learn to distinguish between good and bad impacts brought by the advancement of technologies , and also learn to avoid the disadvantages and maximize the benefits of those sites .
With the advancement of technology in recent years , the need to keep in touch with people and the latest news has become a tremendous demand .
Some of the famous examples would be social media sites like Twitter and Facebook .
With more than a billion users from all over the world , social media sites have clearly demonstrated their success at playing an important part in our lives .
However , there are arguments that social media lead to a reduction in face-to-face human contact , which , in turn , affects interpersonal skills .
Let 's examine the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in our daily life and society .
First and foremost , all social media sites are free .
All users need are an internet connection and an email account so that everyone can have a Facebook or Twitter ID to start their journey in social media .
Secondly , it helps people to keep in touch with one another .
Finding old friends through Facebook , for example , is easier than asking people in real life .
Social media helps to lessen the hassle of geographical distance and brings people closer .
Thirdly , social media sites keep us up-to-date on the latest news and updates from almost everywhere in the world , all with a click on the refresh button .
Last but not least , social media sites also link people together by allowing us to create our own groups , pages or sites to share our hobbies , interests and studies in particular subjects .
Hence , it is undeniable that these sites play an important role in our global interconnected world .
However , social media sites also have their negative impact on humans .
Undeniably , it becomes more addicting when we spend more time busy socialising and interacting virtually .
We spend the majority of our time on sites like Facebook , Twitter and it affects our daily work productivity and performance .
In the corporate world , employers often block social media networks to prevent employees spending their office time on their personal leisure rather than concentrating on their work .
Using text-messaging language as an informal way of communicating on social media networks also has a bad impact on us in the long term .
The more time we spend on these sites , the less time we spend on face-to-face interaction with one another .
Hence it lessens valuable interaction between humans and the time we spend away from the computer screen or mobile phone .
In addition , there are also some false reports and fake IDs on both social media sites where people use fake IDs to insult or harass someone , like the case of Heather Chua which occurred recently on Facebook .
These malicious comments often go viral and it has a strong negative effect on the real user in real life , which might lead to unwillingness to interact with others in real life on the part of the victim .
In conclusion , there are two sides to everything and it depends on how we exploit it .
With the current booming technology , it is good that people are becoming more tech savvy and they want to spend more time interacting with each other through social media sites . However , it does not mean that we should neglect face-to-face human interaction as it plays an even more important role in our lives .
As more and more social networks such as Twitter , Facebook and Weibo have become ubiquitous , seamless and imperative in our life , people may worry about the younger generation having problems with face-to-face communication skills .
However , I believe that the benefits brought by these online chat rooms tremendously outweigh their disadvantages .
Social media enable us to explore the world far far away without paying for expensive airplane tickets and sacrificing a one-week holiday .
The convenience is beyond description .
With a small smartphone or a computer at school , at work or at home , we can easily make friends worldwide with a 'click ' and get to know about their life through having conversations with them , reading their blogs , photos and status .
Compared to face-to-face interaction , online conversation makes it easier for strangers to talk to each other .
Since some of the information has already been revealed on the home page , it is also easier to find some common topics to talk about .
Moreover , people usually like to share boldly about their real feelings online with their masks in reality being taken off .
It has been indicated in a report done by Boston University in 2012 , that 80 % of information posted online is true , while a person may lie 3 out of 10 times in real life .
This shows that a Facebook friend may know more about you than your close friend who does not have a Facebook account .
That is because we are acting who we are in reality while we have no reason to do that in the online virtual world .
Although sometimes this genuine sharing of information may be inappropriate or even harmful , such as prevalent use of vulgarity and harsh comments , we can minimize those disadvantages through strict regulation of content online .
Another advantage of social media is in aiding the spread of democracy .
People around the world can easily share their thoughts about their governments .
That eliminates the incomplete information disadvantage for some remote rural regions where people are less aware of what is actually happening around them .
One of the examples is the 2012 riots which happened in Egypt and Zambia .
The idea of searching for democracy was passed from Egyptians to people in Zambia quickly through the use of social media .
However , as the government controls most of the media .
These social media may be tools of their campaign and manipulating the thoughts of the public .
For example , in the 2012 general election in Singapore , Dr Tan Chee Keong made use of Facebook to spread his campaign videos to the public .
