Help! My essay topic is too broad. How do I narrow it down effectively?

[Nigel]

I did the classic freshman mistake on my junior year paper. I picked "The impact of social media on society" as my topic. My professor just looked at me and said, "Great. Now write a 10-page paper on that." And I realized... I can't. It's like trying to drink the ocean.

After a panicked meeting with my TA, she gave me a narrowing framework that actually works. It's like putting your topic through a series of filters.

Start with your broad topic: Social media and society.

Filter 1: Add a specific population. Who exactly? Not "society." That's everyone. Narrow it to "teenagers" or "college students" or "elderly users." Let's pick "teenage girls."

Filter 2: Add a specific platform. Not "social media." That's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter... too many. Pick one. Let's say "Instagram."

Filter 3: Add a specific aspect or effect. Not just "impact." That's everything. Pick one angle: "mental health," "body image," "political views," "sleep patterns." Let's pick "body image."

Filter 4: Add a specific time period or location. "In the United States" or "since 2020" or "during the pandemic." Let's add "in the US since 2020."

Now look at what we have: "The impact of Instagram on body image issues among teenage girls in the United States since 2020."

That's still a substantial topic, but it's actually doable for a 10-page paper. You can find sources on Instagram, on teenage girls, on body image, and on the time period. It's specific enough to be meaningful, but broad enough to have literature.

 

[SarahJones]

This is actually a really good system. My go-to has always been the "5 W's" method (Who, What, Where, When, Why) and this is basically a more refined version of that. One thing I'd add is to check your final narrowed topic against available sources before you commit fully. Nothing worse than getting super excited about a hyper-specific topic and then realizing there's like... one obscure study on it from 1985. Ask your librarian, they're lifesavers for this stuff!