Students discuss the positives and negatives of TikTok

On February 28, a bill was introduced that would give President Biden the power to ban TikTok nationwide. The bill has not been passed, but is certainly an eye opener for anyone who thinks TikTok is here to stay. 

TikTok is on the chopping block for many reasons. Maybe the biggest one is that the company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, has been accused of selling U.S. user data to China. Along with this problem, TikTok also causes many social and mental health issues.

The average user spends 95 minutes a day on TikTok according to Wallaroo. 

“People watch too much TikTok, making them unproductive,” sophomore Richard Gauchat said. 

“It’s too distracting, you just scroll and scroll and scroll,” junior Zach Goggins said. 

The time spent on TikTok could be spent doing other things like chores, homework or talking to a friend or family member. 

“People spend a lot of time on it, distancing them from the relationships in their life,” sophomore Cesar Carrera said.

Users shut themselves off from the real world, getting lost in the endless videos on TikTok. They spend hours on the app, taking away time that could be spent bonding with someone. This creates a feeling of isolation that results in them spending more time on the app. 

“It shortens your attention span,” freshman Oscar Roberson said. 

“At our age our minds are very moldable, everything we see on TikTok is very influential to us,” junior Isaac Martinez said. 

“There are a bunch of challenges that end with the death of a lot of people,” junior Gustavo Felix-Hernandez said. 

60% of American users are between the ages of 16 and 24 according to Wallaroo. This means that the majority of users are young people whose minds can be influenced by content viewed on TikTok. People will start to fill their minds with misinformation. 

Many dangerous challenges on the social media platform have caused deaths, including the Tide Pod challenge in which someone would consume a Tide Pod. Content like this makes TikTok very dangerous for younger people. 

While there are many negatives about TikTok, some believe that the app brings many positives as well. 

“TikTok can be sometimes a positive because you can spread content, showing love to others and kindness,” freshman William Nolan-Watkins said. 

“TikTok has taught me a lot of skills, like how to cook,” junior Adrian Davis said. 

While there is bad content on TikTok, there is much more helpful and good content. Many TikTok influencers use the app to spread kindness and motivation. Others use the app for humor. The app is also a good way to learn a new skill, like cooking or drawing. 

So while TikTok can have bad negative social and mental effects, there are still many good things about it. As for a ban of the app nationwide, I believe that instead of taking it away altogether, the government should create a time limit so that people don’t spend hours wasting away on the app but can still enjoy watching their favorite videos.