Question

1 It is estimated that five billion people used social media in 2023. That’s five billion people who could have been volunteering, spending time with loved ones, or helping their neighbors instead of staring at a screen. It is past time that people started focusing on in-person relationships and stopped relying on social media, which only worsens the problem of isolation.
How does the author of Selection 1 address the counterargument that social media helps people connect with each other?
A. The author provides statistics to support the idea that people do not primarily use social media to connect with one another.
B. The author makes suggestions for different ways that people can better blend in-person experiences with social media.
C. The author acknowledges that social media is a useful tool for helping people to connect with each other and cites different ways that it does this.
D. The author points out that if social media actually helped people connect with each other, there would be less loneliness, not more.

Answer 1

D. The author argues that social media worsens isolation, implying that if it truly helped people connect, loneliness would be lower.