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Prompt: Write an argumentative essay about whether you think technology and the Internet have brought young people closer together. Use evidence from research to support your position.
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What is your product?
- An argumentative (persuasive) essay.
What is your topic?
- Whether technology and the Internet have brought young people closer together.
What is your purpose?
- To argue and persuade the reader that technology and the Internet have, on balance, brought young people closer together, using research evidence while acknowledging important caveats.
Essay
In the past two decades, technology and the Internet have transformed how young people communicate, form relationships, and find community. Critics warn that screens isolate youth and degrade the quality of social ties; defenders point to unprecedented access to friends, peers, and communities. The empirical evidence shows both benefits and harms, but when weighed together it supports the view that, overall, digital technologies have brought young people closer—by lowering barriers to contact, expanding the range of social ties, and enabling social support—while also creating new risks that must be managed.
First, research demonstrates that the Internet and social media facilitate more frequent contact and the maintenance of relationships. Large-scale surveys and studies find that most adolescents are online regularly and use social platforms to keep up with friends and events. For example, Pew Research Center’s 2018 survey reported that nearly all U.S. teens have access to a smartphone and a large share are online almost constantly; many teens report social media helps them feel more connected to friends and their activities (Pew Research Center, 2018). Empirical studies of social networking sites support this: Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2007) found that Facebook use among college students was associated with increased “bridging” and “bonding” social capital—the kinds of ties that help people feel connected and that provide informational and emotional support. Similarly, Hampton and colleagues have shown that Internet users often have larger, more diverse social networks and that online communication helps preserve ties that would otherwise fade (Hampton et al., 2011).
Second, the Internet expands the kinds of communities young people can access. Geographic constraints and minority identities once made it difficult for many adolescents to meet peers who shared their interests or experiences. Online forums, interest groups, and niche communities allow young people—especially those in rural areas or those with marginalized identities—to find peers, learn from role models, and receive emotional support. Qualitative and quantitative work on online communities suggests that these spaces can be critical sources of identity development and well-being for youth who feel isolated offline. During crises or transitions (e.g., moving schools, coming out, dealing with illness), digital ties often provide rapid, relevant support that local networks do not.
Third, digital tools proved especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical distancing severed many in-person opportunities. Research conducted during the pandemic indicates that video calls, social messaging, and social platforms helped adolescents maintain social contact and buffer declines in well-being for many (multiple pandemic-period studies and reviews). For many young people the Internet was not a luxury but a lifeline to school, peer networks, and mental-health resources.
At the same time, evidence documents important limits and harms. Several studies link heavy social media use with poorer mental health outcomes for some youth. Twenge and colleagues have reported correlations between the rise in smartphone use and increases in adolescent depressive symptoms and suicide-related outcomes since about 2010—findings that raise concern even while they do not prove causation (Twenge, 2017). Experimental and longitudinal work (e.g., Kross et al., 2013) has suggested that certain patterns of social media use—especially passive scrolling and upward social comparison—can reduce subjective well-being. Online harms such as cyberbullying, harassment, and exposure to harmful content are real and can erode the benefits of connection for vulnerable adolescents. Moreover, some research emphasizes that online ties are often weaker or more superficial than face-to-face relationships; if online interaction simply displaces rich in-person contact, net social closeness may decline.
These mixed findings point to an important qualification: technology’s net effect depends on how it is used and by whom. The Internet tends to amplify existing social resources—those already socially connected often use digital tools to maintain and broaden ties (the “rich-get-richer” pattern), while isolated or vulnerable youth can either find supportive communities online or be exposed to harmful interactions (the “social compensation” and risk patterns; mixed empirical support exists for both). Reviews of the literature (e.g., Orben et al., 2020) emphasize that average effects are modest and highly variable across individuals, platforms, and types of use.
Despite these nuances, the balance of evidence supports the claim that technology and the Internet have brought young people closer in important, measurable ways. They have lowered the transaction costs of keeping in touch, enabled connections across distance and difference, and given marginalized youth new avenues for social support and identity formation. At the same time, the potential harms are substantial enough to demand policy and practice responses: digital literacy education, tools that encourage meaningful rather than passive interaction, stronger protections against harassment, and accessible mental-health resources for youth who struggle with online pressures.
Conclusion: The Internet and digital communication have not unambiguously improved every young person’s social life, but they have expanded opportunities for connection and community in transformative ways. Policymakers, educators, parents, and platform designers should focus on maximizing those benefits—by encouraging constructive uses, reducing harms, and helping young people develop the skills to form deep, healthy relationships both online and offline.
