Hi, my name is Cat and I’m addicted to Tik Tok.
I write this one day clean of Tik Tok. I deleted the app yesterday and actually feel pretty good. Maybe I’m not addicted because I don’t have the shakes or feel nervous without it. Lucky me. But I bet, there are some of us out there who really are. I look around on campus and see faces down constantly. No one is looking up to interact or even watch where they are going.
I speak from first-hand experience when I say that an addiction – whether minor or major – to social media, your phone, or just technology in general gets in the way of life. It gets in the way of responsibilities and especially as college students, it gets in the way of school. It’s easy to get distracted, lose track of time, and it makes it even easier to escape from feeling and healthy coping.
Now, I’m not saying that being on your phone and utilizing all that technology has brought us can’t be good. I’m also not saying to get rid of your phone or to even change your habits. But I am asking you (as I am also asking myself) to check in with yourself. I knew it was time to delete the Tik Tok app when I wanted to do other things with my time. Instead of watching these videos that would fill me with joy for .5 seconds, I wanted to write and feel. I need to allow myself that time for my mind to not be distracted. I also wanted to get up in the morning and make my bed and get sh!t done.
And that can be hard when you have an unhealthy distraction.
Maybe this article can be a sign for you to check in with yourself and reevaluate your relationship with media. Is it helping you? Hurting you? Is it unhealthy? Does it fill you? And depending on these answers, do you need to make any changes? Wishing you all the best.
(Photo courtesy of Robin Worrall on Unsplash.com)