![]() “I quit my job in May of 2022 to work on my social media page on Tik Tok full time because I saw a great opportunity to do something with my career,” said 26 year-old Williams. She interviews everyday Americans about the salary they make at their jobs, providing pay transparency to her nearly 1 million followers. Hannah Williams spends her time on TikTok running her business, Salary Transparent Street. Eight in 10 teens ages 13-17 say social media makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends lives and 71% say social media is a place they can be creative, according to Pew.Īnd some in Gen Z, the generation that has been raised on TikTok, have found unique opportunities on the platform. The majority of teens say social media can be a space for connection and creativity, according to Pew Research. You see if enough times you are like maybe I should be that way,” said Faustino.įor all the concerns, however, there are signs that TikTok and other social networks can have a positive impact on younger users, too. ![]() “There is a lot of body checking on TikTok – a lot of people showing off things about themselves that are maybe unachievable. “It’s so curated to you,” said Angelica Faustino, an 18-year-old sophomore at the University at Buffalo, who says she spends 3 to 4 hours a day on TikTok. It’s the content programmed to them in the “For You” section of the app. But teens say it’s not the most egregious videos that keep them engaged. The company said between April and June of 2022 it removed 93.4% of videos on self-harm and suicide from the app before they were ever viewed. We continue to focus on robust safety protections for our community while also empowering parents with additional controls for their teen’s account through TikTok Family Pairing,” TikTok said in a statement to CNN. “One of our most important commitments is supporting the safety and well-being of teens, and we recognize this work is never finished. TikTok also continues to roll out other safeguards for its users, including ways to filter out mature or “potentially problematic” videos and more parental controls. TikTok said it has tools to help users set limits for how long they spend on the app each day. By 2019, one in four US girls have experienced clinical depression, according to Twenge. Between 20 the rate of teen depression nearly doubled, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. ![]() Psychologists say as smartphones and social media grew around 2012, so did the rate of depression among teens. That may only compound a longer-term rise in mental health issues, partly fueled by technology. And that’s particularly true for at the extremes of use,” said Twenge. That’s problematic because the more time a teen spends on social media, the more likely he or she is to be depressed. “A lot of teens describe the experience of going on TikTok and intending to spend 15 minutes and then they spend two hours and or more. Those users spent an average of an hour and a half per day on the app in last year, more than any other social media platform, according to the digital analytics platform SensorTower. TikTok has amassed more than one billion global users. Jean Twenge said TikTok’s algorithm in particular is “very sophisticated” and “very sticky,” which keeps teens engaged on the platform longer. ![]() And this week, Seattle Public Schools sued social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube alleging the platforms have been “causing a youth mental health crisis,” making it hard for the school system “to fulfill its educational mission.”īut psychologist Dr. Top execs from several companies, including TikTok, have been grilled in Congress on the matter. TikTok is far from the only social platform to be scrutinized by lawmakers and mental health experts for its impact on teens. And one study from a non-profit group claimed TikTok may surface potentially harmful content related to suicide and eating disorders to teenagers within minutes of them creating an account. Mike Gallagher, the incoming chairman of a new House select committee on China, recently called TikTok “digital fentanyl” for allegedly having a “corrosive impact of constant social media use, particularly on young men and women here in America.” Indiana’s attorney general filed two suits against TikTok last month, including one alleging that the platform lures children onto the platform by falsely claiming it is friendly for users between 13 to 17 years old. But some lawmakers and researchers have also been scrutinizing the impact that the short-form video app may have on its youngest users. In recent months, TikTok has faced growing pressure from state and federal lawmakers over concerns about its ties to China through its parent company, ByteDance. That won't be easy - it's part of our culture now
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