It’s become far too easy to lose hours of time to TikTok and I’ve been guilty of that over the last few days. In between chapters of my book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and episodes of The Penthouse: War in Life, I’ve found myself logging on ‘briefly’ only to find myself scrolling an hour later.
I do love TikTok. Short-form content is so easy to consume, and it gives us access to real-life stories and behind-the-scenes content we would otherwise not see. However, the main downside for me is the amount of news content I’ve found myself consuming.
I’d turned the notifications of the Sky News app on my phone so I was not constantly bombarded with the news of the day, most of which is depressing and difficult to digest, but now I’m spending more time on TikTok I’ve found myself seeing more news content than ever before, from both the official news channels and from individuals commenting on it or sharing their own eye-witness accounts. This has definitely had a negative impact on my mental health and overall mood.
As an example, I’ve watched many many videos of the tragic wedding fire in Iraq that left over 100 people dead. And I’ve also seen a lot of commentary around those events, from interviews to opinion posts, and many depictions of the scenes from different angles.
Once you watch one thing on TikTok it serves up a lot more content on the same topic and you end up going down a rabbit hole. I’ve seen so many videos now of the bride and groom after the event and the content is heart-breaking to watch. I’ve even seen videos of them recorded before they were interviewed by a news outlet hearing that more relatives have died in hospital, and it is all completely tragic. There is a limit to the amount of that type of content you can assume without it impacting your mental health.
I’ve also watched a lot of content about Chris Watts who horrifically killed his wife and two daughters and whose story is documented in American Murder: The Family Next Door on Netflix, five years after their deaths. And I’ve found myself drawn into more true crime stories too as TikTok continues to serve up similar content. I’ve watched many heart-warming, uplifting stories too but they don’t serve to counteract the evil of the more distressing videos.
And I’ve ended up viewing more content that is healthy on the subject of eating disorders after viewing the content of, and conversations around, YouTuber Eugenia Cooney as mentioned in a previous post. While many people might believe this type of content only affects young people, it does have a negative impact on the rest of us too, especially if food and weight have been issues in the past.
There is, of course, some wonderful content on the app that has definitely stayed with me and impacted my day in a positive way. Yesterday I watched a video by Alex George, the doctor and mental health campaigner, who talked about the importance of practising good habits during the first waking hour to set yourself up for a positive day. It included making your day, taking exercise, having a cold shower, practising gratitude and, interestingly, staying off social media.
My conclusion is that it is good to have an awareness around the impact social media is having on our mental health, consuming content that boosts it rather than damages it, and, in my case at least, limiting the amount of time I spend on TikTok and being mindful of falling down that content rabbit hole as it is never-ending and can take you to some unexpected, and sometimes dark, places.
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