From a Teen’s Perspective: My take on TikTok

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban TikTok in the United States over fear of foreign intelligence threats.

Many people have argued whether or not the risks of foreign intelligence supersede that of the freedom to use the platform, and while clearly data security should be of utmost importance when discussing the possible ban, I want to look at TikTok in terms of the human risks. When we look at TikTok’s effect on youth, is it worth saving?

I think the answer is that TikTok — and similar social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube — possess both positive and negative features. These platforms need to strengthen the positives and diminish the negatives.

For example, TikTok offers an online space to build community. Users can connect with friends and meet new people who share similar interests. In this way, the platform can be extremely beneficial to a user’s well-being and serves as an argument for why we should keep it. TikTok should capitalize on its opportunity to be a community-building platform in order to elevate user experiences.

However, TikTok can also be a harmful space, due to aspects like its lack of sufficient content moderation. Users can easily stumble across violent or otherwise innapropriate videos on accident. As a platform, TikTok should elevate content standards and improve their ability to catch and remove inappropriate videos for the sake of their users, who range widely in age.

That being said, we can’t always rely on social media platforms to improve our experiences on them. We need to recognize our ability to use social media in a healthy way.

As an example, many people suffer from losses in self-esteem when using social media platforms. It’s easy to feel poorly about your life and appearance when you see the curated lives and appearances of others. In order to improve our outlook, we can choose to follow accounts that make us feel better about ourselves, whether that’s cooking pages or adorable puppy archives. While it’s not impossible to block out the negative effects, there are steps we can easily take to reduce them.

In addition, many people also suffer from social media addictions. These platforms are designed for us to crave more content and trap us in a cycle of instant gratification: I want entertainment, I immediately receive entertainment, and then I feel satisfied for a few seconds (max) until I’m bored again and ready for the next post. This cycle is unhealthy — it reduces our patience, encourages procrastination, and discourages us from pursuing the things we love.

We can avoid this cycle by setting app limits, scheduling time away from our phones, and asking others for support in resisting social media — this may sound intense for a simple social media “habit,” but the effects of a social media addiction are often unnoticed or under-appreciated.

Only time will tell if TikTok remains in U.S. app stores, but regardless of what lies ahead in the hazy future, it’s important to consider our relationship with social media and how we can use it to our advantage instead of the other way around.

Got any topics you want to cover? Email dylanclarklanier@gmail.com with your requests!

Dylan Lanier is a senior at Menlo-Atherton High School; his column appears weekly.

Image by kikisuperstar on freepik