Debate about social media: We regret the social media being the primary source of news

This lesson plan is about organizing a classroom debate. We are not — this is crucial — organizing a discussion. A debate differs from a discussion because it is structured and has clear rules:

• The debate topic is worded as a proposition that some speakers will support and some will oppose. There is no working towards a compromise; one team wins, and the other loses;
• In this version of formal debate (adjusted for classroom use), we have two participating teams (proposition and opposition);
• Debaters cannot choose which side they represent in a debate - the sides (proposition and opposition) are assigned randomly with a coin flip:
• The rules clearly specify who speaks when and for how long.

For a classroom debate, we propose the following format:

• Each team has three speakers, who will each hold a 4-minute speech;
• During the main speeches (but only after the first 30 seconds and before the last 30 seconds of the speech), the opposing team can stand up and offer a question. Every speaker must accept and answer one question from the opposing team. Alternatively, you can have a 1-2 minute time slot for questions after each speech – we recommend this option if you want to engage more students and if your students are new to public speaking and might be intimidated by interruptions;
• The students who are not delivering speeches act as debate adjudicators.

First speakers (on both sides) should set up the debate and provide the initial arguments. Setting the debate means establishing the main definitions and clearing up what the debate is about (for more information, see the lesson plan “Motion analysis”). Second speakers should be bringing in final arguments, responding to the opposing team’s arguments, and rebuilding their first speaker’s arguments. Third speakers should analyze all arguments, respond to their opponents, and rebuild their own argumentation. In other words, they should provide an overview of what happened in the debate and why their team won.

The rest of the class should serve as debate adjudicators. They should be taking notes and weighing proposition and opposition arguments. Instruct them to be objective and to evaluate only the speeches they’ve heard, putting aside their personal opinions and/or arguments and examples they would have used as debaters.

If you want to engage the students more actively, you can always adapt the proposed format to fit more students - have 6 students per team, and have each of them deliver a 2-minute speech. A separate pair of students per team can also be used for asking and answering questions. If you are curious about more classroom debate formats, we recommend you read the chapter “Debate in Classroom” in the Melita Methodological Guide.

After you form the teams, they should have time to prepare. Students who are not debating should also participate in preparing arguments.

Students are allowed to use textbooks and the internet while researching for their arguments. If your students are still struggling, we recommend you pause their group work and do a quick brainstorm as a class, making note of all the reasons to propose and oppose the motion.

To the extent possible, the students should try to build arguments on their own. If they are struggling, use any of the arguments listed below to provide them with an idea of what an argument for or against this motion could look like.

Proposition

Definitions:

Social media: websites and mobile applications on which users create content, share it, and connect with people, e.g. Twitter, Tik Tok, Facebook…

Primary source of news: the main source of news for an individual, ie. where they consume the majority of the content about their world.

Arguments:

1st argument: Social media spreads fake news.

Explanation:

1. Social media does not check their content like traditional news sources, because they do not always have fact-checking and they have way more relaxed content policies — instead of editors who would make sure content is good they just have admins who make sure there is no hate speech.
2. Furthermore, as opposed to normal news media, anyone shares information on social media, meaning it is less trustworthy.

Example:

The impact of social media was clearly seen in the Cambridge Analytica scandal: political parties could clearly use social media to spread propaganda.

Impact:

Misinformation on social media can cause major harm to the integrity of political processes and can hurt democracy.

2nd argument: Algorithms of social media promote echo chambers and click-baits

Explanation:

1. Social media use algorithms to sort content for users. They have an interest in creating more engagement. Therefore, they will prioritize content that is inflammatory so that their users get angry and comment more.
2. Furthermore, because different groups of people get upset at different things, they see different things; therefore, different groups of people almost live in different realities.

Example:

Several experiments have shown that the actual news displayed to different demographics varies vastly.

Impact:

If we want to live in a functioning society, we need to have reasonable, sensible, and open discussions. Social media fosters division and outrage.

3rd argument: Social media leads to addiction

Explanation:

1. Social media are created to be addictive because social media profit off of people’s engagement — the algorithm works to keep them tuned in.
2. Furthermore, this addiction keeps their attention away from more traditional news sources, which would have higher quality news.

Example:

Several studies have shown that social media leads to a higher prevalence of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and loss of attention span.

Impact:

This addiction is a health hazard and is bad in itself, but on a societal level, it also makes society less functional, as people participate in public life less.

Opposition

The definitions should be the same — opposition should only define things if the proposition defines them really poorly.

Arguments:

1st argument: There are more different news sources on social media.

Explanation:

1. Unlike traditional media, where one media institution would have its own web page, you can see posts of various different traditional media on social media, therefore exposing you to a lot of different sources, opinions.
2. This means you get to see a lot of different traditional media but also unorthodox media, such as citizen journalists and alternative/independent media.

Example:

The Arab Spring is a good example of a time when social media allowed citizens to access various sources of information — traditional media would not be enough for social movements to occur.

Impact:

Social media make it more likely for citizens to access a very varied mix of opinions. This, in turn, leads to a more open society with a higher exposure to different media.

2nd argument: People consume more content on social media.

Explanation:

1. People enjoy using social media and use it more than they would otherwise consume traditional media. This means that they spend more time on content.
2. They also get exposed to more content, meaning that even if they do not click on every headline, they still roughly know what is happening.

Example:

People have more access to information now than they had fifty or more years ago, which means they know more about the world.

Impact:

Social media leads to people knowing more and possessing more information — this, in turn, improves the quality of public discourse and debate.

3rd argument: Social media allows for independent media to spring up

Explanation:

1. Before social media, it was difficult to start a media organization because you needed a lot of money to print, broadcast, etc. This limited the media ownership to the powerful and rich — fewer media houses were independent.
2. Even if you could start your media house, you still had difficulty getting to your audiences because it was tough to get exposure. With social media, it is much easier to attract new audiences.

Example:

The era of social media has seen a lot more independent and alternative media organizations pop up.

Impact:

The fact that it is easier to start a media organization means that there are fewer barriers to relaying information, making it harder to control information and making the public discourse more informed.

The debate takes place; some students debate, the others take notes and adjudicate.

1. Who do you think won the debate and why?
2. What would you do differently?
3. Did your opinion on the topic change after watching the debate?