Have you ever gotten home from school and opened TikTok, only when you closed the app, hours had gone by? This is a scenario that many TikTok users experience, but how does scrolling through an app become such an addiction?

As of 2022, TikTok is the fastest growing social media app with over 1 billion active monthly users. But what makes TikTok so addicting to them, and how is their addiction affecting their mental health?

TikTok is a social media platform that lets you create, share, and watch short videos. It's very popular amongst teenagers as the app has fun challenges created by users through hashtags. You can lip sync to fun audios, try out different dances, and follow the newest trends. TikTok uses an algorithm to send a user content that they will enjoy. The more time you spend watching a video, what videos you interact with the most, the people you follow, these are all things that TikTok watches out for. When scrolling through the app instead of getting random boring content, you get content that TikTok knows you’ll like, content that will keep you scrolling on the app for a long time.

Social media in general is addictive because it causes the brain to release chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine whenever a user on any social media gets engagement and interaction such as a ‘like,’ ‘comment’ or ‘DM’. Dopamine and serotonin are neurotransmitters that make us feel happy or satisfied. Over time we start to rely on social media to feel good, and opening the app becomes a routine.

TikTok also uses subtle tricks to engage the user and keep them on the app. An example of this would be how unlike similar apps like Instagram, TikTok opens to the ‘For You Page’ instead of the ‘Following Page’. This lets the user explore new content once they open the app.

It is also a very simple app to use which makes it a go-to app when you want to do something simple. Just scroll to continue watching videos, double tap anywhere on the screen to send a like, or press a button to create content.

When everyone started getting smartphones in the year 2000, the average human attention span was 12 seconds, but as of 2015 it had fallen to 8 seconds. That's lower than a goldfish's attention span. With this data in mind, TikTok started with users uploading 15 second videos, which moved to 60 second videos, then 3 minutes. Now you can upload 10 minute videos. The two first options are great when people stop paying attention quickly. Since the viewer's attention span is so short, and the videos are engaging and relevant, the users keep scrolling.

But how does being addicted to an app affect your mental health? Does it have a positive or a negative effect? TikTok, just like many other apps, has many positive aspects to it. It promotes diversity and is a very inclusive app as anyone can join and create videos. Many videos keep you updated on current world events. It's very easy to find new friends and new hobbies. TikTok users talk and inform others about important topics like discrimination and mental health.

But despite the positive effects of TikTok, it isn’t as great as it seems. With all the users on TikTok it's hard to keep everything under control and make sure people follow the guidelines. Any age can join the app, including little children. People can post anything they want until they get their videos taken down or their account banned. And even then, they can just make new ones. 

The content they post can be harmful and rude, such as spreading rumors about other creators, inappropriate videos, and hate. TikTok says that they ‘strive to create an environment where our community feels comfortable, confident, and safe to be exactly who they are while expressing themselves freely’ but it's hard to feel comfortable when you’re struggling with body image or your mental health, and you see these videos. So many ignorant, rude, discriminative things are being posted. These videos can seem harmful at first such as weight loss journeys, what the user eats in a day, and outfit or body checking.

What makes these videos toxic is the messages they spread. Some examples could be ‘everyone that looks like this should lose weight.’ or ‘I am thin, people should look like me.’ and ‘I eat this amount of food, you should too.’ This mindset is so damaging, especially when you’re already struggling with your body image. But when the viewer is still a little child, they’re unaware of what effects these have on them, and they start believing what they see because they don't know any better. This content sets a very negative mindset which can lead to different mental health disorders such as anorexia or depression, and not just in little kids. Not only that, but so much social media content is fake or edited. There are many filters and apps that help content creators change what their viewers see, which can set unrealistic expectations. 

Many teenagers spend their time on TikTok, they’re still developing how they view and their opinions on the world and lots of the social media content they consume isn’t helpful. Body image isn’t the only thing that TikTok promotes as cyberbullying is common too. Most creators have gotten hate comments on their videos, or insults in their direct messages. These could just be insults, but could also be death threats or discriminative comments.