In the Spring 2022 school semester VOX ATL, in partnership with Sandy Springs Together, is teaming up with members of North Springs High School’s student newspaper The Oracle to facilitate journalism and creative media workshops, with important conversations about what is going on in teens’ lives. In one of our recent sessions teens were invited to voice their opinions on a range of topics they feel passionate about. Unanimously, they chose to speak on the impact the popular smartphone app TikTok is having on teens’ mental health.

With TikTok being popular among young children and teens, it is very important to be wary of how prolonged use of the app can affect that population. As a result of concern surrounding the app and the different ways it affects the minds of the young users, these teens share their thoughts.

Read below to hear what many of them had to say.

TikTok has affected our mental health by creating a high standard for us. We see what other people enjoy but we might not be at that level. So we overthink and destroy our mental health to get to that “level.” – Ansley B.

The controversial app TikTok undoubtedly affects mental health, but I think the way it does depends on the viewer. People who have already been exposed to and diagnosed with mental health issues benefit from seeing other teenagers struggling with those same issues. That way, they are included in a community that understands their struggles and can give suggestions of how to improve their mental health. This same community is the reason that for some people, TikTok hurts their mental health. Mental health issues are often glorified on the app to remind those who have them that they can overcome their challenges to enjoy life to the fullest. This can cause some people who do not have mental health issues to fabricate a disorder, whether intentionally or not, to be included in this community. This leads them to harm themselves to feel validated in the community, which they may not have done otherwise. -Sarah M.

Although TikTok has taught us nifty hacks and tips like whipped coffee and minimalist lifestyles, it has also created droves of negativity for its mostly teenage audience. TikTok has created an environment where teenagers are thrust into a world of mind-numbing entities. On such an app with an algorithm that favors those who fit societal norms/preferences, teens often question and critique themselves. In addition to appearance-based insecurity, teens are also encouraged to court after followers and likes, a digital and almost fictional currency that rules the lives of many. Not even purposefully, teens allow themselves to be pulled into the depths of fiction, altering their reality and views of themselves. – Courtney S. 

TikTok mental health depends on the side of TikTok that you are on. There is the safe side, for people of minorities including but not limited to people who are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, neurodivergent people, and feminists. There are sides of TikTok that exclude these people. And that is the toxic side of TikTok. – Gabi L.

There are many different viewpoints on whether TikTok has had a positive or negative effect on teens’ lives. TikTok creates a false reality of what people are supposed to look like and how they should act. This can spark insecurity among teenagers, as they are still finding themselves and learning to grow. TikTok also praises people who are more attractive, this is known as “pretty privilege.” They give them the ability to do certain things that people who are not as “attractive” cannot do. Cancel culture is also very active on TikTok. People may make an inappropriate comment or post, and they could end up getting consequences as bad as death threats. Cancel culture can be good in some ways, but for people whose comments were misinterpreted, it can ruin their lives over a misunderstanding. – Abby S. 

TikTok is a sensation among tweens and teens across the world. However, being a social media platform, it can affect one’s personal well-being and mental health. Depending on your stance with the app, you can be on a side of TikTok where you are with people similar or completely opposite to you. Although I believe that TikTok overall helps with mental health, as it helps establish connections with fellow teens across the world. – Andrew M. 

TikTok is toxic for so many reasons. It has created fatal challenges and false realities that have pushed insecurities onto everyone who has a normal body and created a very poor “escape” for many kids stuck in quarantine. But for me, it has been more than this. It has been a place that has taken advantage of my weakness and sadness and allowed me to create a false sense of hope for the world around me. Let me start off here, as a Black girl who has tried her best to see the best in people, TikTok left me gullible during the summer of 2020. A point in my life where I realized how much the world around me, quite frankly, hated me. And during my sad moments, I would go on TikTok and see video after video of people supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, saying that they saw me, heard, and wanted to listen to me! But this is when I found out what performative activism is. Performative activism from Wikipedia’s description is “activism done to increase one’s social capital rather than because of one’s devotion to the cause.” Initially, I didn’t realize that that was what was happening, until I started doing my research on the several murders at the hands of the police in 2020 alone, and I found an article about performative activism.
-Mairen B.