Researchers are curious to see what happens to young people’s brains after they’ve spent hours upon hours glued to the TikTok app, which is controlled by the Chinese government and has been criticized for its potential negative consequences on psychological health and security.
Some preliminary research suggests that young people’s attention spans are indeed shortening due to TikTok, a phenomenon dubbed “TikTok Brain.” and is having a significant effect on the well-being of young people in the US.
A report found that young people who watch many short-form videos on social media find it more challenging to engage in activities that don’t give rapid satisfaction. The brain’s ‘reward’ system actively searches for responses from others as they endlessly browse.
Reading and Literacy Director John Hutton called the TikTok platform a “dopamine factory,” and a hostile foreign nation owns it.
According to Attention Always, while there are advantages to using TikTok, there is also a lengthy list of disadvantages that cause problems.
TikTok videos are just 15 seconds long, so users often edit them to make them seem more glamorous and sophisticated than they are. Because of this, some users may feel inadequate when they compare their lives to those of others. Videos abound that preach unrealistically low-calorie diets and excessive exercise to achieve the ideal body type.
There have been several harmful TikTok fads, some of which have directly resulted in deaths or visits to surrounding hospitals’ emergency rooms.
One might quickly lose track of time when viewing TikTok videos due to the app’s continuous loop.
Several studies have shown that people’s short attention spans are primarily due to their increased preoccupation with various forms of social media.
When someone is absorbed in TikTok, they are often oblivious to potential risks such as data mining.
Some users persist in uploading videos to TikTok that may be harmful to the minds of younger users despite the site’s explicit ban on adult material, nudity, and illicit sexual content.
Children should not be allowed to use TikTok.
