Research task (Current Events):
Conduct an analysis to determine whether social media's overall impact on society has been more beneficial or detrimental. Argument should be structured by examining social media's impact across key domains of society. For each domain you must evaluate both positive and negative effects, using evidence from academic studies, journalist reports, case studies. After analyzing each domain, construct a definitive judgment that weighs these impacts on each other. 

Evaluation rubric:
criterion: The response identifies at least 5 societal domains (e.g., mental health, relationships, politics/civic engagement, the information ecosystem, the economy).
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response explicitly states at least one positive and negative effect of social media for each domain identified.
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response backs each claim (positive or negative) with specific evidence from academic studies, journalist reports, case studies, etc.
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response explains at least 1 mechanism by which social media produces each positive or negative outcome for each domain discussed (not just stating effects) (e.g. body dysmorphia due to filtered photos, disruption of sleep patterns due to late-night push notifications, locating individuals during a disaster using "check-in's", increased brand awareness of small business via tagging by celebrities/influencers) .
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response provides a clear and final summarization of the societal impacts of social media.
weight: 4
axis: Communication Quality

criterion: The response uses at least one instance of comparative analysis (e.g. comparison with earlier communication methods like television or newspapers, comparison with predecessors of social media such as forums, comparison between modern and early examples of social media sites, comparision between text-based and image/video-based platforms).
weight: 5
axis: Communication Quality

criterion: Response includes global perspective by citing examples of platforms from at least two non-Western regions (e.g., Douyin, VK, Bilibili, Kakaotalk).
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Response mentions or identifies at least one long term trend or trajectory (e.g., proliferation of misinformation, shifts in self-perception, globalization of content, increased spread of deepfakes).
weight: 2
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Response highlights policy or regulatory responses to social media's effects in at least one domain (e.g., Section 230 of the CDA, COPPA, the SAFE act, New York's Child Data Protection Act).
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response explicitly integrates and references the domain specific analyses (positive and negative findings) when weighing the overall beneficial or detrimental effects of social media.
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response discusses social media platforms across at least 3 different formats (e.g. microblogs such as Twitter/X, Bluesky; short-form image/video platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram Reels; general networking platforms such Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.; long-video platflorms such as Youtube).
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response specifies the methodology used to weigh disparate impact categories (e.g., economic, mental health, political, legal) and justifies this framework.
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response specifies the geographical regions under consideration and justifies this selection (e.g. high user counts, regions where the platforms are the most profitable, regions where the platforms themselves are headquartered, fastest-growing either by user count or revenue).
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response distinguishes between the short-term and long-term societal impacts of social media.
weight: 3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Includes an example of a positive societal impact that was unintentional from the platforms' perspective (e.g., increased digital literacy, increased social activism, content creation as a small business model, globalization of media).
weight: 4
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: Includes an example of a negative societal impact that was foreseeable but not mitigated during platform implementation (e.g., spread of scientific misinformation, propaganda, false identities/bots, online harrassment, doxxing).
weight: 4
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response specifies the role of differing social media regulatory environments (e.g., federal, state, international, county/school) in its analysis.
weight: 3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response defines the counterfactual baseline against which social media’s impact is being measured (e.g., a pre-social-media information ecosystem; the same platforms but prior to implenetation of non-chronological feeds and resharing; comparable regions/users prior to platform rollout; the same platforms but prior to post-level feedback from other users).
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: For at least one domain, the respobse explains how the absence of a platform (e.g., governmental bans, platform discontinuation, technical issues warranting shutdown, acquisitions by other platforms) have affected societal outcomes.
weight: 2
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Response highlights different societal impacts across multiple individual demographics (e.g., age, gender, nationality, race, education level).
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response demonstrates uses a diverse and media-pertinent source of materials (e.g., scholarly articles, social media captures, news articles; quotes from legislators, social media executives, technologists, etc.)
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response uses consistent criteria or framework when weighing different impacts against each other.
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response specifies the time period(s) (e.g., the smartphone era, COVID-19 pandemic/lockdown era, pre-Facebook era, the AI-augmented era) being analyzed and justifies this scope.
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response specifies the key demographic groups (e.g., millenials, young adults, children, Western nations, Asian nations) being analyzed.
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response contains blanket statements especially regarding mental health impacts (e.g., body dysmorphia, increased anxiety, emotional distress triggers, disruption of sleep patterns)  without citations. 
weight: -5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response links the advent of smartphones with exacerbation of negative societal impacts due to the availability of social media platforms as apps. 
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response directly indicates that data protection regulations are more prolific and enforced within the EU than they are in the United States.
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response discusses how the introduction of post-level feedback (e.g., likes/dislikes/upvotes/downvotes, emotive "reactions", comments, post sharing) has spawned unique positive (e.g., wider spread social activism, disaster awareness, fundraising, public health advisories, etc.) and negative impacts (e.g., user-level harassment, bot-driven upvoting, "ragebaiting").
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information