Analysis of the Psychological Impact of Tiktok on Contemporary Teenagers

. With the development of information technology, short video has become an important part of people's leisure life. Among them, Tiktok is the largest and fastest-growing application in the short video market, with about 1.5 billion users worldwide. Unlike other software, Tikotok's users are mostly teenagers, but the contents on Tiktok are varied and even contain a lot of violence and pornography. So the psychological impact of this software on contemporary teenagers is huge. By analyzing high school students' use of Tiktok data and the positive and negative effects of Tiktok on high school students' psychology, this paper puts forward suggestions to help families, schools and governments take measures, and draw their attention to the mental health of contemporary adolescents and promote their physical and mental health, so as to promote the healthy growth of teenagers.


Introduction
In today's information age, social media is an important medium for people to communicate. In recent years, with the development of time, social media has gradually become more diversified, and different social medias have their unique characteristics. Tiktok is loved by people, especially teenagers, through its unique short video format. The use of a large number of teenagers has led to a younger and younger audience, and the content composition on Tiktok is very complex, which is likely to have a great impact on teenagers who have not yet formed their own values. But now people do not pay enough attention to Tiktok and the supervision of Tiktok content is not meticulous enough. Through the psychological analysis of the use of Tiktok by contemporary teenagers, it is found that although Tiktok has a positive impact on them, it is more negative. It is very easy for some miscommunicated values to lead young people who have not yet formed correct values to form wrong values. In addition, due to the characteristics of Tiktok, everyone can upload their own videos due to the characteristics of self-media, and young people who are lack of independent thinking ability are easily influenced by public opinion orientation. Later, relevant suggestions were put forward to help the society monitor Tiktok and its content in a more detailed manner so as to protect the mental health of contemporary teenagers. By analyzing high school students' use of Tiktok data and the positive and negative effects of Tiktok on high school students' psychology, this paper puts forward suggestions to help families, schools and governments take measures, and draw their attention to the mental health of contemporary adolescents and promote their physical and mental health, so as to promote the healthy growth of teenagers.

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Analysis of the psychological impact of Tiktok on contemporary adolescents

Current status of Tiktok usage among contemporary teenagers
Since its establishment, the number of users of Tiktok has been increasing rapidly. The latest TikTok statistics show that, as of July 2022, the platform has over one billion monthly active users worldwide [1]. In the US 62% of TikTok users are aged between 10 and 29 [1]. Due to the impact of the new Covid-19, Tiktok has gradually become a tool used by teenagers to pass time and pastime, and as an emerging social platform, the unique function of commenting has become a very popular way for teenagers to socialize. And because of the easy availability of short videos and the rapid and intensive stimulation caused by a video of about 15s to teenagers, teenagers are gradually addicted to it. It often happens that a few hours after picking up the mobile phone and opening the Tiktok will pass. The article "TIKTOK -THE INFLUENCE ON SCHOOLPERFORMANCE AND SOCIAL LIFE OF ADOLESCENTS" uses a questionnaire which was applied to a sample of 50 adolescents shows that the time spent by the teenagers on TikTok application was less than 30 minutes/day for 40% of them, and 60% of teenagers stated that the application was more than 30 minutes/day [2]. Michael Haenlein, Ertan Anadol, TylerFarnsworth, Harry Hugo, Jess Hunichen, and Diana Welte describe TikTok as a 20-second attackto grab the attention of content consumers, this is especially favored among the young population, in the article "Navigating the New Era of Influencer Marketing: How to be Successful on Instagram, TikTok, & Co" [3]. However, there are also some teenagers who choose to upload and share their lives on Tiktok and get a lot of attention. Most of them record their daily life and game videos to gain recognition. Some teenagers even become full-time bloggers and give up their studies pregnancy. In addition, many younger teenagers, like elementary school students, have been exposed to many things through Tiktok that their age group should not be exposed to, resulting in swear words.

