Sophia Sullivan
Contributing Writer
On Jan. 19, the popular social media app TikTok was set to be banned in the United States. Though the ban has been temporarily overturned, as negotiations take place to allow it to return indefinitely, its shutdown is still a very real possibility. The TikTok ban leads us to wonder, however, if this is really such a bad thing.
The Bottom Line (TBL) interviewed UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) first-year and avid TikTok-user Becca Urman to discuss how TikTok has influenced her life and her opinion on the ban.
When asked how she felt her access to TikTok had affected her mental health, Urman mentioned the issue of herself and others possibly “comparing [themselves] to others on social media” and how she thought it might have negative effects on “body image” along with many other factors.
This effect has even been seen in studies, such as one performed at the Charles Sturt University in Australia. The study split a group of 273 women ages 18-28 into two groups. The first group was shown “pro-anorexia” content, and the second group was shown more neutral or positive content. The study found that both groups experienced “lower body image satisfaction,” but the former faced a “larger dip” and were more likely to “internalize unrealistic body standards.”
Aside from mental health and body image, TBL also asked Urman how she felt her time on TikTok may have affected her ability to form interpersonal relationships. She shared with us that because the app creates “distorted perception of how people really interact,” she now meets people with “expectations of … stuff that is just not really gonna happen.”
The “Have you ever been in love?” TikTok trend, and others like it, can be considered as simply being ways for couples and even friends to “portray their love for one another” through sweet or romantic photo compilations. However, a possible dark side of such videos is also brought into question with commentary on the possibility of viewers feeling compelled to “romanticize [these] curated slideshow images of love.” Many forget that “life doesn’t have a rose-colored tint” like the one plastered over so many of these TikToks, leading to the aforementioned unrealistic expectations.
Urman also spoke about how she has noticed her usage of the app has “shortened [her] attention span quite a lot” due to the rather brief nature of its video content.
This point is corroborated in a study performed on users of “the Chinese equivalent of TikTok – Douyin.” The study found varying degrees of possible “addiction-like symptoms” — possibly due to constant neural stimulation from the large amount of exciting new short clips consumed in one sitting — in “more than half” of those who participated. An article from the Oxford Blue details the study and explains how there has been a “possible correlation between short-form content,” such as that of TikTok and similar social media sites, and “attention deficit” amongst users.
In lieu of all of the negative impacts TikTok has had on the mental and social well-being of TikTok-users from UCSB and the general public, the possible ban, though initially annoying for those of us who rely so heavily on the app for daily entertainment, may indeed be necessary. The ban could very well enable students to develop stronger self concepts, connections with others, and abilities to stay focused during important assignments and activities.