What is Tiktok?

The app TikTok, originating in China from the parent company ByteDance, is a social media app with more than 78.8 million users in the United States. It was rumored to be banned in the United States back in 2020 after being under the suspicion of being a threat to user’s security and privacy. This ban was never followed through on as it was not found that TikTok was actually a virus. But while TikTok doesn’t harm your machine, but it is still a virus for your mind.

Issues with Tiktok:

Tiktok is a very well-constructed entertainment application with recommendations for specialized videos that perform extremely well as they are supplied to the right users. The app can connect communities and serve as a great form of entertainment for its users. However, the app has a tendency to induce addiction, with users being trapped in cycles of scrolling for hours attempting to consume as much of this infinite amount of content as possible. TikTok users often don’t get any fulfillment out of doing this for hours. In addition, the easily susceptible minds of teenagers and children are at risk of addiction far more than adults. Tiktok may not harm your phone or privacy in the way that a traditional virus would, but it harms your mind, harming your ability to be productive and trapping you in infinite scrolling cycles for hours at a time.

Meet Douyin:

In China, the app ‘TikTok’ isn’t actually called TikTok. It goes under a different name, Douyin. Douyin does offer similar features as Tiktok but it has different regulations and features for preventing the problems that TikTok has in the United States. Douyin has regulations in place, such that any child under the age of 14 isn’t allowed to be shown in dancing videos or entertainment content through the app, and from holding educational content that promotes constructive behavior. In addition, in order to prevent addiction, Douyin estates a 5-second mandatory unskippable break video in between videos that advises users to go do something constructive with their time. If that wasn’t enough already, Douyin has a 40-minute time limit on the app and downtime so these users aren’t kept in an infinite scrolling cycle and on the app for absurd hours. This app is the ideal version of Tiktok with all of the pros of the app while preventing the cons by keeping children in check.

To Conclude…

Tiktok has its own country’s interest in mind while neglecting the interests and productivity of the other countries the app is used in. With 78.8 million users in the United States and a Tiktok ban not in question any longer, it is important to keep ourselves in check to make sure that we are productive people and do not suffer addiction the way many do while using Tiktok and other social media platforms.