Tick Tock
When the word “addiction” comes up in conversations, most people’s minds subconsciously jump to the inaccurate, stereotypical image of a drug addict: an unhygienic and jobless individual who has no future prospects whose life has been taken over by drug use. The automatic association between “addiction” and “drugs” is drilled into us by our surroundings. In health class, the unit of addiction is almost entirely dedicated to substance abuse. In the news, an addict almost always refers to drug addicts. Even in the TV shows we watch, it is hard to think of an instance where a character was struggling with an addiction outside of substance abuse. However, addiction comes in many forms, and while substance abuse may be the most detrimental, there is an arguably equally addictive and time-consuming app that we use every single day. For some, it is the first thing they reach for when they wake up and the last thing they see as they fall asleep. It has a billion monthly active users, and we spend on average 52 minutes per day on it, which translates to roughly 6 hours per week. Considering we only have 4 hours of class a day, that is an insane average. So, what is this app? The answer: TikTok.
Social media addiction is rarely treated as a severe problem. Many of us have also seen friends post about “taking a break from social media” before re-downloading the app a few days later, but this relapse is never treated seriously. Spending hours on social media has become a normalized aspect of the teenage experience, so much so that the teenager on the phone has become a stereotype in film . Yet, most people fail to understand that TikTok’s algorithms and content has made it as addictive as drugs or gambling.
TikTok is known for its powerful AI and algorism. As we scroll through the videos on our for-you page, the app tracks whether we enjoy a video through our engagement with it—liking, sharing, adding it to favorites, marking it as “not interested” or scrolling past without watching the entire clip. With this information, TikTok examines favourable hashtags, effects, or sounds and offers more similar videos on the user’s for-you page. Consequently, as a person starts using the app, they are continually given a stream of enjoyable content that hooks their interest. No two users share the exact same feed; the highly personalized nature of the app allows everyone to find it entertaining. Additionally, TikTok’s leads users automatically to a for-you page rather than similar social media platforms, such as Instagram or Facebook, which displays content from followed accounts. This set up increases the app’s control over what content people view, maximizing the effectiveness of their algorithm. Furthermore, the majority of TikTok clips are under 20 seconds. The extremely short length not only allows creators to pump out fresh content faster—hence avoiding repetition and increasing the diversity of TikTok’s feed—but also easily captures a user’s attention.
The combination of a powerful algorithm and short videos causes TikTok to be incredibly addictive. The mindless task of scrolling through videos provides users with an almost immediate supply of dopamine. Unlike other enjoyable tasks, such as drawing, reading, or even playing video games, the happiness gained from using TikTok is effortless, and instantly guaranteed. This convenience leads individuals to choose TikTok above other relaxing hobbies.
As well, TikTok overwhelms the user with endless information and sensory stimulation, which provides a good psychological distraction from more stressful thoughts. For instance, a student who is anxious about an upcoming test may use TikTok to calm themselves down because the videos distract their mind and take their thoughts away from the test. While social media is far from a healthy coping mechanism, it is effective in the short term to ease worries. Unfortunately, the brain becomes dependent on this easy “quick fix” for dopamine, creating an addiction. Most of us, for instance, are probably used to taking TikTok breaks while working and would feel bored or even anxious if we weren’t allowed social media for a week.
Yet some psychologists argue that the use of TikTok is actually beneficial to mental health as a source of relaxation and de-stressing. While this may be true for certain people, it is crucial to recognize that the harms of social media use in the long term. In fact, recent statistics suggest that TikTok has the ability to permanently impair our brain’s cognitive functions. A new study shows that our attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8 seconds in 2020, which is shocking, considering that even a goldfish has an attention span of 10 seconds. While social media cannot be the sole blame for our drastically decreasing attention span, it certainly plays a vital role in it. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube allow any individual to access an overwhelming amount of information and content. Every single second, new videos and posts are being published online. On YouTube alone, more than 500 hours of videos are uploaded every minute. With this onslaught of new content, our brains are trained to seek and expect “newness.” A prime example of our demand for new information is the way we treat social issues. In the past few years, countless tragedies have gained the social spotlight: Australian forest fires, COVID-19, police brutality against racial minorities, and the explosion in Belarus. However, rather than actually learning and researching these complex and nuanced events, we tend to read the erroneously over-simplified info blurbs on a post before moving on to the next socially trending topic. Because our brains have been conditioned to normalize an overwhelming amount of new information, we can no longer focus on one topic for an extended period of time.
With a shorter attention span, we can no longer concentrate on difficult but fulfilling tasks. Most people find it grueling to sit in one place and watch a 2 hour documentary, even if it was on a topic they found interesting. Our inability to delve deeply into a single topic means that as a society, our critical thinking and problem-solving skills are impaired. Additionally, some sources suggest that we could also be losing our ability to think about the future. According to Dr. Albright, many of his students find it challenging to conceptualize where they’ll be in the next five years. Hence, while technology definitely has its upsides, our increasing usage and addiction to social media is problematic on an individual and societal level. The problems we face grow more dire and urgent, yet we are very quickly losing the cognitive ability to solve them.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/259477/hours-of-video-uploaded-to-youtube-every-minute/
https://www.thebridgechronicle.com/tech/apps/why-are-reels-and-tik-toks-so-addictive