Some children spend hours every day on their smartphones. Why is this the case? Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?
(From IELTS Cambridge 17)
(Chinese)
現今社會中，一些孩子和青少年每天使用手機數小時。在我看來，這是因為社交媒體平臺出色地吸引用戶的注意力所導致的。這應該被視為一種負面發展，因為它可能對孩子的心理健康造成傷害。
Some children and teenagers use their phones for hours each day. This, in my opinion, results from social media platforms’ exceptional ability to keep users’ attention. It should be viewed as a negative development because it can be harmful to children’s mental health.
社交媒體演算法非常擅長提供能夠吸引使用者注意力的內容。它們追蹤用戶的搜索歷史和參與度，並使用機器學習分析收集到的資料。這個過程使它們能夠為用戶提供無盡的帖子流，以保持他們的興趣。由於孩子們往往缺乏自控力，他們可能無法抵制這種個性化內容，最終會在手機上浪費太多時間。
Social media algorithms are extremely good at providing people with content that holds their attention. They track user behavior like search history and engagement and use machine learning to analyze the data gathered. This process allows them to offer users an endless stream of postings optimum to keep their interest. Since children tend to lack self-control, they may be unable to resist such personalized content and wind up wasting too much time on their phones.
不幸的是，每天長時間使用手機可能對孩子的心理健康有害。社交媒體上的完美濾鏡圖片和精心策劃的視頻為流覽推文的孩子們創造了一個不真實的世界。過度消費這樣的內容可能會讓他們對自己感到不滿。想想Instagram在青少年女孩中引發的身體形象問題。在看到一個又一個健身名人的帖子後，這些青少年女孩可能很難克制自己不去與這些名人比較。難怪這麼多人開始擔心自己的外貌吸引力。
Unfortunately, hours of phone time every day can be detrimental to children’s mental health. Perfectly filtered pictures and staged videos on social media create an unrealistic world for children scrolling through their feeds. Consuming too much content like this may make them unhappy with who they are. Consider the body image issues that Instagram has caused in teenage girls. After seeing post after post of fitness influencers who appear to have perfect lives and bodies, some adolescent girls may find it very difficult to restrain from comparing themselves to those influencers. It is not surprising that so many start worrying about their physical attractiveness.
總之，一些孩子每天都花大量時間在手機上，因為社交媒體不斷呈現出旨在吸引他們注意力的內容。可悲的是，這可能對他們的心理健康產生負面影響。
In conclusion, some children spend a large amount of time on their phones every day because social media constantly presents them with content designed to keep their attention. Sadly, this can take a toll on their mental health.