Tiktok on the Clock or the Brain?

By: Julia Porcu

It is a global phenomenon that allows us to express creativity, find inspiration, and build connections, but at what cost?

TikTok is an addictive social media platform that causes negative impacts on our brains. TikTok allows its users to post videos from 15 seconds long up to 10 minutes long. If you are uninterested in a video, you can scroll past it or fast forward to see the ending. Users’ attention spans are decreasing due to this endless act of scrolling, and their patience is becoming limited.

Many users claim that they can’t watch a whole TikTok video because they become bored. Even though the video may be 20 seconds to a minute long people cannot dedicate their attention to the video. This can affect their focus on other basic daily activities. Some users can no longer get through an entire movie anymore.

In his blog on Game Quitters, Cam Adair notes that there is a phrase called “TikTok brain” and it develops based on the algorithm that TikTok creates for you based on your interests. TikTok can retain certain information about you based on what you interact with on the app. After liking, commenting, or viewing a video, videos alike or similar become part of your algorithm.

How does this affect your brain? According to researchers, it can jump-start addictive tendencies toward the app because personalized videos can stimulate the brain’s reward system and release dopamine. This will make you want to go back to the app time and time again. Addictive tendencies from TikTok use can cause higher rates of anxiety, stress, and depression.

What you view online also has the power to alter how you think or view yourself and this can also affect your mental health. Watching a “get ready with me video” has led young girls to purchase products from Sephora initially produced for grown women. These girls are under the impression that they need makeup to look pretty, feel pretty, or stay in touch with the trends.

There are also filters on the platform that alter the way your face looks. A lot of people on the app use them in their videos and comment under these videos that they wish their face normally looked like that. This is unhealthy and can start a spiral of negative thoughts.

Users lose hours or dedicate hours of their day to scrolling when they could have been doing something productive or taking care of themselves. What they don’t know is how it is taking a toll on their well-being.