Despite this , social media is still a much fairer and more transparent online platform for the public to share ideas compared to other traditional media .
Intensive use of social media does reduce the time people spend on face-to-face communication .
It is commonly seen in a food court or restaurant that a group of people are sitting together around a table with each of them having a cell phone in their hands .
They are too busy with their way too many virtual friends and some of them neglect the feelings of their real-life friends .
In this case , I have to say that to err is human .
What we can do is to educate the public about the importance of their friends right by their side and teach them to manage their time well .
In conclusion , the use of social media has more advantages than disadvantages in our daily lifes .
What we can do is to cautiously manage our time spent online and manage our words used online .
With the regulation of government and relevant authorities , the virtual world would be a better world .
Social media sites ' role in connecting people around the world is undeniable .
Thanks to those social media , communication between people all over the world is possible and can be conducted with ease .
Apart from the ease of communication despite the distance , many other activities such as knowledge sharing and business can be done through social media as well .
Nevertheless , with those advantages , some disadvantages may appear , such as reduction in face-to-face human contact , which affects interpersonal skills , privacy issues , as well as some fraudulent activities that can be committed through social media .
Twitter , Facebook and Skype are some social media sites which enable us to keep in touch with our friends or family who are in other cities or countries .
Through those sites , we are able to talk to them , to know what their activities are and who their friends are , etc. On the face of it , there is no doubt that these sites help us to have a better relationship with our relatives despite the distance .
The sharing of information can be done faster through social media as well . That is why , nowadays , many news publishers set up their own social media account . For example , Channel News Asia has a Twitter account and will update its followers with headline news .
That shows how , these days , news and information can be shared easily through social media .
Furthermore , since many teenagers and young adults are fans of social media , this information can reach them easily without them needing to watch or listen to the news reports .
Due to the popularity of social media , many people have started to conduct their business via these sites .
More and more advertisements can be found on Facebook . Whether it is our friends who are selling their products or professional brands selling their products online , we can get to buy things and contact the sellers through those sites , which can be considered as an advantage for us , the buyers .
However , is it the same when we keep in touch with someone virtually compared to when we meet them face to face ?
I do think there is a difference and I believe many of us will agree .
When we write or communicate virtually , we can hide our true feelings and may not be ourselves since we do not want the other party to judge us .
Other than that , sometimes the message of one party can not be delivered properly to the other one since the communication is done through written language , and thus the 'tone ' of the message sent and when it is received may be different .
Many people are very brave about telling people about their opinions online , but in real life , some of them can be very shy and not outspoken at all .
This will lead to bad interpersonal skills as well as problems of trust .
Nowadays , we can not really trust new people whom we know from social media , since we will never know whether they are even 'real' .
Some people fake their identities on social media sites so that they can know more people or some may even deceive others .
In addition , the issue of privacy has become more relevant nowadays , since some people do not realize that they may actually share some information that they were not willing to share in the first place .
Therefore , while social media sites undoubtedly have benefits in our life , we should consider their drawbacks and , thus , use them wisely so that we can gain more of their benefits and they inconvenience us in the smallest possible way .
It is a common scene that almost everyone on public transport is looking at a phone or wearing earphones in this modern society .
Not only one but many developed and developing countries have the same scene .
Some say that it is a necessary step in human evolution .
Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are popular among people for connecting to others even from different countries .
It also brings many negative effects such as loss of face-to-face communication skills , which are important in their workplace .
This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in our daily life .
One of the significant advantages of using a popular social media site is that people can reach other easily , even without having had contact for a long time .
In this fast paced and competitive world , people may not be able to keep in touch with others .
With the help of social media sites , people are able to upload their new discoveries and funny scenes to them and they can be updated on the new information of their friends .
Personally , I study overseas , and my busy study life keeps me from contacting my old friends .
Using a common social media site with my friends helps me know what their statuses are nowadays .
And I am able to easily find a common topic when I contact them .
In Singapore , many Malaysians cross the sea to work here .
Many of them are busy in work and separated from their children .
One of the managers in my workplace has the same situation .
After my manager taught her mother how to use Facebook , she was able to upload video clips of her grandchild .
Therefore , my manager would not miss moments of her daughter 's development .
Social media sites are also a very useful tool for people to start a new friendship or relationship .
People with the same preferences get connected or closer .
It is easier for people to approach the other person after finding out the information .