The positive psychological impact of Tiktok on adolescents
With the progress of the times and the reform of education, the learning stress of contemporary teenagers is increasing, and the fast activity which cancan stop at any time of TikTok can help them relieve the pressure very well. Unlike other traditional leisure methods like travel or sports, Tiktok saves a lot of time while reducing the cost of entertainment. While this may seem like low-level entertainment, it is a great way to unwind for teens who do not have much free time for their study-heavy tasks. The participants in Stefanie Plank's test all fell a few feelings : entertainment, inspiration and creativity. They enjoy easy entertainment they can get from this application because algorithm gives you random videos which fit very well their interest. This can be dance videos or funny videos like memes etc. In connection with this, they pointed out the different emotions you feel when you scroll through your feed [4]. What's more, in the article "Research on the Influence of TikTok on Teenagers" Jiahong Guo thinks that Tiktok make teenagers whose personality, perception and morality will begin to shape and who consider themselves as adults have a chance to be treated as a adult on it. TikTok also satisfies the juvenile's self-actualization, because of TikTok's diverse vibe. It handy functions make teenagers the chance to express themselves [5]. As mentioned earlier, TikTok guesses people's preferences through its unique algorithm combined with big data and then pushes videos for them about the things they are interested in, which means that many people with the same hobby will be pushed the same video, and this video The comment area becomes similar to a fan forum. It helps teens find like-minded friends, which makes it easier for them to gain social connections and friendships. As TikTok gradually becomes mainstream and popular, cultures from all over the world are spread and passed on. For example, many Chinese traditional cultures have gained a lot of attention on TikTok, and some traditional cultures that were about to disappear have returned to people's field of vision. Because of its trend of mainstreaming, it has greatly weakened the influence of regions on culture, and young people across the country have more common topics.

Addiction to Tiktok
Teenagers are already in a stage of weak self-control, and the content of Tiktok video itself is very attractive, and it allows teenagers to obtain short-term, fast and high-intensity stimulation, which makes it more difficult for them to get out of it. In addition to the attractiveness of the Tiktok video itself, Tiktok is indeed full of addictive and elaborate designs. Just like there is no clock in a casino, Tiktok deliberately blurs the user's time judgment and hides the time in design. information [6]. These lead to addiction in adolescents and are highly likely to impact their lives as well as their studies.

Spreading wrong values on TikTok
The threshold for posting videos on Tiktok is very low, as long as people register for an account, they can upload their own videos. Although Tiktok has a review mechanism, the spread of wrong values, especially extremism abroad, is often seen on Tiktok. In the results of a systematic content analysis of far-right contents on Tiktok, it shows that there are 196 postings in total related to far-right extremism. These encompassed the far-right ideologies of fascism, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-immigration, chauvinism, nativism, and xenophobia [7]. Although extremism is very rare in China, it is inevitable for teenagers to compare themselves with video creators when they swipe their peers. Most teenage video creators aim to show off, so it is extremely easy for teenagers to swipe videos. There is a huge sense of gap and denial of the original family and oneself. They may bring this negativity into their lives, causing problems in family relationships. In addition, Tiktok is full of soft pornography, and many video creators choose to release rubbing videos to gain public attention for traffic, which has a negative impact on the physical and mental health of teenagers.

Blind imitation of behavior on Tiktok
Teenagers in many small cities and rural areas in China are unable to continue their studies due to the absence of their parents and poor family incomes. When they see that many people get traffic through Tiktok and follow them, they may blindly imitate them, causing today's teenagers to become Premature, like junior high school students, may have had several emotional experiences. This kind of maturity that is not in line with the current age, not only affects the learning of the main tasks of their age group, but also makes it more difficult for them to form their own thinking system. Nowadays, the phenomenon of following the trend has gradually become pathological, and they do not care what the consequences will be. Pleasure, which not only affects their healthy growth of sunshine, but also may affect their physical health, which may lead to different bad situations, such as early pregnancy.

Cyberbullying
Everyone can express their opinions on Tiktok, so the emergence of online violence will become very easy. Maybe just a simple video can lead to public opinion and lead to online violence. And in Tiktok, the guidance of public opinion is very simple and cost free. As long as a video that is enough to attract people's attention is used as a public opinion guide, most people will accept it and spread it. Publishers often use people's love to watch and follow the crowd to create the direction of public opinion. After that, many people will abuse the victims through public opinion and self-righteous speculation. Even if the victims prove the truth with evidence, it is too late to apologize. Even there will still be some people who act according to their own subjective thoughts regardless of the truth, right or wrong. Young people with immature minds are likely to become victims and perpetrators. Social media has also introduced new, often anonymous, forms of aggression and violence that take place exclusively online. Cyber-bullying has generated the most research to date. Although there is some debates on the definition, cyber-bullying generally involves using the Internet to threaten, harm, embarrass, or socially exclude others [8]. In addition, the cost of online violence on Tiktok is extremely low. You only need to move your finger to launch vicious invections against the victim's account, although now each account will display its own IP address. However, it is still difficult to hold every perpetrator accountable. When teenagers are subjected to cyber violence, they are prone to depression, avoidance of the Internet, and even suicidal tendencies because of cyber violence.

