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Maria |
Alex |
Families and Facebook
Alex and Maria talk about having family keep tabs on them with social media.
Maria: So talking about social media, is your parents on any social sites like Facebook, Twitter, et cetera.
Alex: My mum and dad are on Facebook. My mum doesn't use hers, she uses hers only to kind of see what I'm doing.
Maria: Stalk you?
Alex: Kind of yeah. My dad, he's on Facebook every once in a while. Again, he does kind of stalk me as well because he, he's very paranoid about Facebook, about social media sites so every once in a while I get an email from him and it will be like just so you know this was on your profile and you need to change it or this, or one of your friends commented or put a video on and I don't think that's appropriate if a job seeker looking for you. And I keep telling him I'm unsearchable, you know, like you can't find me but so he only uses it to make himself more paranoid. My mum got Twitter before I did.
Maria: Oh really?
Alex: I still don't have it. She got it for her job. She's working as a chief medical officer so she got it for her company, the start up company she's working for and I don't know, her opinion originally was that it was for people who are really, really self-centered and wanted to tell everyone about what they were feeling and now she's like this thing's actually kind of fun. So she's enjoying that. Both of my parents are on Skype annoyingly often. My dad travels a lot so he has to use Skype to get in contact with my mum. The video feature is really, really good for that, so they're on almost every night I think to each other. I usually receive stuff from them just like overnight or something when they're doing stuff like that, but Twitter is my mum's thing.
Maria: How do you feel about having your parents on these social media sites?
Alex: In some way, you know, it's good, like if, I don't talk to them ever on social media sites. Well I do it by Skype or something like that. I don't do it on Facebook. I don't do it on Twitter, although I don't have Twitter so it doesn't make a difference but, you know, Facebook, I'm, I don't know, I think it's a bit odd honestly. My parents, there's some stuff on there, you know, it's for my friends. It's not really for them so, I don't know, it's, I feel it can be a bit awkward. My mum has said hey I was looking at your Facebook site the other day and, you know, you instantly go sshhh, oh dear, you bristle, you know, you get nervous because you're like what did she find, so yeah good stuff.
stalk
He was stalking me.
We use 'stalk' like this to talk about one person following or finding out information about another person because of an unusual level of interest in that person. Notice the following:
- She actually had to call the police about the man who
was stalking her.
- I don't want you to think I'm stalking you, but I have a
very important question to ask.
paranoid
He's very paranoid about Facebook.
If you are 'paranoid' about something, you are nervous or scared about it. Usually 'paranoid' is used to describe unreasonable fears. Notice the following:
- She is extremely paranoid about finding spiders in the
house.
- After years of bad traveling luck, she always gets a bit
paranoid before she goes on trips.
unsearchable
I keep telling him I'm unsearchable.
If you are 'unsearchable' on a social media site, it means that someone cannot search for you by name and find you. This is for privacy reasons. Notice the following:
- A good way to keep your social media sites private is to
make yourself unsearchable.
- I will send you a friend request, because my name is
unsearchable.
self-centered
Her opinion, originally, was that it was for people who are
really, really self-centered.
Someone who is 'self-centered' only focuses on himself and doesn't think much about other people. Notice the following:
- Only children can be very spoiled and self-centered.
- He has always been a little self-centered about things
like this.
bristle
You instantly go shhh, oh dear, you bristle, you know?
Used like this, 'bristle' refers to a feeling of being nervous or on edge. When people start talking about something that makes you uncomfortable, you may tense up at the beginning of the conversation. That is bristling. Notice the following:
- As soon as the phone rang, he bristled with annoyance.
- Every time she hears his name she bristles a little.
Vocabulary Quiz
self-centered • bristled
