Social media is largely for showing off
I’m a 16-year-old student living in Dubai and many of my friends do have an account on apps like Snapchat and Instagram (‘Speak Your Mind: The new teendom’, Gulf News, February 5). What I feel is that many teenagers use these to just show off how they’re enjoying their free time. But, there are many teenagers out there who try to get likes and views by doing things that they are not supposed to be doing. Personally, whatever they do, I do feel a misuse of the English language. I’ve seen many photos of teenagers who pose for the photo and then caption it as: “candid”. How is it a candid capture if you’re posing for that? Secondly, I would like to bring to light the use of abbreviations. I’ve seen abbreviations in my dictionary, but I don’t think ROFL (roll on the floor laughing) and LOL (laughing out loud) is something that is really catchy. Abbreviations just degrade the English vocabulary.
From Ms Sharon
Dubai
Important for expression
Honestly, I don’t agree that Snapchat and Instagram are destroying literature, communication or English per say. If anything, it’s only affecting children’s vocabulary, but it does serve as a rather important medium of expression.
From Ms Ayesha Akbar
UAE
Social media is necessary
Everything is contemporary and social media is a necessary evil. Transparency is one thing that is becoming part of our lives because too many artificial posts aren’t not possible due to the dynamics of the social media platforms. Above all, we can all keep updated globally with what is going on almost instantaneously.
LinkedIn is a blessing for young growing professionals who can start their profile as a teenager and grow it as their qualifications expand. The same with all other forms of social media. It helps to open up to the professional global platform. It will help them towards start up businesses, careers and internships because it connects young people to recruiters well in advance.
Photographs posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram become memories, especially time spent together in school, adventure trips, convocation and many other unforgettable moments that become a showcase to the students and families.
The negative aspects of social media are also associated with the points I’ve made, but they can be handled if we all take care.
From Mr Sanjay Gupta Thaparian
Dubai
This is what is asked of us
The bigger question to ask is: What kind of example are the elders setting? Especially with how internationally connected we all are today, there is a growing need for acknowledgement and acceptance in society. More external factors are influencing mindsets rather than internal, it is not our hearts and minds, but our appearance that is determining your grade or rank among your counterparts.
We need to get out of the ‘selfie’ phase of being on Instagram for the mere pictures and more on social media for producing creativity – a ‘live free’ phase.
From Mr Hyder Ali Mirza
UAE
Amazing lights in Sharjah
It was mind blowing, the light effects on the mosques in Sharjah (‘Magical start to Sharjah Light Festival 2016’, Gulf News, February 6). It was amazing, and I was dumbstruck. Hats off to the brains behind the effects! I am thankful for being able to see it in a place close by.
From Mr Gulnaz Afzal
UAE
Facebook comment
Spectacular work
Yes, it’s really amazing. I was passing by this building daily. Great work to all who contributed to making it possible.
From Mr Mian Abdul Khaliq
UAE
Facebook comment
Children need not fear school
Children can definitely be considered the delicate flowers of the Earth – often heavily affected by trauma (Letters to Editor: Pakistan’s educational institutions should be protected!’, Gulf News, February 6). Their brains are young and it can take time to make them realise that they do not need to fear going to school after such horrible attacks in Pakistan. The action of such animals will never succeed. We as a nation, we will rise.
From Mr Arooj Jahanzeb
UAE
Facebook comment
Harder for others
It could be considered by some as trying to grip water using your bare hands while to others, it’s as simple as breathing (‘Clearing misconceptions about money management’, Gulf News, February 1). I will say that despite the fact that we all want more and more money, good management lies within the mind and not so much on the amount.
From Mr Claude Lache
UAE
Facebook comment
It’s about education
It’s all about having the right habits. It doesn’t matter if you have a small or big salary. Financial education is important for everyone, but sadly people are just closed minded. If you are an open-minded person, you can actually take classes or lessons to become better at managing these things.
From Mr Brian Cuizon
UAE
Facebook comment
Team India’s selection
On paper, the selection of India’s team for the International Cricket Council (ICC) T-20 World Cup may seem as the right choice (‘India pick veterans, recall Shami for World T20’, Gulf News, February 6). It is also possible, keeping in view the local conditions, the selectors would have gone for an extra spinner. However, when the captain has to select the playing, only two spinners can be accommodated. I feel the one extra spinner, especially Harbhajan Singh could be a paid passenger during the tournament. We definitely feel sorry for Manish Pandey, who was the first Indian to score a century in ICC Indian Premiere League (IPL). I hope he at least gets a chance to play against the Sri Lankan team!
From Mr N. Mahadevan
Mylapore, India
Boots on the ground
This ground level offensive should have been started alongside since the beginning of air strikes against Daesh strongholds (‘US welcomes Saudi offer on troops in Syria ‘, Gulf News, February 6). Had they done this on time, the Daesh menace could have been eliminated by now, once and for all. Unlike Russia, Saudi’s decision of starting a ground level offensive in Syria was after the talks with the US-lead coalition forces, which is a welcome step. The situation in Syria is very complicated with multiple aims, diverse interests and involvement of many countries. Today’s terrorism is actually caused by yesterdays’ imperialist policies of the US. So, the US should desist from doing such mistakes in future for the sake of humanity.
From Mr Girish R. Edathitta
Dubai
Schools are preparing
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has begun their rounds around all the schools in the UAE for inspections to see that everything is up to date. All schools are prepared to show what they are capable of with the hopes to be ranked as outstanding.
From Mr Saamish Zaidi
Dubai
Let’s fight by being healthy
February 4 was observed as World Cancer Day and the tagline for this year was: “We can, I can” (‘2021: UAE aims to cut cancer cases by 18%’, Gulf News, February 4). It is estimated that globally 8.2 million people die of cancer every year, according to the report. Cancer is not a health issue, but it has far reaching social, economic and human rights implications.
Family history, pollutants, chemicals and fertiliser intake through food are some of the reasons that cause this cell mutation. A combination of lifestyle, environment and genetic factors contribute to cancer.
One of my close friend’s wife was diagnosed with cancer and she fought bravely for 16 long years and at last she gave up in October 2015. She was a cheerful womany till the end of her life. Losing a loved one to cancer is inevitable at times, but it doesn’t make it less painful. Let us strive to keep families happier by leading healthy lives.
From Mr Eappen Elias
Dubai
Charismatic crochet
I am proud to be Indian, especially when reading about such talented people in India (‘Thousands of women stitch together one for the record’, Gulf News, February 2)! Kudos to the 2,472 dedicated women who stitched the giant 11,148 square metre crochet blanket, carving an enviable niche for themselves and for India and finding a place in the Guinness World Records.
From Ms Shaheen Nazar
Sharjah
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