TikTok: the only app that will have you scrolling for so long that you forget what day it is.
I, like many others, have had TikTok for around three years now. It was there for me during quarantine, online school, and now my Sophomore year of college. Through my many hours of mindlessly scrolling, I have come to realize that TikTok is not good… or bad. Although there are many articles out there harshly criticizing the app, I can’t help but disagree with them a little bit because of the positive ways the app has changed my life.
The good
Learning About Habits
A few TikToks I came across that helped improve my day to day life were about habits. More specifically, regarding the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. Atomic Habits discusses the science behind habits and how pretty much our entire life revolves around them. Thanks to TikTok recommending this book, I made the habit of waking up at 8:00am to workout, cook, and journal, which is something that my past self could never have imagined doing!
Healing
Healing is not linear. This is a concept that TikTok helped me feel okay with. Everyone is going through their own battles, and constantly being reminded that I am not alone is very comforting. My “For You” page is filled with creators simply talking about their lives and the comment sections on those videos are usually very uplifting and insightful. Even though I don’t personally post about my struggles, I feel like I have a community of online supporters rooting for me.
The not-so-good
High Screen Time
TikTok is the reason that sometimes my screen time is in the double digits (it’s embarrassing, I know). I waste so much time scrolling when I could be more productive getting homework done and be more present with the people I love. This is something I never struggled with until I got TikTok, and it is very frustrating because it’s essentially an addiction. I am slowly working on this though and have already cut down my weekly average by a couple of hours (Woot woot!).
Short Attention Span
My lecture videos are now always on 2x speed and that’s thanks to TikTok. I also have a hard time sitting through movies if my phone is on me; I always have the urge to check it even if there is no reason to. I actually just took a break while writing this to scroll through TikTok for a bit (LOL). Again, I didn’t have this problem until I downloaded TikTok and it is very difficult for me to break this habit of distraction.
I guess what they say is right, though: too much of anything is bad for you. So I will stay on TikTok because of all the positive aspects it has contributed to my life, but moving forward I will try my best to not scroll for hours on end (fingers crossed!).