According to a Statista report, as of July 2024 – TikTok now has over 1.58 billion users and is the fifth social media platform with the most users. Even so, not all the content is suitable for public viewing and the application can also cause addiction which is a factor in the mental health problems of teenage users. Most recently, TikTok was reported to be aware of the dangers of their application.
In a study conducted by the TikTok team itself, they reportedly realized for a long time that their application had a negative impact on the health of teenage users. Among the detected problems that can occur are the loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, depth of conversation, empathy, and increased anxiety. Although TikTok already includes various features to control harmful content and reduce the addictiveness of using the app - TikTok has only been found to reduce usage to around 1.5 minutes a day.
In Malaysia, although not as often as dangerous videos go viral like in the United States – there is still content that can confuse people or make users less skilled in thinking more logically. Because of that, TikTok is aware of the importance of parents in monitoring their children's activities, and the minister asked TikTok to be more proactive in monitoring the content that is shared.
In any case, it doesn't matter which social media application you want to use - excessive use will lead to addiction and the feeling that daily life is mandatory to access social media and digital content. Therefore, always be careful and often use the protection and security system built into the device to further reduce self-obsession with an application.