Why The Popular Social Media Platform “TikTok” Is Dangerous

Why I Dislike TikTok As A Social Media Platform

Social media has become a gigantic part of our society. There are positives and negatives to everything, so I will not try to say that TikTok is completely terrible. However, there are some factors that make TikTok less desirable than other forms of social media. 

• Addicting

With other social media sites, the main timeline is largely curated by the user. The second a user creates an account on TikTok they are given a never ending stream of videos. As users interact with these videos, the algorithm provides related content that the individual will also like. This acts as a kind of black hole. It is easy to get stuck in the act of scrolling since there will never be an ending. Unless I log out of my account or delete the app as a whole, I will get stuck in the loop throughout my day. This has hindered my productivity in the past. What started as an easy way to unwind quickly turned into a waste of time. 

• Damaging Trends

Following trends can be a lot of fun. YouTube had its own share of negative trends— like the cinnamon challenge. The Milk Crate challenge, the blackout challenge, and other challenges involving fire are more than silly challenges. Unlike YouTube’s Smoothie challenge years ago where the worst thing that could happen is drinking a gross smoothie, these challenges put participants’ lives in danger. 

• Bullying

Cyber bullying has been an issue for years and it does not seem to be going anywhere. It is incredibly upsetting to look at a video’s comments and find other users picking the video creator. Perhaps it is due to the high amount of content on the platform compared to its competitors, but TikTok appears to have a larger problem with bullying.

• Misinformation

There are many people who claim to be professionals on TikTok. Since anybody can create content, it is easy to take their statements as facts at face value. It is incredibly easy to hit the share button and let the videos go viral. Sometimes posts that are made as a joke are shared so many times that users eventually do not have context and take it as factual.

• Filters

TikTok is full of fun filters, but some of these filters can give young users a distorted image of how bodies and faces should look. In one tap of the screen, a filter can give you a tan, a full face of makeup, and even change your hair and eye color. 

TikTok has a cornucopia of useful information and entertainment. The negatives do not cancel out the positives. It is important to be aware of the downsides before creating an account. With a large number of TikTok users being adolescents, I hope the content and comment sections become more positive. Social media should be a fun outlet for everybody to be themselves.