The Subtle Ways TikTok is Toxic

Why TikTok should never be used

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

NPR recently did the public a great service by releasing unredacted documents in relation to a Kentucky lawsuit (among other states) against TikTok for knowingly addicting teenagers to its app. The documents included internal memos, communications, and studies about the effects of TikTok, all very revealing and frankly horrifying. I strongly encourage everyone to read the summary of their findings.

They include tidbits like the fact that it only takes 35 minutes for the average user to get addicted to TikTok. And the fact that “TikTok’s own research states that ‘compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety.’” That seems bad. And that TikTok sees itself in an “arms race for attention,” which is not really surprising so much as it is depressing. And with every profound problem that is identified with TikTok, the company executives seem to be both aware of the problem and unwilling to do anything meaningful to stop it. The profits are too great. And the consequences are severe, in some cases, deadly.

I have made the case in these pages that social media is not necessarily a bad thing that we must retreat from. I do firmly believe that some people need to abandon social media altogether. They simply cannot use it in moderation, and that’s okay. If you know that about yourself, act accordingly. And I think teenagers need to be kept from social media as long as possible. Even young adults should use social media very circumspectly. And we all should be continually evaluating our use of social media: is it wise, is it temperate, is it charitable, is it loving, etc. This is the virtue of temperance, and I write about it at length in my new book.

But it’s also true that some social media platforms are so perverse, so addictive, so toxic that no one should participate on them. And I believe TikTok is one of those platforms. Whatever value there is in reaching people with positive messages or the gospel on TikTok I don’t think it can justify the use of the platform that so deforms users.

But there are two related issues from NPR’s report that I want to draw attention to and contemplate: the algorithmic elevation of beauty and the power of “filter bubbles.”