Everyone has heard of the app TikTok, it just sneaked into our lives silently without notice. However, it became so popular that everyone downloaded it voluntarily. Teenagers make friends on the platform and shoot crazy videos. But then the problem occurred; teenagers used it too often and even became addicted to it.

What is TikTok?

First of all, we have to understand what TikTok is.

TikTok, or in Chinese, Douyin, is a video sharing social networking platform owned by ByteDance, a technology company in Beijing. It was released in September 2016, and later on merged with the famous app Musical.ly in August 2018, which later spread worldwide.

Nowadays, TikTok is one of the most popular apps in the world. It has around 800 million users worldwide and nearly 41 percent of TikTok users are aged between 14-26. It is a platform for users to show off, dance, sing, and do everything else to gain popularity.

It makes TikTok users feel happy by watching it or doing it. Teenagers shoot videos and laugh with each other at how cute or crazy they are.

“For You Page” is the point

Open up the app, and the first thing you see is the FYP, or “For You Page”. Many people spend most of the time on the FYP. TikTok thinks the video on the FYP might be the one you will be interested in or might be by a famous TikToker.

The “TikTok algorithm” is the system that anticipates what the user will enjoy based on content they have already engaged with and customize their FYP.

Most creepy thing ever

Terrifying fact: There’s no end when you are scrolling the “For You Page”. The user never knows what will come next. It creates a mysterious feeling that will make you want to keep scrolling to see what’s next. This mysterious feeling is addiction.

Waste a lot of time

Next, the videos are really short. Every video is only 15 to 60 seconds. However, because it feels like it is only a few seconds, the user will just keep scrolling and watch for hours.

This small run time makes it so easy to immerse the user into the never ending content. Even in 10 minutes, you can watch 10-15 videos. Thus, you never want to stop. This is how the addiction works. Users can spend a ton of time watching it and then it is too late and realize that they have been scrolling for hours.

Damage your brain

There is no warning to the user that they have been on the app for too long. According to CNBC, TikTok users spend more than 52 minutes on the app everyday. Staring at the screen for a long time damages teenagers’ eyes and brains.

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TikTok means every teenager has an addictive app inside their phone, which is creepy and dangerous.

However, the government should not ban this app because it gives teenagers joy and happiness. Rather than prohibit the app, the government should warn everyone about safety and its usage.

Also, parents need to pay more attention to their kids and the screen time teens use on their phone.

Overall, TikTok is an entertaining app, but we still have to watch out for the danger.