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Student Research Guide WQ25/ Tiktok and Effects on the Brain

E. Pollitt

Top 10 Resources

 

 

  • BOOK: Boyd, Danah. It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. Yale University Press, 2015.
    - This book describes the negative effect social media has had on teen lives. I learned through this source that social media use and the type of media people consume can even contribute to their own identity. 
  • ARTICLE: Bujph. “What Makes TikTok so Addictive?: An Analysis of the Mechanisms Underlying the World’s Latest Social Media Craze.” Brown Undergraduate Journal of Public Health, 7 Feb. 2022, sites.brown.edu/publichealthjournal/2021/12/13/tiktok/
    - This source provided information on what exactly makes TikTok so addictive to the brain. The source also describes how frequent TikTok use can decrease productivity, and lower user’s attention spans.
  • VIDEO: CBS News. “Lawsuit Argues TikTok Is Harming Children’s Mental Health.” YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHlEP1w2WOc . Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.
    - Through this video, I learned that lawsuits have been filed against TikTok due to the drastic effect it can have on a user's mental health. It also claims that TikTok is “addictive and harmful”.
  • ARTICLE: Criddle, Cristina. “Body-Editing Apps on Tiktok ‘Trigger Eating Disorders.’” BBC News, BBC, 27 Mar. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/technology-56503546  
    - This article claims that TikTok “fuels this epidemic” of eating disorders. Through this article, I learned that TikTok can be a leading cause in the development of eating disorders, especially in teenagers.
  • ARTICLE: Freedom. “How Tiktok Keeps You Hooked and Perpetually Scrolling.” Freedom Matters, 31 Aug. 2023, freedom.to/blog/how-tiktok-keeps-you-hooked-and-perpetually-scrolling/
    - This article taught me how TikTok’s layout is so addicting. This is due to the endless scrolling feature on the main page, or the “for you” page. 
  • SCHOLARLY ARTICLE: Harriger, Jennifer A., et al. “The Body Positivity Movement Is Not All That Positive on TikTok: A Content Analysis of Body Positive TikTok Videos.” Body Image, vol. 46, 1 Sept. 2023, pp. 256–264, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144523000852, The body positivity movement is not all that positive on TikTok: A content analysis of body positive TikTok videos - ScienceDirect
    - This source was useful because it describes how TikTok has affected the body image of its users in a negative light. On this website, it was described that even the body positive content on TikTok does not make users feel better about the way their body looks. 
  • SCHOLARLY ARTICLE: Lombardo, G. A. G., et al. “Cyber Social Proof and Hazard: Investigating the Impact of Social Media on Pediatric Burn Incidents – Analysis and Comprehensive Literature Review.” Annales de Chirurgie Plastique Esthétique, vol. 69, no. 5, Sept. 2024, pp. 442–48. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.skagit.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.anplas.2024.05.006.
    - From this source, I learned that social media has often encouraged its younger users to engage in risky behaviors. This source describes an instance where young users have been burned following participation in these challenges.
  • SCHOLARLY ARTICLE: Rachel Hogg. “Just 8 Minutes of TikTok ‘Thinspiration’ Content  Is Enough to Affect Body Image.”  The Conversation: An Independent Source of Analysis from Academic  Researchers, 1st ed., The Conversation, 2024. Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NTMzMjU4OQ==?aid=102912.
    - This article provides an informative description of how TikTok "thinspiration" content effects users. Users participated in an experiment where they viewed body-checking content, and all participants were found to have a decrease in body satisfaction.
  • BOOK: Thelandersson, F. (2023). 21st century media and female mental health : profitable vulnerability and sad girl culture. Palgrave Macmillian. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16756-0
    - This source was useful to my research because it gave me additional insight on how social media has affected women specifically.
  • SCHOLARLY ARTICLE: Westenberg, Jordan M., and Crystal D. Oberle. “The Impact of Body-Positivity and Body-Checking TikTok Videos on Body Image.” The Journal of Social Media in Society, vol. 12, no. 1, 31 May 2023, pp. 49–60,  https://thejsms.org/index.php/JSMS/article/view/1153
    - From this source, I learned that TikTok users that view content surrounding the topic of body image feel significantly more self-conscious about their own bodies.


 

Top 5-10 Recommended Keywords/Search Terms on the Topic

 

  1. "TikTok" AND "mental health"
  2. "TikTok" AND "addiction"
  3. "TikTok influence"
  4. "Social media" AND "mental health"
  5.  TikTok effect on teens

 

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