The purpose of this guide is to present information on the lasting effects of TikTok on adolescents.
The research thesis of this guide is to provide in-depth information on the negative effect TikTok has on the human brain. The guide explores both the mental and physical effects the app has.
The effect social media has on younger generations has grown increasingly severe. With new apps that have limited monitoring, as well as how easily accessible they are, the negatives have ranged from psychological damage to physical injuries. This research guide was formatted to see through the different types of damage social media has had on society, specifically pertaining to its youth. To formulate this guide, there has been research conducted using SVC databases, Issues and Controversies, and the Proquest Research Library. A total of twelve articles were annotated and compiled into the guide. In the final results of this research, it was found that TikTok specifically has had a drastically negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of teenagers, as well as promoting physical harm towards children. This has been shown through the infinite amount of content that has made users insecure about their bodies, and has encouraged children to engage in dangerous activities. Looking deeper into the issue being addressed, it was proven that the damage caused by the content consumed on the app goes beyond the surface. Further research would be needed to establish a way of protecting youth from viewing this type of content on social media.
Social media has always been a controversial topic throughout its history of use. The effect it has on the human brain has always been a question, and how real the negative effects are. TikTok has been one of the most notable apps, as far as having a significant impact on both society and the human brain. TikTok has harmed the mind of teenagers specifically, through body-checking content, dangerous challenges, and its encouragement of substance abuse. Adolescents viewing this type of content has resulted in mental health concerns, physical harm, and even the development of actual mental illnesses.
The rise of TikTok has sparked some fear in the parents of these young minds. There has been a great amount of research conducted in order to understand the significant harm this content has had on the teenage brain. Several types of content have been studied, such as both body-checking and body-positive videos, viral challenges, and videos using keywords of different types of drugs. The harm TikTok has had on its users has not gone unnoticed.
This chart presents the average age of TikTok users. In this source, it is proved that the average age of a TikTok user is under the age of 24. This is important and relevant to the topic because the younger an individual is, the more susceptible they are to fall victim to misinformation and dangerous content.
“Figure 7. Age Distribution of Tiktok Users.” Research Gate, www.researchgate.net/figure/Age-distribution-of-Tiktok-users_fig5_367719699 . Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
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