Joanne Chang
Staff reporter
Since 2016, TikTok has been growing exponentially, it now being the seventh most used platform in the world with its billion active users, 60% of them being 16-24 year old’s. With 60% of the users being a part of generation z, how is TikTok going to impact generation z and our world in the future?
TikTok is influencing the public in various ways, such as the music industry, fast traveling information, and growing a social platform or business according to Business Insider, Digital Marketer, and Wired.
With every trend, follows a new song. Whenever a trend goes viral, a song will follow, rising the current billboard, even if it’s an old one.
The TikTok algorithm is coded in a way where the personal “For You” page is shown according to the viewing preferences and habits, location, and many more. This is a great way to get current information if the videos are targeted to specific users.
Additionally, the result of information moving is that more people will come across a social platform or business. It is easy to make an entertaining video and post it on TikTok to have people see it. If the TikTok algorithm works, it would target the correct group of people. If the video goes viral, then your account has a chance to grow in followers as well.
TikTok also comes with cons, specifically, mental health and security concerns.
TikTok is structured in a way where it grabs the user’s attention and pulls them in. A news article from Distractify states that with every swipe, there’s a spark of dopamine overloading the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter made in the brain, its main job is to make us feel satisfied and motivated. If people get addicted and eventually rely on the dopamine that TikTok is drowning their brain, the standards get high for the real world. This makes the screen-free life not as entertaining and enjoyable, which can lead to severe phone addictions and depression.
With TikTok being so popular in today’s world, many people have the app on their phone. Leading younger generations to find out about the app, even though the app is 13+. The kids spending time on it will get them addicted because their brains aren’t fully developed yet, thus impacting the growing stage.
With the rapid information, comes fake news. Children’s critical thinking skills are not fully developed yet, so they can easily believe everything they see. Anyone on the app can state in their bio that they are a doctor or a teacher and present false news right in front of user’s eyes every day. Additionally, having them on a social platform will expose them to strangers and content that might not be appropriate for them. Finally, it will affect their digital footprint which might affect their future career or even life.
TikTok is still growing at a rapid state with new trends going viral and new businesses succeeding every day. However, this will come with opportunities for mental health problems, cyber dangers, and bullying.
Having these problems in mind, is TikTok still the app that will continue to grow? How significantly will this app continue to change the future generation? The community will have to keep an eye out on the app evolving or even new opportunities where the app could crash. What will generation z look like after TikTok? The only thing we can do is wait and see.
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