TikTok – a modern day social media app where you are able to scroll on many different short videos as a form of entertainment. Over the past few years, this app has seemed to grow very popular (mostly during COVID). It has recently shown that many people are now ‘addicted’ to the endless scrolling and gaining of followers.
You might wonder, how can an app affect someone? Well, Social media apps can affect people in lots of ways. Aubrey Chagnon a freshman at Oakmont Regional High School states “One way social media effects me is, it exposes me to behaviors i’ve done in the past and worked hard to stop. And while there’s a great community there is also a form of hatred and exposure.”
Addiction:
According to addictionhelp.com, teens and young adults are most affected by social media and 40% of internet users ages 18 to 22 report that they have a social media addiction. Some parents have noticed that their children have spent more time in their room scrolling on video after video, instead of spending their time with friends and family.
It is also found that 21% of all Americans use TikTok, including adults. So although it is found that parents are ‘angry’ at their kids for being on TikTok too much, many adults are also on the app.
Even though, many teens are on the app, in the morning, at school, and before they go to sleep. It is shown that 58% of teens scroll on the site daily and the data from my classmates has shown 76.9% of students watch TikTok everyday. Scrolling is an endless loop that many people get caught in, with no sense of when to stop.
Misinformation:
Another way that many people might not even think about is that teens are taking misinformation from TikTok videos that they scroll upon. Have you ever heard the saying ‘Not everything you see online is true’? Well, most teens on TikTok believe everything that they hear on the app, while many people are posting videos that are just lies.
According to a research report on CNN.com, nearly 20% of the videos presented as search results contain misinformation. This proves that many teens are being fed lies and are believing them straight away. This can harm them and others if they decide to spread the lies they have been told.
An example of this is, during the 2024 presidental election, there were many accusations towards both candidates posted on the app, with no proof behind them. When people scroll upon these videos they tend to believe them without a doubt.
Cyber bullying:
Cyber bullying is a big thing now that social media has grown and those mean words people are told can really affect them. According to a research website, Avast.com, a quarter of children and teens have cyberbullied someone in the last 5 years. In 2021, 16% of highschool students said they had been bullied in the past 12 months. Although, according to my classmates, only 15.4% of students have been bullied on social media.
Although, sometimes it might not even be cyber bullying. Teens may get jealous of someone else’s looks or life. A student at Oakmont Regional High School stated “Yes, the same as any other social media because people compare themselves with others constantly.”
Filters – something that has been added to many of these social media apps, where you can ‘change’ how you face looks by adding effects to make yourself ‘look better’. This may give teens a false reality of what their supposed to look like.
Unsafe trends:
There has been many ‘trends’ on TikTok that may have unsafe outcomes, but are still being promoted for more people to try.
One specific trend, called the ‘chapstick trend’ had become very popular in 2023. This trend included, using a chapstick until it was finished, people would then be challenged to end their lives. Promoting this, excpecially to people already having those thoughts is very terrible. TikTok’s trend may have caused others to end their lives.
This is also including other ‘fun’ trends that end with people getting hurt. For example, there was a trend where people would tell there friends to jump and then continue to kick their legs causing them to fall. One new trend that has already had bad outcomes is known as the ‘I like my suitcase trend’. In this trend, people have decided to put themselves in a suitcase, which ended with people falling or getting stuck.
The better side:
Although, not all effects of TikTok are bad. One feature is that Tiktok can help build community among different users. This could definitely positively help someone, if they really needed someone to talk to or just needed a good laugh. But, this in other ways, wouldn’t be the best. Say your kids think they are talking to someone their age and they are actually talking to someone older. There are many cases of kids talking to adults unknowingly, which is completely unsafe.
With this, TikTok can also enhance your creativity. With all the different types of videos that might pop up on your “for you page” you might get a better look on different types of creative arts. Who knows, some people might even find a new interest because of this.
When scrolling on TikTok there are definitely tons of nice videos of people posting their art or their sport which could spark anybody’s interest. And I know sometimes, when your having a bad day it could be nice to take a little time out of your day to relax and watch a couple of ‘funny fails’ videos.
Conclusion:
Overall TikTok has a good and bad side and i’d say it would probably depend on what type of content you’re watching. Although, sometimes you can’t stop some bad videos from popping up. And one thing about TikTok is that when you watch a video based on one topic even once, you will most likely get tons of other videos on that topic.
All in all, the cons seem to outweigh the pros but in the end, it depends on how you use the app. Taking all your advice, getting bad ideas, and getting ‘addicted’ is definitly not good but I would say a couple of videos a day isn’t to bad. So what do you think, Is TikTok your addiction?
