By Ines Larrauri
Tik Tok has become one of the most popular ways to stay informed about world events while at the same time being entertained. The act of scrolling through Tik Toks, and having the opportunity to change the video anytime you start to feel bored, maintains you in a ¨flow state¨. Tik Tok distracts you from focusing on your studies and community, and it is easy to lose track of time as you scroll through social media. We often lose track of time during the day, however more time can be gained if you remove this social media app from your phone and you can increase your focus on school and relationships with your peers.
As a senior in high school, I find that everytime I try to focus on daily homework I am often distracted by my phone causing me to lose focus and having to start over again. Even though this keeps happening to me, I do not dare to silence my phone and put it away while I study. I have tried it, and the constant temptation to know what is going on in my teenage world beats my good intentions to focus. I try to imagine resisting the urge to look at my phone every 10 minutes and to delete or block the app. Would I be able to concentrate 100%? Would that impact my social life or impact my knowledge of the daily news?
I am convinced that the Tik Tok app has numerous benefits for users. One of the most impactful benefits is giving users something to talk about and relate with, which strengthens relationships and communication. Watching videos with those around you creates a connection with your neighbor and provides a shared experience for starting a conversation. As a teenage girl, I get 10 to 20 Tik Tok notifications a day, giving me the chance to send one video to my sister that lives far away or my roommate at school. I mean,who wouldn’t like that? Sharing a funny video with your friend
might make their day. However, Tik Tok has also made us less connected in a certain way. I usually just send the video, without saying “hi” or “how are you?” along with the video. When we just send the video we are not connecting with the other person to know how the other person is feeling or if a friend has any struggles they are facing. Sometimes I send tik tok videos to my family and friends that express love; but am I actually expressing this love myself or just using another person’s words to comfort a friend?
People depend too much on social media for their personal relationships. Going on Tik Tok for a short time everyday may actually help to educate you on different topics, and give you different perspectives of issues, expanding your horizons and perspectives. This is a benefit of Tik Tok; providing a fun way to learn new things. Social Media has become a way of informing ourselves of issues and trends, which keeps us connected to the world.
As more time is spent using social media, we give less of ourselves to our loved ones and lose time we could be spending with them by scrolling. Decreasing the amount of time we spend on social media, will give us more time to build new relationships with our neighbors, getting to know our loved ones better and focusing on school. Apps like TikTok can be informative but should be used with limits.Gaining control of how much we use social media will help us to build a healthier and more connected life among our neighbors and society.
LAMPLIGHTER 