Tik Tok: Should We Trust It?
By: William Atkins
There’s no denying that TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps of the current era. With all of its freedom, many have speculated and done research that has suggested that TikTok has a darker side attached to it. This can range all the way from tracking typing patterns, privacy/security gathering issues, to cyberbullying. TikTok has always been known for its captivating visuals, but more and more people are wondering, should we trust TikTok, and more importantly, should we allow our children to use it on a daily basis?
Image Credit: psychiatrictimes.com
TikTok is expected to reach 1.8 billion users by the end of 2022. That’s over 23% of the current world population. This success does not come without a well-thought-out process. The popular app emphasizes pieces of content that can grab the most attention through short-term videos–these videos can be extremely engaging, especially to younger audiences. This is the biggest reason as to why the app appeals to them so much.
Whatever the length of your scroll, you are automatically going to watch the next video that TikTok has in store for you. When you scroll, the content you see on TikTok aims to captivate your eyes, and make you become engaged in a matter of seconds. In order to do this, the video must usually be either be shocking, irreverent, socially awkward, scary, or visually appealing.
In a finding by academy.wedio.com, “If you upload content, besides the usual things, TikTok also has the right to ‘identify the objects and scenery that appear’ and collect and process ‘the existence and location within an image of face and body features and attributes.’” This not only applies to content you upload, but drafts you save as well.
When asked about why these types of videos can be so addicting, Riley High School math teacher, Mr. Williamson, had some insight. Williamson sees students influenced by social media first hand all the time, saying, “I think videos are very engaging, so whenever you watch videos, it can be hard to stop watching. Our eyes are trained to go towards movement, so you just keep watching, it’s very easy to keep scrolling, and I think social media as a whole is very appealing to teenagers, for that popularity reason, so I think that it just makes sense.”
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Not only is TikTok addictive by design and nature, it also poses a barrage of problems for the younger generation’s mental health and psychology. TikTok has the ability to distract focus from schoolwork, cause children to not get enough sleep, as well as contribute to a variety of mental health disorders, like depression, anxiety, anger, isolation, and extreme stress. According to Shortform, “some middle and high schoolers have even opened anonymous accounts just to mock other kids in their schools, start rumors, and participate in destructive challenges.”
These are not matters to be handled lightly. Social media can have underlying negative effects on students, and when people don’t acknowledge these effects, then they allow them to continue to harm our students and children, which leads to distraction and harm. According to techjury.net, Only 38% of cyberbullying victims are willing to admit it to their parents. This is because of embarrassment, fear, or the fact that most teenagers like the idea of bottling up their feelings deep inside.
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TikTok is aware that this is happening, but counteracting it is almost impossible. It would be very difficult, even for TikTok, to completely wipe out cyberbullying on their platform. Victims of cyberbullying across the app can experience more mental health issues such as increased stress levels and anxiety, depression, acting suddenly and violently, and low self-esteem.
Not only can cyberbullying have mental effects, but it can have physical effects as well, including death. In a study by ResearchGate and ScienceDaily, victims of cyberbullying, through TikTok and other platforms, are 1.9 times more likely to commit suicide and twice as likely to trigger suicidal thoughts in victims. If suicide rates continue to rise and the trace to social media remains undetected, nothing will be accomplished. This not only affects the victim, but the families of these victims as well.
The biggest thing that social media companies are after is wasting your time for money, and they will do this by whatever means necessary. Today’s youth are at risk, so next time you’re asked to read terms and conditions, especially on a popular platform, always think twice about what is actually going on behind the scenes.
