TikTok, Stimulus to the Brain
TikTok has become one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. Its short, entertaining videos and user-friendly interface make it easy to see why millions of people are hooked. However, as with any technology, there are potential risks associated with using TikTok, particularly regarding our brain health and mental well-being. With its emphasis on attention-grabbing content and endless scrolling, TikTok’s highly addictive nature can significantly impede the brain development and mental well-being of adolescents, leading to potential long-term consequences.
The Impact of Dopamine on Brain Health
One of the most significant ways that TikTok impacts our brains is through the release of dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that is associated with pleasure and reward so when we use TikTok, we experience a dopamine rush when we receive likes, comments, or other forms of social validation. This can be highly addictive, leading to a desire for more TikTok use. The infinite scroll feature on TikTok also contributes to this addiction. Users can endlessly scroll through content that has been curated for them by the recommendation algorithm. This algorithm takes into account the user’s likes, comments, shares, hashtags, followings, geolocation, and other data to create a personalized feed. This personalized feed creates an experience for the user where they can find anything they want at any given moment. This feeling of paradise can make it hard to come back to the real world. This escape from reality can cause harm when overdone.
Decreased Attention Span and Procrastination
Another potential risk of using TikTok is decreasing our attention span. TikTok’s fast-paced and highly stimulating content can impact our ability to focus on other tasks. The constant stimulation of scrolling through feeds and watching short videos can make it harder for us to concentrate on longer, more complex tasks, such as schoolwork or reading a book. This can be particularly concerning for younger people who are still developing their attentional abilities. The way that TikTok is designed is that if you don’t like the short video that you’re watching, then you can just scroll and move on to the next video. This can have major negative effects on adolescents who will start projects or work but never finish before moving on to the next.
The way that TikTok is designed is that if you don’t like the short video that you’re watching, then you can just scroll and move on to the next video. This can have major negative effects on adolescents who will start projects or work but never finish before moving on to the next. This “instant gratification” mindset can lead to procrastination and difficulty in completing tasks. The extensive usage of TikTok has resulted in a decrease in the attention span of many children and even adults, leading to consequences such as an inability to finish tasks or focus on one task at a time. When faced with tasks they dislike, people often leave them unfinished rather than endure the work. This mentality may be attributed to the fact that on TikTok, viewers can simply scroll past videos they don’t like. Moreover, the videos on TikTok are designed to keep viewers engaged until the end by constantly cutting to new perspectives every two seconds to keep the brain active. I hypothesize that this tactic conditions the viewer’s brain, and over time, the attention span may decrease to just two seconds for each visual cut, not even lasting the full length of a video.
The Danger of TikTok’s Recommendation Algorithm
TikTok’s recommendation algorithm perpetuates mental health concerns as users fall trap to falling down a rabbit hole. Once the algorithm picks up that the user is feeling depressed, it recommends depressing videos and draws the user deeper into depression. The way that the TikTok recommendation system works is a mystery however a Wall Street Journal Investigation has found that the algorithm picks up on likes, comments, shares, hashtags, followings, geolocation, etc essentially all the data that it has to curate a web of personalized videos related to those data. This can be dangerous when the algorithm cannot detect that certain videos are promoting suicidal ideation or self-harm.
Potential Solutions
When personalized videos start becoming less popular videos, it becomes seemingly easier to upload videos that go against the community guidelines of someone who has fallen down the rabbit hole. To combat certain TikTok videos from doing harm to the user such as in the case of leading users down a rabbit hole of depression videos, action need to be taken. The algorithm needs to distinguish between harmful videos that can potentially lead to a loss of life or worsen mental health. TikTok already displays warning for risky behavior which can be applied to videos that contain sensitive topics like suicide. It is TikTok’s responsibility to moderate content that may worsen mental health as the recommendation system is designed to lead users to more niche content based on their preferences.
Another approach to address this issue is for TikTok to provide users with more control over the algorithm. For example, TikTok could allow users to customize their recommendations by selecting their interests or preferences, or by filtering out content that may be harmful. TikTok could provide users with more transparency about how the algorithm works, including what data it collects and how it uses that data to make recommendations. TikTok could also invest more in content moderation and human moderation teams like Meta does with their content. The current algorithm is designed to automatically detect and remove harmful content, but it is not perfect, and there will always be some content that slips through the cracks. By investing more in human moderation, TikTok can ensure that harmful content is detected and removed before it can cause harm.
Damaged Attention Span and Detail Orientation
The attention span of many children and even adults decreased as a result of extensive TikTok usage. This leads to many consequences such as not being able to finish a task or even focusing on one task. People who dislike what they do would rather leave their tasks unfinished rather than endure the work. This likely stems from the fact that on TikTok if you don’t like a video on TikTok then you just scroll. These videos are also designed to keep viewers on the video until the end through methods such as cutting to a new perspective every two seconds to keep the brain active. I hypothesize that this tactic conditions the viewer’s brain and over time the attention span doesn’t even last a full video but two seconds, for each visual cut.
A very common form of video on TikTok is showing movie clips. The account will post movie clips in parts and once the viewer gets hooked, they would want more. Movies generally last two hours and contain meaningful scenes but these clips cut out significant parts of the movie and condense it into 10 minutes. This leaves out a lot of the detail and I believe would make people less detail-oriented. This issue can lead to more drastic problems if children are conditioned to be less detail-oriented. When the children become adults in the workforce it can cause detrimental effects to any field if the employee isn’t detail-oriented. Depending on the field it could lead to financial loss or if a doctor wasn’t detailed enough, it could harm another individual’s life. This concern is a very real one for future generations and we will see how work ethics play out for young adults.
Thus, TikTok should take steps to educate users on healthy social media habits. This could include providing users with information on how to recognize and manage addiction, as well as tips for managing their screen time and maintaining a healthy balance between online and offline activities. TikTok could also partner with mental health organizations to provide resources and support to users who may be struggling with mental health issues.
While we can all enjoy TikTok once in a while, it is important for us to take control of our own lives to understand all the potential risks with social media use. While the app can be entertaining, we must acknowledge the potential risks associated with aggressive personalization and short-form videos. The negative effects of prolonged social media use, such as depression and a decline in attention span, cannot be ignored. We cannot completely rely on TikTok to take the initiative to moderate content and we should increase education on the prolonged use of social media. As we continue to navigate the fast-paced technological world, we must realize the negative impacts of technology and moderate its usage.
