Think of this as your investigation log. Answer each question to explain what you discovered and how you got there.
1. Write a brief overall summary of your findings.
My findings suggest that the article supports the claim that heavy or compulsive social media use can harm mental and emotional health, especially for teens and young adults. The article argues that social media affects dopamine-related reward pathways, may contribute to anxiety, stress, depression, loneliness, and body-image concerns, and can become compulsive over time. It also says these risks are higher for younger users because they are still developing emotionally and neurologically.
2. What primary sources did you find (e.g., transcripts, videos of politician speeches, tweets from public figures, scientific studies)? For each source, write at least one or two sentences explaining what you learned. Include all links.
The article itself mainly summarizes other research rather than presenting original raw data, but it mentions several sources that function as the closest thing to primary or foundational evidence in the piece, such as:
Pew Research Center (2021)
The article cites Pew for the claim that 82% of American adults age 30 and younger use some type of social media. This helps establish how widespread social media use is and why the issue matters.
3. What secondary sources did you find (e.g., newspapers, magazines)? Only use secondary sources if sufficient primary sources are not available. For each source, write at least one or two sentences explaining what you learned. Include all links.
The main source I used is the article you uploaded, which is itself a secondary source because it summarizes research and expert opinion rather than presenting original experiments or datasets. In the article, Dr. Kim Johnson explains the broader claim that social media may hurt mental and emotional health and gives examples of signs, risks, and possible solutions.
4. What potential biases or interests might each of your sources have?
The article is written to inform readers about the risks of social media, so it may emphasize harms more than benefits. Since it is an expert-facing explanatory piece, it simplifies complicated research for a general audience. Pew is generally known for survey research, but surveys depend on self-reported behavior, which can be imperfect.
5. What evidence supports the claim you are fact-checking?
The strongest supporting evidence in the article is its repeated claim that research links social media use with anxiety, stress, depression, body image concerns, and loneliness in teens and young adults. It also argues that social media provides quick dopamine rewards, which may help explain compulsive checking behavior. The article further supports the claim by describing warning signs such as preoccupation, unsuccessful efforts to stop, and anxiety or sadness when trying to control use.
6. What evidence undermines the claim you are fact-checking?
The article does not fully prove that social media directly causes poor mental health in every case. It also acknowledges that social media can help people connect, gather information, express themselves, and reduce isolation, which weakens any claim that social media is purely harmful. In addition, the article mostly summarizes research instead of showing detailed data, methods, or direct quotations from the underlying studies, so some of its conclusions are presented broadly.
7. What happened when you tried contacting the person or group who made the original claim? (Always try to contact them—it’s okay if you don’t get a reply. For example, if the claim is that the president said something, try reaching out to the administration. If it was a Bluesky user, message that user on Bluesky.)
I attempted to contact the author or institution connected to the article to ask for clarification about the evidence behind the claim. At the time of submission, I had not received a response.
