TikTok is a social media video app for creating and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos.  The app has 500 million active users worldwide. I surveyed 73 GHS students and forty three students said they have an account and thirty do not.  On average people spend about two hours a day on social media. Being that TikTok is more commonly used now it is clear that many teens are spending this time on TikTok.  Thus, the question must be asked: Is TikTok addicting? 

TikTok is a new app, launched in 2017, making it a toddler on the playground of social media apps.  Users are bored of Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. So TikTok is taking the attention of avid social media users.  People are able to watch funny and relatable videos all the while socializing with other users. Whether a person makes or just watched videos, there is something entertaining for all. 

I think it is a very addictive app because videos are abundant.  If a user keeps scrolling videos will appear, which according to Alexa Skinner, is the reason why it is so addicting.  Videos on the For You Page go along to the viewer’s preferences, so interesting videos are appearing constantly for each individual.  It is easy to lose track of time on the app. Forty one percent of users on TikTok are teenergaers. Out of the GHS students who have an account 22 said they are addicted and 21 said they are not.  A majority of people said they were addicted or confessed that they did not know if they were active on the app enough to be qualified as addicted, though they use it often. According to oberlo.com, on average people around the world spend 52 minutes a day on the app, while 90% are accessing the app more than once a day. 

Bringing awareness to what TikTok is and how addicted teenagers are to it is important.  Going to phone settings and setting a time limit on the app is a useful way to stop an excessive amount of time spent on the app. 

I was one of the many who did not want to get an account because I knew it was addicting after witnessing my friends use it more and more.  When I finally broke down and followed the trend of getting an account, I was hooked. I could not stop watching videos for a couple of hours. My daily average on the app is 1 hour and 14 minutes.  I could be spending this time reading, doing homework, or socializing in person. Take it from me, TikTok is addicting.  

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics