Quinn
New member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2026
- Messages
- 23
Okay guys I need help because my professor keeps using this word and I thought I understood but now I'm spiraling 
We have to write a persuasive essay and she keeps saying "where's your claim?" and I'm like... it's right there?? I wrote "Social media is bad for teenagers" and she said that's not a claim that's just a statement. Then she said a claim needs to be debatable and specific and I just don't get the difference between that and my opinion?? Like if I think social media is bad that's my opinion so why isn't it a claim??
My friend tried to explain that an opinion is just a belief but a claim is something you have to prove with evidence but then like... isn't everything we write in college just proving our opinions?? I'm genuinely lost. I spent three hours in the library yesterday rewriting my thesis over and over and I ended up with "Excessive use of Instagram correlates with increased anxiety levels among female college students due to social comparison mechanisms and disrupted sleep patterns" and my roommate said that's better but I don't even know why it's better?? It feels like I just added more words to the same idea.
Can someone please explain this like I'm five years old?? What actually MAKES something a claim? Is it the structure? Is it the specificity? Is it the fact that someone could disagree with it?? Because if someone can disagree with it then it's just a controversial opinion and I don't understand how that's academic writing.
We have to write a persuasive essay and she keeps saying "where's your claim?" and I'm like... it's right there?? I wrote "Social media is bad for teenagers" and she said that's not a claim that's just a statement. Then she said a claim needs to be debatable and specific and I just don't get the difference between that and my opinion?? Like if I think social media is bad that's my opinion so why isn't it a claim??My friend tried to explain that an opinion is just a belief but a claim is something you have to prove with evidence but then like... isn't everything we write in college just proving our opinions?? I'm genuinely lost. I spent three hours in the library yesterday rewriting my thesis over and over and I ended up with "Excessive use of Instagram correlates with increased anxiety levels among female college students due to social comparison mechanisms and disrupted sleep patterns" and my roommate said that's better but I don't even know why it's better?? It feels like I just added more words to the same idea.
Can someone please explain this like I'm five years old?? What actually MAKES something a claim? Is it the structure? Is it the specificity? Is it the fact that someone could disagree with it?? Because if someone can disagree with it then it's just a controversial opinion and I don't understand how that's academic writing.