Students can exchange experiences in their studies even if they are in different countries .
People are able to share culture or pretty photos online , and others can spread the joy with them .
Thus , I believe that social media sites are a useful tool to help people get to know each other better .
However , a social media site is a double-edged sword . It also has some negative effects on our daily life .
One of the disadvantages that many people are concerned about is that people lose interest in face-to-face communication .
Many people like to use language to pretend , and lose confidence when they talk to each other .
Although not everyone is good at personal relationships , even without the existence of social media sites , we can not deny that they do affect some people 's interpersonal skills .
In conclusion , everything has its downsides .
We should take the advantages of the things we create and try to avoid the negative effects .
Social media sites are supposed to be a very useful and convenient tool to bring people closer in this globalised world .
The use of social media has greatly influenced our ways of communicating with one another .
Online friends have become real life friends and real life friends communicate with one another online .
Social media have changed our ways of exchanging information and conducting interpersonal relationships profoundly .
There are advantages and disadvantages to this change .
Social media have reshaped the way we communicate .
In real life , we communicate with one another as equal participants .
We share ideas and stories and forge friendships based on mutual respect .
However , communication on social media is largely based on " broadcasting and listening " .
When we use Facebook and post pictures and statuses .
We are actively " presenting " fa ç ades of our lives to others .
We tend to post pictures with the best looks , statuses that are funny .
We broadcast these facades of ourselves to others .
The images we choose to present are carefully considered .
The audience is not some specific person , but everyone we might know , or even the entire world .
There is an element of seeking attention rather than expressing one 's true opinion on social networks .
On the other hand , the viewers are not the listeners .
They are just scrolling down pages of pictures and statuses and seeing one of them which they might think funny .
It is not the broadcasters themselves they care about , but the content .
This type of communication does not help with forging interpersonal relationships .
In real life , establishing a friendship requires the all-round understanding of one another and caring for one another .
The latter requires face-to-face interaction , where we can show our emotions to the other .
One can not truly understand a person only stalking his/her Facebook page where he/she carefully chooses what to present .
One can not truly show one 's emotions to another by texting some = ) signs .
The broadcasting and viewing model is not good for forging relationships .
However , it is good for sharing information .
On social media , everyone is a broadcaster and a viewer .
With my social network account , I seldom read newspapers or go to news websites anymore , because I can easily read them from the status of my friends .
If I am interested in politics , I can just follow some politics newspapers or public figures .
I get news about sales , clothes and cosmetics from my friends .
If one of my friends has horrible taste in clothes and he/she posts them often , I can simply block him/her .
Information gets circulated .
The most popular information gets circulated the most , so I seldom miss it .
Social networks play a role in providing and also filtering information .
This saves a lot of time for me reading newspapers and watching TV .
Personally , I feel more at ease on social media .
From the above two points of view , I think social media could forge more interest-based friendships .
With the help of social media , I become real life friends with those from online forums whom I share the same interest with .
I also discover some of my friends ' interests which I find in common with myself , so that talking to one another is much more about life , study , friends , etc .
The communication does not focus on how we feel , but on whatever is interesting , or the content .
In this case , interpersonal skills are not as important because our goal is not to impress somebody , but to get the information that we are both interested in .
In conclusion , I think social media have reshaped interpersonal relationships from a more human-based friendship that requires sharing and caring between friends , to a more information-based friendship that requires a mutual interest .
There are advantages and disadvantages in this . However , we are still not sure whether it is good or bad .
It is just different .
Advantages and disadvantages of using social media in daily life
People that live in the modern world really can not live without social media sites like Twitter and Facebook .
Almost all students and young adults possess a Facebook or Twitter account .
It is true that social media make people able to connect with one another more conveniently .
However , it seems that , especially for some , sharing some parts of their lives such as videos and photos on the social media sites has become really necessary .
An extremely interesting and ironic phenomenon was discovered that a group of friends met and sat around one table , but none of them were really chatting with one another .
Instead , all of them were more interested in posting pictures of this " cheerful " meeting on their social media sites .
Therefore , there is a need to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of social media .
Social media enable people from different parts of the world to communicate with one another .
People used to write letters and send postcards to keep in touch with people living far away from them in the past .
It could take a few days or weeks for them to receive the messages .
Nowadays , what people need to do is just type in front of the computer in their own rooms .
