According to Search Logistics, Tiktok has garnered over 3 billion users since its creation in 2016.
Its successive popularity has allowed users from across the globe to connect with each other, allowing people to find content relatable or interesting to them.
This is done via the “algorithm,” a system that orders content to users based on their interests and activity across different types of content.
“Tiktok’s algorithm makes it easy to get hooked, showing content that aligns with what I like to watch,” said Tyler Hong (12).
However, this system has generated a new addiction to social media, as people continuously scroll through Tiktok after Tiktok.
According to Statista, 73% of users agreed that Tiktok was addictive as of 2023.
A quarter of these users further admitted to feeling negative mental health effects after using Tiktok.
This addiction is partly due to users’ needs to find satisfaction or interest in what they watch. As they continuously scroll through, they find things that are interesting to them.
However, they begin to lose interest and require content that is more interesting, a concept known as decreasing marginal utility.
Additionally, some individuals turn toward Tiktok as a form of therapy. Whether they’re struggling with a breakup, body-image, mental health, or physical health, Tiktok has all sorts of relatable videos that stimulate users’ needs of finding others going through the same situation as them.
“I think Tiktok’s great feature allows like-minded people to connect with one another,” said Hong.
Although Tiktok does offer a form of validation, community, and relatability, users find themselves more unhappy or dissatisfied after leaving the app. As a result, they further their addiction in search of happiness or closure.
Rather than doing activities that promote substantial happiness, people gravitate towards Tiktok for its immediate sense of serotonin that lasts for only a short period of time.
“Overall I see its design could lead to excessive screen time and increased low self esteem,” said Hong.
Overall, Tiktok isn’t an entity to be avoided. However, it should serve the purpose to make users happy, not worse. Users should be careful about how much they use it and monitor how they feel after using it.
