Debate
An opponent who never lets a weak claim slide. Pick a side, argue it out loud, and get judged.
Read a few lines of it, and its scorecard
Motion: Social media does more harm than good for teenagers. You argue against.
Opponent I'll open. Social media is damaging teenagers' mental health, and the trends back me up. Your turn.
You Social media also connects isolated teens. The research on harm is mixed.
Opponent Mixed? The rise in teen anxiety tracks smartphone adoption. What's your evidence?
You Correlation isn't causation. Some studies show benefits for teens who feel isolated.
Opponent Isolation can get worse when feeds are built to keep them scrolling. Answer that.
You Then the fix is better design and limits, not treating all use as harmful.
Opponent A fair point on design. I'll concede that, but you still haven't shown the good outweighs the harm.
Scorecard: 6 / 10. Logic 7, Evidence 4, Composure 7, Rebuttal 6.
Strong instincts and a calm tone. Your opening claims came with no source, so they were easy to wave away.
Missed moment: “Social media also connects isolated teens. The research on harm is mixed.” Two claims with no source made them easy to dismiss.
Try instead: “Several large studies find benefits for isolated teens, so a blanket claim of harm doesn't hold.”