Why You're Addicted to TikTok

Every morning when you wake up, it's likely that your first thought is to check your phone. You probably check to see if you missed anything on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, or even TikTok. Apps such as TikTok keep many people's eyes glued to their phones for hours on end, especially during isolation. But why is it so hard to stop scrolling? And why do we care so much about the amount of likes or views we get on everything we post?

The fifteen second long videos on TikTok are just long enough to hold our attention spans before we get bored and keep scrolling. It's filled with our favorite songs and funny creators. The "For You" page is quite literally just for you, as the company that created the app pays close attention to your behavior while scrolling and shows you videos that they think you'll like. However, there's more to this addiction inside your brain.

This is the chemical dopamine.

The chemical dopamine is made in our brains and is released when we experience something we enjoy, such as when we eat good food or have a social interaction that was successful. There are three dopamine pathways that reward the brain and release the chemical. These pathways associate the behavior carried out with the reward that resulted, which gets stronger each time there is a reward. This positive feedback may result from the likes we get on all social media platforms, which makes us want more.

The three reward pathways in the brain associated with dopamine.

Humans naturally have a pack mentality. The sense of approval that comes from likes on social media reinforce that your "pack" is accepting you, and your brain releases dopamine. On top of this, the unpredictable nature of apps such as TikTok leave us many opportunities to get rewards. We never know if the next notification we get will be a comment, like, new follower, or repost. But why does TikTok in particular consume so much of our time? It may be because you experience FOMO. FOMO is the fear of missing out on something, and a fear that another individual on social media may be experiencing rewards while you are not. Fear and the overall enjoyment of scrolling through TikTok is the reason why our screen time is so high. 

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What's dangerous about this addiction?

A TED video shows that those who are addicted to social media have similar impairments in regions of their brains to those of drug addicts. There are problems in the areas that involve decision making, emotions, and attention spans. Phantom vibration syndrome is feeling an itch and thinking that it's a notification on your phone. In a TED study, 89% of participants said they experienced this feeling once every two weeks. In a University of Pennsylvania study, an experimental group was formed in which the participants were required to limit their social media use. They found that using less social media than usual leads to a decrease in loneliness and depression. When you think about it, this makes sense because posts on Instagram are pictures that people choose to make their lives look perfect. Another side effect of apps such as Tiktok is the shortening of our attention spans, says USC professor Julie Albright. "You'll just be in this pleasurable dopamine state, carried away. It's almost hypnotic, you'll keep watching and watching" She says about the app. The ability to scroll onto the next video to receive instant entertainment, and possibly a reward, make us less patient when trying to focus on other things such as movies. I can relate to this when I start a new movie or T.V. show and it takes a while for the action to start.

At the end of the summer before junior year I deleted the app Tiktok, because I realized how much of my time it consumed. However, since quarantine started, I shamefully downloaded it again and was immediately addicted to it. I found that without it I had a much easier time finishing essays and my math homework without stopping every ten minutes to watch "just a few" videos. Personally, I think that all social media should be used in moderation, especially those that are so addictive. Forming unhealthy study habits at such a young age, while our brains are still developing, is not worth it. Next time you find yourself on your phone past one in the morning, put your phone down and go to sleep. If you're on it in the middle of the day, go spend time with your friends or family instead. As Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."