There is no doubt that TikTok is one of the most used applications among a large demographic of people. From young to old or millennials to Gen Z, the application consumes the minds of many. Teens now turn to TikTok more than google for information. The application is composed of a variety of 15-second to three-minute-long videos. But are these short-lived videos influencing people with misleading information? The mindless scrolling for hours and the heavy topics brought up on the application play a role in influencing behavior and the minds of many.

TikTok was launched in 2016 by the Chinese technology company called ByteDance. . There are about 1 billion daily users worldwide as of early 2022. The application that was once used for entertainment has now turned into a platform for beauty, fashion, promoting and selling products, political debates, and videos that mention serious topics such as sexual assault, abortions, and heavy-hitting news stories. There are rising concerns about how TikTok is promoting the potential use or misuse of information to viewers on the app and for containing unreliable news sources.  

In a recent investigation by NewsGuard to determine the validity of TikTok videos, it was found that almost 20 percent of videos surfaced by the app’s search engine were false information. “This means that for searches on topics ranging from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to school shootings and COVID vaccines, TikTok’s users are consistently fed false and misleading claims,” wrote NewsGaurd. 

The NewsGuard investigation also noted that even with the use of neutral search terms in the search engine, TikTok itself would suggest controversial videos that would lead to a spiral of conspiracy videos. The study also found multiple TikTok videos promoting false cures for COVID, homemade remedies for abortions, election misinformation, and multiple other videos that are actively dangerous to the minds and health of individuals. Misinformation about abortions is specifically concerning as the overturning of Roe v. Wade has made access to legal abortions very difficult in different states, leaving desperate people vulnerable to trying different concoctions at home that they saw on TikTok. 

In addition to the mis spread of information, there are circulating concerns about the effect the application has on mental health. Young users are often exposed to videos that instigate appearance-related anxiety, eating disorders, exercise addictions, and body dissatisfaction that warp our self-image. Dr. David Barnhart, a clinical mental health counselor at Behavioral Sciences of Alabama, explains how social media platforms impact the way people view themselves.

“They begin to get this view of themselves in comparison to other people and the more of that we see, the more distorted our view of what it’s like to be the best, to be good,” Barnhart explains. “We don’t have an awareness of what we are doing to our brains.”

Barnhart explains that the best way to minimize these effects on our mental health is to regulate the usage of social media platforms. Doing real-life tasks that enhance our lives is more beneficial than investing time in social media platforms that fuel our body dissatisfaction. 

Mady West, a UIUC student who has been open about her mental health, explains how TikTok invalidates mental health and awareness. “I don’t like going on TikTok because 99% of the time it is videos that are completely invalidating the idea of mental health. People make videos talking about OCD and needing to keep stuff clean, but that isn’t even close to what OCD actually is. There’s also a trend going around about how “you don’t have anxiety unless you’ve experienced this” and the thing that they’ve experienced relates to the entire human population. What people are posting about claiming to be anxiety isn’t actually anxiety. So I hate when I see things like that because it instills the idea that overthinking thoughts correlate to anxiety. Now everyone thinks they have anxiety. The app has made everyone think they have anxiety or ADHD or OCD by doing completely normal things. It makes me mad because people with real mental illnesses know that it’s not true at all.” 

Other potential negative effects of the application include addiction, bullying, and safety concerns. Individuals can spend hours on the app which weakens memory and patience levels. A study among teenage TikTok users found that those who are addicted to the app experience higher rates of anxiety, stress, depression, and loneliness. An addiction to the app also decreases fitness levels, leading to higher obesity rates and less healthy eating habits. An addiction to the application leads to a loss of well-being in other areas of life as well.

Oliwia Gajewski, a UIUC student studying psychology, gives her input on the overuse of TikTok and the effect it has on individuals. “I believe TikTok is bad for viewers because in general, the content portrays a lifestyle that is not attainable for the larger population. Young children, as well as adults, are watching “influencers” with dispensable amounts of income participating in different activities and lifestyles that the average person can not attain,” says Gajewski. “This instills a false narrative of a lifestyle and causes young children to strive for such lifestyles that in the long run are unattainable, which may lead to high levels of disappointment and suggest that they are less than said influencers.” 

The best way to combat the negative effects of TikTok is to put your phone down and live in the moment. The overuse of any social media platform has detrimental effects on not only mental health but changes the perspectives and minds of many people. Although social media can be used for good, the bad tends to outweigh the good.