Influences
There are also many influences to teenagers because of cyberbullying. The first is that it may affect the development of middle school students' personality. Song Yueping, associate professor of Renmin University of China and Zhang Jingwen said: "The key period of personal socialization is the youth stage. In this stage, being bullied will weak adolescents' self-identity and increases the risk of anxiety and depression, which is not conducive to the development of adolescents' mental health and personality shaping" [9]. And, with the stress and anxiety of the Internet, the teenagers' sleep will also be influenced."Students face pressure from study, life, interpersonal relationship and employment, and more often turn to the Internet to seek help or vent, so they are vulnerable to cyber violence. Frequent implementation or acceptance of bullying from the Internet takes up a lot of students' rest time, and also affects their emotions, leaving them in a state of excitement for a long time, resulting in a series of sleep problems" [10]. What's worse, teenagers may alleviate their anxiety and injuries through drugs, alcohol and smoking. In the experiment of Wu Yuejiao, Chen Jingqi and Ma Shuang, it was found that the experience of peer online violence in childhood was also related to adolescent risky behavior [11].

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Suggestions on protecting adolescent mental health ① Tiktok should go online to conduct real-name authentication for each account, and upgrade the existing youth model to allow minors to bind their own accounts. The videos pushed to their accounts are categorized and restricted by big data algorithms. What's more,for regulators, we should strengthen the review, and for some dissemination of vulgarity and fear the video of terror, blood and other categories shall be controlled. It will mislead and distort the price of teenagers value videos will be deleted or banned, and will not be tolerate.
② The government should improve the supervision system for short video platforms, and perfect relevant laws and regulations, while increasing attention to such platforms. At the same time, the government has set up an online psychological counseling platform to help young people face up to their own psychological problems and solve these problems. Society, educational institutions and families should pay attention to the things that young people are interested in, and instruct young people with an inclusive attitude, so as to be able to prescribe the right medicine, understand what they really need and find the right way to help them.
③ Schools can carry out relevant psychological courses to help young people regulate their emotions and protect their mental health. Teachers should not only care about students' academic performance, but also their mental health. Schools should also set up a psychological counseling room so that students can get timely help if they have psychological problems in school.
④ In addition to government schools and the platform itself, parents need to pay more attention to their children's psychological conditions. Many teenagers are eager to attract the attention of others because of the harm caused by their native families, such as lack of care, and thus are easily harmed online. If parents pay attention to their children's mental health immediately, it can greatly reduce the harm children suffer from the Internet, and make them pay more attention to the real rather than virtual online world.
⑤Measures that can be taken at the individual level of students. Middle school students should consciously regulate their network behavior and surf the Internet in a civilized way. Middle school students should pay attention to improving their network moral cultivation, and achieve the unity of knowledge and practice between the network and reality, consciously abide by the network moral norms and civilized language. Do not do what you want because no one knows you. Do not be a violent person without scruples. The Internet is a virtual world in which many netizens freely vent their anger and dissatisfaction, and abuse others at will to gain psychological catharsis. These irresponsible abuse and humiliation not only cause harm to others, but also lead to their own network mob. At the same time, it may incur retaliation from the "victims" and become the victims of cyber violence. In the face of fragmented information, middle school students should always keep a clear head, overcome the bad psychology of following the crowd, do not release bad information, do not incite bad emotions, do not expose others' privacy at will, and do a good job in emotional management, do not abuse others online.

Conclusion
Tiktok is a platform full of all kinds of information, with strong openness and interaction, and has a strong attraction and influence on young people. It has a positive psychological impact on young people, and it can also lead to addiction to young people, and may lead them to form wrong values, more likely to lead them to depression and even suicidal tendencies. In addition to regulating the content of the Douyin platform and promoting the healthy and active development of young people, parents and schools should be more concerned about their children's mental health and cooperate with each other. The government should use the Internet to strengthen the education of young people's mental health, so that young people have a positive attitude towards life and sunshine healthy mind. As Wang Zhaolin said "We are in an era of great change. This is the best time, and it is also a the worst times. Teenagers should constantly improve themselves, strengthen self-control and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, make use of the advantages brought by the Internet, and constantly explore the boundaries of the future, dare to try and create their own value" [12].