TikTok has been around for 6 years now. In such a short time it has gained the title of the fastest-growing social network ever in the history of the internet. It not only managed to gain millions of users in a matter of months but also has affected the whole industry of video/photo platforms, and killed millions of brain cells. It is difficult to deny, that TikTok is now virtually in every social media, and the short videos from it even acquired their own name, simply “TikToks”. These short-form videos have a span of up to 60 seconds have overtaken the internet. Instagram is TikTok, Facebook is TikTok, and youtube is TikTok, they just call it in different ways like “reels” or “shorts”. Some would argue that it is great when a new, fun, and useful app gains popularity and the technology is adopted by other companies, it is a natural part of any developing competitive space. Though, let’s take a closer look at why TikTok has made such a boom on the internet, the main reason for which, is it being a real addictive drug.
With TikTok possessing more than a billion active users and its technology being copied and pasted into such giant platforms as Facebook and youtube (promoting it to some of the other hundreds of millions of viewers), it makes me ponder on what makes everyone watching it, and what makes all those companies strive to have the same brainwasher in their software. Though, after a few minutes of active thinking, an answer comes to mind – TikTok is dope.
The essence of its addictiveness (which is truly the highest among all social media platforms), lies in its design. The way the app looks, feels, scrolls, sounds, and the way the buttons are laid out all create a virtual space that lowers the level of our brain’s activity and makes it lose the track of time. It is designed in a way that forces innocent minds to watch hundreds of short videos daily while forgetting what they have seen 30 seconds ago no matter how funny, interesting, or exciting it could seem at the moment. We don’t have to search long for evidence of the effectiveness of such a design, because it has already been given: corporations like Facebook and youtube which used to be the largest social media trendsetters have suddenly adopted the pattern of TikTok app to their own playing fields. Though, the question still stays: why is this design so addictive?
In order to answer that, we first have to figure out how addiction works. As stated in the Harvard Health Article: “Addiction involves craving for something intensely, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences. Addiction changes the brain, first by subverting the way it registers pleasure and then by corrupting other normal drives such as learning and motivation.” (Harvard Health Article, Understanding addiction). In other words, addiction makes us lose control over our own actions due to a strong craving to experience this addictive something. Although, for the majority of people when thinking of addiction, some of the first things that come to mind are such substances as cigarettes, alcohol, pills, or marijuana. By way of explanations, those are drugs. However, it is important to notice that those drugs that are used for medical purposes are also called medicaments. At the same time, if we consider the word drug more as a general concept of it being something that causes addiction, then it should not be only restricted to physical substances. Moreover, the addiction mechanism works in the same way for all drugs, be it nicotine, sugar, sex, or TikTok videos. In particular, whenever the brain is exposed to certain external stimuli, which causes it to release a set of hormones that are making it feel good, and starts to crave for that good hormone rush, such as dopamine. Then a pattern emerges, “cue routine reward” (Duhigg, 2016). Whatever can become a cue, say being bored, feeling upset, wanting a distraction, etc. When a cue is touched upon, it then triggers the craving for the reward. The reward is known by the brain, in this case, it is the pleasant hormone rush. Hence, our mind urges a subconscious uncontrolled behavior that, it also knows, will bring the reward it craves for. This is how addiction emerges. Translating it to TikTok, whenever we find ourselves bored we know that we can entertain ourselves in TikTok by watching short funny videos. Whenever we scroll for the next video in the first few seconds we are getting excited by its looks, sound, or contents. This then makes our brain release a little bit of dopamine which makes us feel slightly better. Have you noticed that if the video does not excite you in the first 3 seconds you are very likely to quickly scroll to the next one? This is a clear evidence of you scrolling subconsciously, not even realizing that you are already addicted. Your brain wants more dopamine, hence it traps itself in a loop: scroll, get excited, feel good, crave the good feeling again, scroll, and so forth…
One would say that even if TikTok is addictive, it does not cause any severe consequences to neither individual, nor society. Nevertheless, studies have been conducted which state that the addiction to TikTok, just as for any other addictive essence, does affect our brain activity, especially it lowers the activity of particular part of our brain. This, in turn, might lead to the brain’s certain structures’ gradual atrophy. Especially susceptible to this are people of the age under 25 because the brain is not fully developed up till that time. Ironically, those are the ones that tend to spend the most time on the internet and TikTok due to the lack of interest in the real-world and boring classes in schools and universities.
