Academic Discussion prompt
Given the widespread use of social media, do you think individuals should be more concerned about their privacy online, or is the benefit of connection and sharing worth the potential risks? Explain your reasoning.
Every scored sample answer Reach120 publishes for this prompt, banded so you can see the range rather than one version of "good".
The prompt
This refers to the balance between sharing personal information on social media platforms and the expectation or right to control who accesses that information. With the increasing use of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, individuals often share details about their lives, but concerns about data breaches, targeted advertising, and the misuse of personal data are also growing.
Sample answers, by band
Reach120 practice band estimate — not an official ETS score How we estimate
Middle response
Band 4.53.5/5 rubricHow attempts at this prompt actually score
Across 34 scored practice attempts at the Reach120 practice prompt "Given the widespread use of social media, do you think individuals should be more concerned about their privacy online, or is the benefit of connection and sharing worth the potential risks? Explain your reasoning.", the mean Reach120 practice band estimate is 3.0 of 6 (measured 2026-08-25; Reach120 practice band estimate — not an official ETS score).
Mean band estimate
3.0of 6
over 34 scored practice attempts
Reach120 practice band estimate — not an official ETS score How we estimate
Band spread
- 2.0–2.51
- 3.0–3.530
- 4.0–4.53
Where attempts lose points
- Language use2.60 of 5
- Organization2.73 of 5
- Contribution3.13 of 5
- Content3.20 of 5
- Format3.20 of 5
Source: Reach120 practice corpus, every scored attempt at this prompt, internal and harness-created accounts excluded through the same rule as public_measured_stats(). Attempts scored before 2026-03-23 are excluded: Reach120 changed how it scores on that date, and pooling across the change would describe the change rather than the writing. Recomputed when this page is rebuilt; the date above is when this reading was taken.
Published only at or above 30 scored attempts from at least 10 learners; below that Reach120 shows nothing here.
Write your own answer to this prompt and have it scored.
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