And people on the other side will only need a second to receive the message .
Distance and time are no longer problems , which is convenient , especially when instant chat is needed .
However , when people become more and more addicted to this convenience and fail to communicate with people who are close to them , their face-to-face interpersonal skills are lost .
Social media provide people with a way of talking and chatting which can never be considered as a way of communicating .
When one chats on those media sites , there is no eye contact , no emotion delivery and even the expressions are typed in by using some combinations of punctuation marks .
For more convenience , sentences are shortened to simply three or four words such as lol ( which means laugh intensively ) and " asap " ( which means as soon as possible ) .
Indeed , people go to great lengths to make their words as short as they can .
Therefore , when they are communicating with people face to face , expressing themselves appropriately becomes a really big problem .
Social media also provide people with huge information about people and things that interest them .
For example , on Twitter , it is exciting to follow people that you adore , like famous movie and TV stars , businessmen and entrepreneurs .
It makes people feel extremely close to their idols ' lives and works .
Up-to-date news people care about can be easily obtained when you refresh your social media sites on your smartphones and laptops , almost every time at any time .
However , after one has registered on those social media sites which are not reliable , all the information you have filled in will be a weapon against you in the future .
Furthermore , not everyone on the social media sites is honest .
The profile picture may not be of the person that user says he or she really is .
The reason might just be that he or she just wants to " decorate " his or her face .
But there is a possibility that the person on the other side is deceiving you in order to use your information against you .
The fact that there is no guarantee of authenticity risks people 's information that is shared on social media sites .
To sum up , social media have advantages and disadvantages in people 's daily life .
They shorten the distance between people from all over the world and make instant communication possible .
And it becomes more convenient to obtain and update information by using social media .
In contrast , social media make people lose their ability to communicate effectively in their real lives and make people risk exposing their private details to those whose identity can not be verified on the social media sites .
How do social media help change our lives ?
With the development of technology , social media play a more and more significant role in the whole world .
Everyone in the world can not stop using it every day to express their feelings or ideas and a lot of other things which helps their friends know their lives better .
However , this also raises concerns about whether they bring us more benefits or a human disaster .
Although using social media helps to connect us with our friends wherever we are , at the same time , it reduces the chance for us to talk to our friends face to face , which may affect our interpersonal skills .
Thus , whether there are more advantages or disadvantages becomes a tough question for every human being .
Many people say they will support social media since it really helps them to have a closer view of how their friends are doing in other parts of the world .
This is especially relevant to people who are overseas .
To them , social media is the only resource they can use to know everything happening in their home country and a platform they can use to show their lives to their loved ones as well .
What 's more , these days , social media play an important role in spreading information .
Nowadays , people can just easily put their on their Facebook account and wait for the response from others who are from different parts of the world , which brings us a huge amount of convenience .
It is quite significant especially for young teenagers , since they would rather go to these sites to see the news and know what is happening in this world than read the newspaper every day .
However , there are also a great number of people who are against this technology .
They worry a lot about the bad effect on teenagers , who are still developing .
They point out that , actually , social media reduce the chance for us to talk to people around us face to face .
The more we care about Facebook , the less time we will have to spend with our friends .
Nowadays , it is quite common to see at some party , people prefer looking at their phones and reading all the posts on Facebook if they feel bored .
It makes people worry because if all the teenagers continue using social media frequently , they will decrease their ability to talk to people .
They will feel it becomes difficult for them to find any topics to communicate with other people about .
Personally , I strongly agree that social media bring more disadvantages compared to the advantages they give us .
Although it is really useful when we need to use it to let other people know we really live a good life , it wastes a lot of time as well .
Put it another way , if we saved the time we spend on browsing on those sites , we might already finish a book or do other more meaningful things .
We should keep in mind that there are still ways for us to contact our family or friends .
Everything is bad if we do n't know how to use it wisely , no matter whether it is really good or not .
As a result , it is important for people to know that we need to be cautious about the time we spend on these social media .
As stated above , I strongly believe that if we can use social media wisely rather than abusing them , we will all live a better life .
The advantages and disadvantages of social media
Nowadays , as technology is becoming increasingly advanced , more and more social media sites are appearing in our daily life .
You can see people using Facebook and Twitter through their smartphones or iPads on buses or on trains .
