If you’re somebody who hasn’t become a victim to the trap that is falling down a rabbit hole and scrolling for hours on end down your ‘For You Page’, I envy you. Tiktok got us all hooked during lockdown when we had nothing to do – but it’s held its gain over us and continues to damage us in our day-to-day life. Now I love Tiktok; I make countless videos showing off outfits, engaging in trends, and lip-syncing to Taylor Swift like the rest of us, but there is another side to Tiktok that infiltrates through the light-hearted stuff and makes it a sinister place to spend our time.
Tiktok is prone to oversharing and the censorship of certain topics is questionable. First of all, the word ‘lesbian’ was banned and censored: what kind of message is this to send to members of the LGBTQIA+ community? As well as this, people can post ‘tips’ for anorexia, disturbing ‘What I Eat in a Day’ videos, and body checks, which are all allowed and hardly removed or moderated whatsoever. These constant ‘body checks’ popping up can lead to the watchers feeling insecure and inadequate – and especially with such a young audience of children of primary school age and above – it will, without a doubt, end up planting negative seeds in their minds. What began as an app for dancing and fun has led to a lot of deeper-rooted issues that slip through the net of post-monitoring and the Tiktok code of conduct.
Imagine a 10-year-old child watching a creator with an undisclosed eating disorder showing off their meals of the day. The meals in question being a combination of caffeine, cigarettes and not enough calories or nutrients to sustainably survive. Imagine this person posts countless body checks of a medically unwell body or even just a body that is unattainable as all body structures are different – but they feel as though they need to look this way to be desirable. At such a young age, the brain is extremely impressionable and this will inevitably lead to an epidemic of the ‘Tumblr age’: were being dangerously skinny was the newest fashion trend. Everybody is different and the lack of body positivity and fat phobia spouted by trolls completely goes against this sentiment. The fact anybody can comment on anything behind a fake name and profile picture will tear into a stranger’s mental health yet the troll can just scroll on without a care in the world.
It’s no secret that time wasting is a major issue with Tiktok. I am an expert on procrastination and love watching 15-second clips rather than getting on with my coursework. Just last week, I spent an average of 8 hours on Tiktok. That’s 1/21th of my WEEK and 1/3 of a day every week spent on the app. The list of chores or better self-care I could’ve been pursuing is never-ending. It’s addictive and in no way should it be cut out of your life completely but putting a timer in your phone settings that alerts you once you’ve spent a certain time quota on Tiktok can help you to become more productive and stop scrolling.
Overall, Tiktok needs to up its game and get a tighter hold on the content they’re allowing to be posted. Children (and adults alike) should not be subjected to such things that can damage them for life and people need to be more mindful about what they are posting. It can be the most enjoyable app at times and allows people to connect with others but the endless trolling and questionable sides to it needs serious improvement to ensure a safer space.