TikTok affects concentration and school performance both negatively and positively. If you aren’t familiar with TikTok, it’s a popular social media app whose target audience is teenagers. The app allows you to watch, create and/or share 15-60 second videos.
Addictiveness
According to Dr. Julie Albright, sometimes when you’re scrolling you see a post that catches your attention, and the reward system is activated. This is the same part of the brain that is involved in a similarly to sex, love, exercise, drugs, and gambling. These can trigger a dopamine release which makes us “feel good” and have us coming back for more.
Shortened Attention Spans
TikTok was designed to be a time-consuming and addictive app. At times, it can definitely be a distraction from homework, extra-curricular activities, and even time with friends. The huge amount of likes, comments, and videos that are uploaded every day can cause an overload of information. Obviously, this isn’t good for human minds to endure, but imagine what it does to adolescents? Our brains are changing based on our interactions. Our attention spans are lowering. If I’m being completely honest, I can barely get through a 15-second video without getting bored and checking the comments or my notifications. This creates opportunities for others to get distracted more easily, therefore, decreasing their focus on other aspects of life, including school work. It’s extremely addictive and I could scroll for hours. Sometimes I even close and reopen the app multiple times.
Positives: Educational, Creativity & Mental Health Benefits
Although there are many very evident cons, there are also multiple positives. Occasionally, there are educational videos that are helpful and informative. When interviewing a few of my friends, they said that they have learned a lot about themselves and others mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In my opinion, it keeps me up to date on current events and situations, both politically and socially. Not to mention, it’s an incredible source of entertainment.
Creativity is another big part of the pros of TikTok. It allows me to express myself in a healthy way. Seeing other people’s ideas and creations inspires me sometimes. It presents me with many opportunities to meet new people and find people with similar interests as me. It allows me to connect with people my age.
There are also many mental health benefits offered. It allows people to cope healthily, vent, and understand that they’re not alone and that many people are going through the same things as them.
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