Some may say that the appearance of these modern media will reduce the chances for people to communicate face to face .
This essay will illustrate the pros and cons of using social media in modern society .
First of all , social media can make it more convenient for people to make friends and contact each other .
Years ago when these modern products were n't popular , the way for people to communicate or contact people far way were still restricted to making phone calls , sending emails or writing letters .
Some take a long time and some are not efficient enough for people to get their response .
However , social media solve these problems well .
People can contact their friends on the internet and get their reply very quickly .
The communication is also not limited to words .
People can express themselves through pictures or emoticons .
People can also get to know their friends ' status and mood by looking at their posts online .
Moreover , people can be aware of what is going on in social situations and see the comments online and share their opinions on these websites .
These social media make people 's lives much more colorful and provide a lot of fun .
However , social media may do some harm to people 's lives .
They will make people spend more time on chatting on the internet rather than communicating face to face , such that interpersonal skills will be badly affected .
Some people spend a lot of time on them and forget their real life .
Actually , I have seen that some people are very funny and interesting when I am chatting with them online .
However , they are quite boring when I talk to them in real life .
Teenagers are developing their interpersonal skills and social skills when they are growing up .
If they spend too much time on these social media , it may cause some problems with their mental development .
They may feel uncomfortable when they communicate with people face to face .
Some may spend less and less time with their family and not know how to express themselves .
Moreover , some wrong values on the websites will affect teenagers and confuse them .
Some may even do something wrong .
In conclusion , the appearance of social media sites is a double-edged sword .
It can make our life simpler .
People can develop their friendships and relationships through these social media .
However , it can also make people forget to communicate with their family and friends in real life and negatively affect their interpersonal skills .
But overall , the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages .
So we need to make the best use of these social media and make them a fun way of adding some excitement when life is boring .
And try to bypass the shortcomings .
And remember to send greetings to our friends and family frequently .
Nowadays , with the advancement of technology , it is easy to communicate wherever you are .
The appearance of social media sites truly connects people closely .
People can know their friends ' recent looks and interesting things happening to those people just by checking their Facebook or other social media sites .
We can not deny that the social media sites truly make old friends not miss information and chances to communicate with you even if you are in a different country .
However , the social media sites truly reduce face-to-face communication , which truly affects interpersonal skills .
There are two advantages and two disadvantages of using social media in daily life .
Firstly , the social media sites can closely connect people with their friends and parents .
By typing words and showing pictures , people can express emotions that they are too shy to express face-to-face .
For example , on Mother 's Day , people are too shy to say " I love you " to their mothers , but they can type it on their mother 's Facebook page .
Then their mother will also know the emotion and feel warm .
On the other hand , when a teenager is studying in a foreign country , the internet is the only way that he can communicate with his parents and friends .
Therefore , social media are truly good for people .
Secondly , the social media sites do not only closely connect people with their friends .
People can also find out a lot of information about celebrities on Twitter and Facebook and get the on them .
They can find out how these people succeed and they can also have the chance to talk with them and know these famous people 's thoughts by using social media .
In addition , with the help of social media , some homeless people or someone who needs money to cure a disease can get help from the world quickly , because once one person knows the information , he or she will share it with their " friends area " , then many people will know and spread the information to people who can give help .
On the other hand , there are also problems with the population of the social media .
Firstly , when people rely on social media to communicate with their friends and parents , they will become accustomed to communicating by typing and not talking .
People even prefer talking to their friends and meeting their friends online and gradually reject face-to-face communication .
Therefore , social media truly limit interpersonal skills such that people lose the chance and the ability to practice talking and between them and their friends .
Secondly , without true communication in real life , people lose the ability to see the truth and lies .
There are many people on social media with beautiful images and good content on their pages , but in real life , he or she may not have a job or may live poorly .
Teenagers may believe these people and easily be cheated and lose money , or even their safety .
Therefore , social media are not safe , which is bad for teenagers ' future development .
All in all , the existence of social media truly helps people a lot in many areas .
However , there exist some disadvantages which will affect people to some degree .
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Social Media in Our Daily life and Society .
Nowadays , with the development of technology and society , social media have become more popular and even important in our daily life .
We communicate with others using social media , such as Twitter , Facebook and microblog more and more frequently .
There is no need for people to go out of their home to interact with others . They chat online , share pictures , tell others what they have done or funny stories .
