Why Social Media Harms Mental Health, and Its Effects on Young People
A complete IELTS General Training Writing Task 2 question with a model answer of 274 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 40 minutes. Write at least 250 words.
In recent years, the widespread use of social media has had a negative impact on mental health. What are the main causes of this impact, and what effects does it have on young people in particular? Write at least 250 words.
How to approach it
- 01Split the body clearly: one paragraph on causes, one on effects on young people
- 02Name at least three distinct causes — comparison, app design, and bullying are stronger than repeating 'pressure'
- 03Be specific about who is affected — naming teenage girls or students adds precision
- 04Use cause-effect linkers like 'is driven by', 'has resulted in', 'one consequence is'
- 05Refer to survey or research findings in general terms rather than inventing statistics
- 06Keep an objective tone — avoid emotional or moralising language
Model answer
274 words in 4 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
Few topics have generated as much public concern in the last decade as the link between social media use and declining mental health, especially among teenagers. This essay looks at the main causes behind this trend and at the particular effects it has on young people.
Several features of social media platforms appear to drive the problem. The first is the relentless culture of comparison they encourage; users are constantly exposed to carefully filtered images of other people's bodies, holidays, and achievements, which can quietly erode self-esteem. A second cause is the design of the apps themselves. Endless scrolling, push notifications, and unpredictable rewards are engineered to maximise time spent on the platform, often at the expense of sleep, exercise, and face-to-face contact. A third factor is the rise of cyberbullying and online pile-ons, which can follow young users home in a way that schoolyard conflicts never could.
The effects on young people are wide-ranging. Many teenagers report higher levels of anxiety and lower body confidence than previous generations, and survey data from several countries shows a worrying rise in self-harm and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls in particular. Sleep is another casualty: students who scroll late into the night are less alert in school the following day, which over time hurts both their grades and their willingness to attend at all. Social skills can also suffer, as young people who spend hours each day on their phones have fewer opportunities to practise reading body language or managing real-world conflict.
In conclusion, the design of social media combines with constant comparison and online bullying to harm young users' mental health, sleep, and social development.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 69 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
17 fewer than the median answer for this task type
7 words at the shortest, 34 at the longest
4 fewer than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 22.8 words and vary by 8.6 words either side of that, running from 7 words to 34. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 4 of the 12 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
2 in total, spread across 2 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
in particular
in conclusion
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 84 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 73 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 3 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Response
Identify clear causes AND clear effects with adequate development, and focus the effects section specifically on young people as the prompt asks.
Coherence & Cohesion
Use a clean causes/effects paragraph structure with strong topic sentences and a logical sequence of points.
Lexical Resource
Use precise vocabulary for psychology, technology design, and adolescent wellbeing.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Use a range of complex structures including relative clauses, passives, and causal subordinators with accuracy.
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