Sample Student Outline for Research Paper

Comparison/Contrast a Topic for Two Countries

Topic: Impact of social media on mental health: The United States and China
I. Introduction (center title in Bold)
A. First intro. paragraph:
Social media has become a very serious problem. Social media has evolved a
lot from a medium of connection to a source of entertainment, communication,
business and a lot more. Social media has integrated in our life in such depth that it
has become a part of one’s life. Provide historical and fun facts to arouse interest.
Statistic in the US: “...relationship between daily electronic media use beyond
2 or more hours per day, and insufficient sleep. An analysis of survey data from
Ontario found that 63.6% of 5242 students aged 11–20 years slept less than
recommended, also showing a significant relationship between use of social media
beyond 1 hour a day and odds of insufficient duration of sleep.”( Abi-Jaoude et al,
2020, p.138). Displays that addiction to social media has led to sleep loss in US.

B. Body paragraph:
1. Topic Sentence: The United States and China are both still facing serious
Impacts from social media on mental health of teenagers.
2. general background information about what’s happening in both countries
like anxiety, depression, FOMO, loneliness and cyberbullying using case studies.

C. Body paragraph:
1. Social media was made for the betterment of society that is to connect and
communicate with each other, but it has become a source of information,
entertainment and a lot more thus it has integrated into our lives and as the time is
moving forward, the upcoming generations are getting their hands on internet and
social media in an earlier age. Teenagers are mentally unstable and are in a molding
phase that is their brain develops in these crucial years and thus any impact, however
small it maybe can leave a lifetime scar that may take many years to heal which is
best case scenario. Thus, before moving forward into ‘modernization’ the society
needs to take a halt, analyze and find a solution to impacts of social media on mental
health of teenagers.
Basically, discuss about a little psychology of children and teens and show that social
media is a part of their life thus bringing attention to social media and mental health.
2. THESIS STATEMENT: The purpose of this research paper is to
compare, contrast and analyze the impact of social media on mental health of
teenagers in United States and China to improve mental health of teenagers and help
them use social media in a way which benefits them.

II. Negative impacts of social media on mental health in the United States and
China (center title in Bold)
A. Introduction:
1. Provide some background info. leading up to the thesis statement below.
Showcasing that a traumatizing event at an early age will result in a mental
scar for lifetime and showing that social media can be traumatizing as
well.
“Social media intermediaries amplify and push content to susceptible
users, including content prohibited by their terms of service or community
 guidelines. In other words, a platform can ban specific types of content
while simultaneously promoting such content by algorithmic targeting,
which can have extremely grave consequences. In 2017, for example,
British teenager Molly Russell started to search images of suicide and self-
harm online. Pinterest, her favourite social media platform, targeted her
with additional images. Following such targeting, Molly died by suicide.”(
Lavi M. , 2024, p.1375). This example can be used how social media can
be traumatising.

2. SECTION THESIS: Social media’s impacts on mental health is a

problem that should not be underestimated in both countries. The situation
of social media’s impacts in these two countries is not different and
somewhat similar.
B. Body paragraph: Different negative impacts of social media on mental health
1. Topic Sentence: In the United States and China, there are five major
negative impacts which are Depression, anxiety, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out),
loneliness and cyberbullying.
2. Discuss about depression, anxiety, FOMO, loneliness and cyberbullying in
different paras using case studies of both countries

C. Concluding paragraph:
1. In general, social media’s impacts are not just a national problem, but
an international problem.
2. If unchecked, social media’s impacts can mentally cripple upcoming
generations.

III. Beneficial impacts of social media on mental health

A. Introduction:
1. Provide some background info. leading up to the thesis statement below.
Showcasing that social media can help benefit people and has in the past
helped people in their lives.
2. SECTION THESIS: Social media’s all impacts on mental health is not bad
and its capacity to good should not be underestimated in both countries. The situation
of social media’s impacts in these two countries is not different and somewhat similar

B. Body paragraph: Different positive impacts of social media on mental health

1. Topic Sentence: In the United States and China, there are five major
positive impacts which are connecting, access to information and news, business and
economic opportunities, educational content and online learning and social activism
and awareness.
2. Discuss about connecting, access to information and news, business and
economic opportunities, educational content and online learning and social activism
and awareness. different paras using case studies of both countries

C. Concluding paragraph:
Summarize the benefits. In general, social media’s all impacts are not bad
but on the contrary a lot of good can come out of social media as well.
IV. Ways Countries Deal with Social Media’s impact (center title and Bold)
A. Introduction:
 1. To combat social media’s negative impacts, countries have made many
efforts.
2. Include info. Discuss that this is a nation-wide problem and thus this
problem can be solved by nation-wide policy.
3. SECTION THESIS: While some methods of dealing with social media
in the US and China are similar, there are also some significant
differences.
B. Body paragraph one: Methods of United States
1. Topic Sentence: The US has passed several policies to oppose social
media’s use among teens.
2. background
“In July, the Senate approved the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act and the Children
and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. Though facing opposition from technology
companies and unlikely to be approved in their current forms, the laws would
strengthen age verification for kids under 13..”( Molyneux, J., 2024, p.18).
To display laws made in the United States and discuss about them.

C. Body paragraph two: Methods of China

1. Topic Sentence: In China, the government has also developed several
measures to address social media.
2. background
“China’s social media operates under laws, which consider that
information can come to light, and it is not uncommon for Chinese internet users to be
detained for posting content on social media that the government deems objectionable
(Chen, 2021; Yang, 2022). As a result, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube,
among other sites, are prohibited in China not only for security reasons but also for
undesirable information that is inappropriate for their residents (Pan, 2017). However,
China has its versions of social media sites such as include Sina Weibo, Toutiao, QQ,
Tencent News, WeChat..”(Zhao et al, 2022, p.2-3). To display laws made in the China
and discuss about them.

D. Concluding paragraph
Due to different national policies, different countries may also have
different measures to deal with social media. However, the same is that
they both need to formulate relatively complete and rigorous laws.

V. Conclusion (center title in Bold)

A. In conclusion, social media is a serious international problem…
If one observes, then one can conclude that social media has excellent benefits
but to counter them it also has lethal cons and thus one can agree that it’s not the
problem but how it’s being used is the problem.
B. Need more summarizing the main points and synthesis of each main point.
C. Therefore, as ordinary people, it is necessary to raise awareness of social
media and mental health to prevent the negative impacts of social media while
enjoying its perks, and the laws against social media also need to be more stringent to
reduce the occurrence of such cases. Countries should also help each other and jointly
fight to make the world a safer place for upcoming generations.
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