It seems that people build a good relationship with others through social media , but problems arise .
People do not know how to talk with others face to face , especially strangers .
Therefore , we need to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in our daily life and society .
As for the advantages , there are two aspects : more convenient to contact others , easier to know about others .
One advantage is that it is more convenient to contact others by social media .
In the old days , if one wanted to tell some important news to someone who lives far away , one needed to write letters and that wastes time .
The long distance and delay made sending messages very difficult at that time .
Therefore , people did not contact faraway friends and relatives unless there was something important .
However , people can now contact anyone all over the world who can use a computer at any time , and there is no time delay to messages .
The other advantage is that it is easier to find out about others through social media .
If there were no social media , it would be difficult for people to find out about a stranger .
They could collect information about that person by asking their friends , colleagues or family members .
And the information collected might not be complete and true .
Unlike today , with the help of social media , people can easily get the information they want just by searching online , and know about what that person does every day and at what time .
As for the disadvantages of social media in our daily life , these include wasting time , causing illness related to sitting a long time in front of the computer , the rapid spreading of rumor and fake news , and most importantly , making people lose the ability to talk to others confidently face to face .
It is weird that people sit around a table but all look at their phones and do not talk with each other .
If there is a joke on their Facebook page , they may talk to others in this way : " hi , look , how ridiculous this is " . Then they laugh together .
No matter whether it is a party , dinner or just a simple get-together , there are always some people bowing their head and playing with their phones , even if their family and friends are in front of them .
In conclusion , there are both advantages and disadvantages of using social media in daily life .
People should enjoy the advantages of social media while being aware of the disadvantages and try their best to avoid the disadvantages happening to them and their friends and family .
Today is considered to be the era of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter , which are attractively connecting people around the world .
However , some people worry that social networking can affect interpersonal skills as it reduces face-to-face human contact .
The advantages and disadvantages of using such social media in society are elaborated on below .
Nobody can deny social media 's advantages in view of the benefit they provide in connecting people regardless of nationalities , races , cultures and languages .
Social media are a trending channel and a suitable means of communication .
Firstly , social media bring convenience to the world .
They have erased the boundaries of distance and time .
No more worries about the time it takes to deliver letters and packages .
Nowadays , thanks to social media , with just one click , you can contact your family and friends whenever you want .
You can share photos , videos and every meaningful experience of your life .
More importantly , it is cheap and easy to use social media .
Secondly , a social media network opens the door of opportunities for people due to its great benefit of connecting people .
A lot of fresh graduates can find jobs thanks to Facebook and Twitter .
Young people can widen their relationships , meet new friends and learn wonderful things in many parts of the world .
In business , social media are a good tool to develop and advertise products and services .
On the other hand , social media also have disadvantages which have created worries for society recently and made it a controversial phenomenon .
More and more young people tend to live in the social media world most of the time and reduce face-to-face human contact , which can affect interpersonal skills and relationships in social life .
First and foremost , we should realize that the social media world is not trustworthy and real .
Everyone can easily make up the personality and characteristics they want .
They can become anyone .
Though social media do create relationships , relationships and friendships are only firm and real if people have gone through experiences and communication through face-to-face interaction .
There is a story of a girl who lived in the social media world every night for eight years .
In the chat room , she created a close relationship with eight people .
She talked with them every night , trusted them and shared her life with them .
Then eventually , she discovered that those eight people became one as he was using eight different identities to chat with her all the time .
Furthermore , the convenience of social media is also its weakness .
A lot of people use their true information on social media sites , which can lead to crimes and deception .
People can use the information to deceive family and friends and banks to do bad things such as blackmail , ATM theft and so on .
Last but not least , social media do affect human interpersonal skills when people increase the time on social sites and reject chances to expose themselves to social daily life activities as well as interacting with people .
Recent research has shown that the more people spend time on social media sites , the less they become ambitious .
As a result , if the situation keeps following this unexpected trend , it will have a bad effect on the younger generation .
In summary , everything has its own pros and cons .
So do social media networks .
It is not only convenient and beneficial for connecting people and developing business , but it also can damage people 's relationships and interpersonal skills .
Social media are only beneficial as long as we know how to use them in a correct and suitable way with a combination of both social media sites and daily life interaction to develop people 's potentials to the fullest .