- An argumentative (persuasive) essay.
What is your topic?
- Whether technology and the Internet have brought young people closer together.
What is your purpose?
- To argue and persuade the reader that technology and the Internet have, on balance, brought young people closer together, using research evidence while acknowledging important caveats.
Essay
In the past two decades, technology and the Internet have transformed how young people communicate, form relationships, and find community. Critics warn that screens isolate youth and degrade the quality of social ties; defenders point to unprecedented access to friends, peers, and communities. The empirical evidence shows both benefits and harms, but when weighed together it supports the view that, overall, digital technologies have brought young people closer—by lowering barriers to contact, expanding the range of social ties, and enabling social support—while also creating new risks that must be managed.
First, research demonstrates that the Internet and social media facilitate more frequent contact and the maintenance of relationships. Large-scale surveys and studies find that most adolescents are online regularly and use social platforms to keep up with friends and events. For example, Pew Research Center’s 2018 survey reported that nearly all U.S. teens have access to a smartphone and a large share are online almost constantly; many teens report social media helps them feel more connected to friends and their activities (Pew Research Center, 2018). Empirical studies of social networking sites support this: Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2007) found that Facebook use among college students was associated with increased “bridging” and “bonding” social capital—the kinds of ties that help people feel connected and that provide informational and emotional support. Similarly, Hampton and colleagues have shown that Internet users often have larger, more diverse social networks and that online communication helps preserve ties that would otherwise fade (Hampton et al., 2011).
Second, the Internet expands the kinds of communities young people can access. Geographic constraints and minority identities once made it difficult for many adolescents to meet peers who shared their interests or experiences. Online forums, interest groups, and niche communities allow young people—especially those in rural areas or those with marginalized identities—to find peers, learn from role models, and receive emotional support. Qualitative and quantitative work on online communities suggests that these spaces can be critical sources of identity development and well-being for youth who feel isolated offline. During crises or transitions (e.g., moving schools, coming out, dealing with illness), digital ties often provide rapid, relevant support that local networks do not.
Third, digital tools proved especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical distancing severed many in-person opportunities. Research conducted during the pandemic indicates that video calls, social messaging, and social platforms helped adolescents maintain social contact and buffer declines in well-being for many (multiple pandemic-period studies and reviews). For many young people the Internet was not a luxury but a lifeline to school, peer networks, and mental-health resources.
At the same time, evidence documents important limits and harms. Several studies link heavy social media use with poorer mental health outcomes for some youth. Twenge and colleagues have reported correlations between the rise in smartphone use and increases in adolescent depressive symptoms and suicide-related outcomes since about 2010—findings that raise concern even while they do not prove causation (Twenge, 2017). Experimental and longitudinal work (e.g., Kross et al., 2013) has suggested that certain patterns of social media use—especially passive scrolling and upward social comparison—can reduce subjective well-being. Online harms such as cyberbullying, harassment, and exposure to harmful content are real and can erode the benefits of connection for vulnerable adolescents. Moreover, some research emphasizes that online ties are often weaker or more superficial than face-to-face relationships; if online interaction simply displaces rich in-person contact, net social closeness may decline.
These mixed findings point to an important qualification: technology’s net effect depends on how it is used and by whom. The Internet tends to amplify existing social resources—those already socially connected often use digital tools to maintain and broaden ties (the “rich-get-richer” pattern), while isolated or vulnerable youth can either find supportive communities online or be exposed to harmful interactions (the “social compensation” and risk patterns; mixed empirical support exists for both). Reviews of the literature (e.g., Orben et al., 2020) emphasize that average effects are modest and highly variable across individuals, platforms, and types of use.
Despite these nuances, the balance of evidence supports the claim that technology and the Internet have brought young people closer in important, measurable ways. They have lowered the transaction costs of keeping in touch, enabled connections across distance and difference, and given marginalized youth new avenues for social support and identity formation. At the same time, the potential harms are substantial enough to demand policy and practice responses: digital literacy education, tools that encourage meaningful rather than passive interaction, stronger protections against harassment, and accessible mental-health resources for youth who struggle with online pressures.
Conclusion: The Internet and digital communication have not unambiguously improved every young person’s social life, but they have expanded opportunities for connection and community in transformative ways. Policymakers, educators, parents, and platform designers should focus on maximizing those benefits—by encouraging constructive uses, reducing harms, and helping young people develop the skills to form deep, healthy relationships both online and offline.
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