Almost everyone has heard of TikTok. Not the sound a clock makes, but an evil social media platform that destroys dopamine receptors and cuts attention spans. TikTok has taken the world by storm since its release in 2016.
According to Mansoor Iqbal, editor of Business of Apps, Tiktok was downloaded 693 million times in 2019 and 2020. He also presents how TikTok has been downloaded three billion times, and in China is accessed by 780 million users daily. With this information you can tell how popular the app is, that is if you don’t already have it.
I am actually an owner of this devious app and deem myself guilty of doom scrolling through random videos running from fifteen seconds to two minutes. Whether I am watching a video about cats, cooking, news, music, or celebrity drama I find myself entertained. Almost too entertained.
TikTok’s algorithm is the same as a slot machine, says USC Professor, Julie Albright. When scrolling on Tiktok you see something you like and get an instant truckload rush of dopamine. But some videos or pictures aren’t as intriguing, and this encourages you to keep scrolling to find more things that are interesting. These short hypnotizing videos twist your dopamine receptors and destroy your brain’s reward system.
TikTok’s fast system of choosing what interesting videos you want to watch in mere seconds, is detrimental to one’s attention span. I have found myself affected while watching movies and even TV shows. I’m not as intrigued as I once was while watching this type of entertainment. I find myself not even noticing picking up my phone and loading into TikTok. It’s a nasty habit that I know many can relate to.
I created a poll asking 30 students if they had TikTok, and if they thought it was addicting. 21 own the app and nine do not. The nine that don’t have the app downloaded either have previously had it and deleted it, or were not allowed to have it due to their parents’ orders. As expected, all 30 claimed that TikTok is extremely addictive.
Many of my peers reported having a shorter attention span due to the app, and relate to the same problem as me. Banks Williams, a fellow CCES student says, “Watching a show seems more like a chore than entertainment.” From this statement, one can tell TikTok is a bigger problem than what meets the eye.
Some people say TikTok is addictive in general but they aren’t addicted to it themselves. I find myself having this same train of thought. I don’t think TikTok is that addicting and I can definitely delete it and live without it, I just don’t want to right now.
