GP essay question guide
Has social media done young people more harm than good?
Weigh, do not list. A strong answer names the real benefits, explains how design causes harm, and reaches a verdict that depends on how much and how social media is used.
Unpack this question first: 'More harm than good' asks you to weigh both sides and reach a verdict. 'Young people' covers children and young adults, whose risks differ. Lesson: Reading an essay question: terms and scope
Use this question in writing - Sign in, check the question, then write your response.
Topics: Society and Culture, Science and Technology, Politics and Governance
Three argument directions
Connection and voice
Young people can find support, communities and causes they care about.
Qualification: Online support does not replace friends and family in person.
Harm by design
Feeds built to hold attention can crowd out sleep, exercise and offline time.
Qualification: Evidence on how much harm it causes is still debated.
It depends on use
Heavy use and harmful design matter more than social media itself.
Qualification: This makes rules harder to write than a simple age limit.
A model paragraph
Our own paragraph for this question. Copy its moves, not its words.
Social media has brought young people real benefits, but for heavy users the harms now outweigh them. A teenager who feels out of place at school can find others with the same interests or problems, and many young people first learn about causes they care about online. The harms come from the design. Apps are built to hold attention, and endless feeds can crowd out sleep, exercise and time with friends in person. In 2023 the United States Surgeon General warned that there was not enough evidence to show social media is safe for young people, and in 2024 Australia passed a law setting a minimum age of 16 for many platforms. Whether social media does more harm than good depends on how much it is used and how it is designed, which is why rules on design are more useful than a simple ban.
How it is built
- Stand: a verdict with a condition (heavy use).
- Weighing: belonging and causes against design harms; the 2023 warning and Australia's law.
- Judgement: depends on use and design, so regulate design.
Six examples to compare
Singapore Reviews Social Media's Impact on Youth Mental Health
Singapore's 2026 expert review connects familiar platform features such as infinite scroll and algorithmic feeds to risks for young people's well-being.
Possible essay use
protecting young people online may work better through safer platform design than through blanket bans
Limitation
the review found associations rather than clear causation, and not every form of social media use is harmful
Case or source date: 2026-07-30
Source: Ministry of Health Singapore
Australia Legislates a Social-Media Minimum Age
Australia's 2024 law requires covered social-media platforms to take reasonable steps to stop under-16s from holding accounts.
Possible essay use
governments can shift the duty to protect children online from parents to platforms, by making companies responsible for keeping young users off
Limitation
The law's protective intent does not establish effective age checks or rule out privacy and displacement harms.
Case or source date: 2024-11-29
Cancel Culture: Online Justice or Mob Rule?
Cancel culture describes public boycotts against figures for perceived offenses, often amplified by social media. It raises key questions about free speech and fairness.
Possible essay use
In June 2020 J.K. Rowling's posts on sex and gender drew wide criticism, including from the LGBTQ group GLAAD, which called them anti-trans.
Limitation
Whether Rowling's views are harmful or legitimate is itself the contested question; the case shows how a backlash plays out, not who is right.
Case or source date: 2020-06-06
Source: Associated Press (via Boston.com)
Digital Activism: Clicks to Change?
Digital tools transform activism, but questions remain about 'slacktivism' and actual real-world results.
Possible essay use
Pew counted about 47.8 million uses of #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter between 26 May and 7 June 2020, nearly 3.7 million a day.
Limitation
Counting hashtags measures online attention, not real-world results; linking posts to specific policy changes needs other evidence.
Case or source date: 2020-06-07
Source: Pew Research Center
WHO Treats Social Connection as a Public-Health Issue
The WHO Commission on Social Connection reported that loneliness and social isolation are widespread and called for scalable public action.
Possible essay use
loneliness can be treated as a public health issue, because its effects on health are widespread and can be reduced through public action
Limitation
A global report identifies risks and options but does not prove that one intervention will work equally across cultures.
Case or source date: 2025-06-30
Source: World Health Organization
Creator Economy: New Work, New Problems
The Creator Economy empowers individuals to monetize content directly, reshaping media and youth culture while raising mental well-being concerns for creators.
Possible essay use
Goldman Sachs estimated the creator economy at about US$250 billion in 2023 and projected about US$480 billion by 2027.
Limitation
Both figures are estimates from a bank and a magazine, not audited accounts; income in the creator economy is extremely unequal, so the top earner says little about typical creators.
Case or source date: 2023-04-19
Source: Goldman Sachs