Just like with addictive substances, addiction to TikTok is very difficult to notice, as it happens very gradually and smoothly. You don’t feel like something is going wrong, unless you check out the time of the day before you clicked on TikTok and right after you finished your daily session, here you get surprised by how much time has flown by. The danger is high, as it is hard to detect the full amount of hours we lose to TikTok, though it accumulates over time. Just the mere thought of us spending an hour daily on watching vids we don’t even remember at the end of the day, makes me think of how much I could have achieved if spent it on reading self-improvement literature or learning a new skill. Lets try to leave a worthy legacy behind and not be left known as the “look at me generation”. 😉
Feel free to share your experiences with tiktok and thoughts on this in the comments down below 🙂
I will be very glad to hear from you!
References:
Duhigg, C. (2016). Power of habit. Penguin Random House Audio Publish.
Understanding addiction. HelpGuide.org. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/how-addiction-hijacks-the-brain.htm
I totally agree with the article, sometimes you just scroll for a few hours and after you are just shocked by how much time you wasted on useless videos or sometimes you just want to check some videos that your friends sent you and again you find yourself waist few hours just on scrolling and it just crazy.
I share your opinion regarding TikTok and things like shorts or reels. I don’t like opening my social media accounts for the reasons you mentioned. However, I sometimes open my TikTok app to see what the shelter I work at has posted. Even though I only intend to watch a few videos from the shelter page, immediately after opening the app, I’m bombarded with videos. Since it’s only 60 seconds, I allow myself to watch one…two…ten… and before I realise, I’ve wasted an hour on it. Youtube shorts have a similar effect. I see something exciting, and it’s tough to escape the self-gratification loop.
I agree with you in many parts of this post, but I also have some more thoughts. First of all, TikTok is for me a form of mindless entertainment. Sometimes after a long, stressful day, I believe the majority of us need that occasionally. I believe that everything can be balanced, so in this case, spending 30 minutes occasionally watching a mindless short videos is not always bad. I agree with you that Tik tok may be addicting and that it is not healthy for people to spend hours and hours on it. On the other hand, we can find people who share their passions on Tik Tok and be inspired by them. Many accounts post videos where they are educating viewers on how improve their language skills. You might find unique recipes on cooking profiles as well. Tik tok has advantages and disadvantages of its own; it all depends on how we use it.
I agree with your thoughts, what is also very important is the fact that children under the age of 13 are using tiktok on daily basis, and some parents may not be aware of the content their kids are watching. Unfortunately, nowadays one of the most popular content on the platform has an erotic background. And it could be very harmful for young society, especially in Poland, where the quality of sex education may be lacking.
Very relevant post, I think this problem affects many people in today’s world. Not only tiktok makes us addicted, but also all other social media (e.g. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). She often catches herself scrolling for hours without being effective and thus not doing anything useful. The best way to realize this is to ask yourself: “Do I remember what was in the previous 5 posts?” I dare you can’t even remember.
As an avid TikTok user, I can’t deny the platform’s appeal, but I’ve noticed the toll it takes on my brain and the time it consumes. It’s a real challenge to balance the addictive allure of those short videos with the awareness that it might not be the best for my overall well-being. It’s a struggle many of us face as we navigate the captivating yet time-consuming world of TikTok. Anyone else feeling the same way? ????
This article offers a thought-provoking and critical perspective on TikTok’s impact on our daily lives and the broader digital landscape. It’s fascinating to see how the platform’s design and the addictive nature of its content can influence user behavior and time management. The discussion around the psychological effects and the potential for brain activity changes is particularly intriguing. It’s a valuable reminder to be mindful of our digital consumption and to seek a healthy balance in our engagement with social media platforms. Your invitation to share experiences and thoughts is a great way to foster community dialogue on this important topic.