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Psychologist Explains Why Everyone is Suddenly On TikTok

https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/z3eew9/why-is-everyone-on-tiktok-in-coronavirus-lockdown

Turns out, it’s not just because we’re bored and have tons of free time in the coronavirus lockdown.

TikTok has emerged as an inescapable entity, not only because it’s one of the highest downloaded
social networking apps in an age of social distancing, but also because we’re seeing some of social
media’s elite cross over to these 15-second-long lip-synced videos. From Bollywood
celebrities to Instagram influencers to your mom’s friend’s second cousin, it feels like everyone is
just TikTok-ing round the clock. Even the World Health Organization and frontline workers are in
on this.

But is there an explanation as to why the very same people who loved to hate on the short video-
making platform are now all over it? Is it just because we now have so much extra time on our hands?
Or is it because reality has become so surreal, the only way to express ourselves is on a similarly
surreal part of the internet? We asked Dr Prerna Kohli, a New Delhi-based clinical psychologist and
author with a special focus on social media about why TikTok’s public perception suddenly went
from cringe to cool in the coronavirus lockdown, and the impact this will have on our behaviour in
the long-run.

VICE: Yeah, so why is everyone suddenly hooked to an app they used to hate on?
Prerna Kohli: People’s mental immunity is at its lowest right now, and we’re seeing a spike in
anxiety, depression and a fear or phobia of the unknown. We are all going through a wave of
loneliness and isolation after being cut off from our friends and the outside world in these
unprecedented times. Assuming that we were moving towards a state of self-actualisation—which is
the desire to be the best versions of ourselves, with society’s shift towards mindfulness, meditation,
and seeking spirituality in daily lives—the pandemic could leave us stuck trying to fulfill needs of
self-esteem or love and belonging.

Which is why people are turning to apps like TikTok because it provides instant gratification,
applause and appreciation. Younger generations who have grown up in the social media culture
crave this even more after being cut off from the external world, so they turn to a trending, visual-
based, reactive app like TikTok.

Okay, but what makes TikTok the go-to and not other social media?
The Freudian school of thought theorises that our unconscious mind channels the impulses of the
id, which knows no sense of right or wrong, ego or superego, which have more of a moral compass.
TikTok has emerged as a safe space, where people can be authentic and real, without feeling this
need to wear a social mask. So using TikTok may be a way to overcome any unconscious feelings of
a lack of self-worth or identity in these uncertain times. The app is easy to use and the content
doesn’t require much talent or know-how or even literacy, allowing users to access all kinds of
crowds. It’s a quick bandaid for your boredom, where your actions are mostly rewarded and you
receive positive conditioning for being yourself. Nobody’s interested in the make-up you’re wearing,
only in the message you’re conveying.
TikTok then becomes addictive because it creates an increased desire to get likes and attention from
others. It works on a reward-and-punishment mechanism. Getting likes or views is the reward, while
not getting enough feels like a punishment. This motivates the user to engage with the app to
increase the reward while reducing the punishment.

It’s a platform to demonstrate someone's creativity in a way that was never seen before. However,
once an individual uploads a TikTok video or starts watching videos, they get into a reward loop or
random reinforcement schedule. This means that if they get more likes, they will want to keep
getting more, and if they have got less likes, they will keep trying to get more likes next time.

So how does using the app help us feel better about the current situation?
Using TikTok triggers a dopamine release in our brains. Many neurologists argue that the brain
areas activated when we get likes or compliments on such social media platforms are the same as
when we have sex and orgasm. However, getting likes or views on apps like TikTok are a form of
intermittent reinforcement. This basically means the person is rewarded for their content or
appearance, but at irregular intervals without any guarantee. This lack of stability on social media
makes the rush of happiness more difficult to manage, while making the person a dopamine seeker
who is always trying to achieve the same kind of high once they’ve felt it.

How will using TikTok affect our behaviour?

While self-esteem, self-worth and feeling loved are necessary needs, building a sense of identity and
worth through TikTok is very limiting, and could keep us stuck in a vicious cycle of seeking rewards
that are not permanent and don’t serve any purpose. The exceptions are those people who might
actually make a career out of it, but that's very rare. The use of this kind of platform should be made
with restraints, which is again hard to do once people get used to the high of likes. This can lead to
attention seeking behaviour, where people start determining their worth based on how many views
they get, which in many cases can lead to an increase in the anxiety or depression they are already
feeling. It can also get obsessive at a time like this where our routines are disrupted. TikTok also
helps us communicate ourselves better through body language since it emphasises the use of actions
over words to be entertaining and relatable.



QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Thanks to your personal knowledge and/or information from the text, explain in a few words what
TikTok is.
2. What is the first reason why TikTok has emerged during the past few months?
3. Who is using it?
4. What negative and positive consequences has the coronavirus lockdown had on people according to
the psychologist?
5. So, what does TikTok provide them with?
6. Why does TikTok feel like “a safe place”?
7. TikTok can’t become an addiction. True False Justify
8. Is TikTok about creativity or popularity?
9. Can it make you happy?
10. What is the psychologist warning TikTok users against?

Ø Writing practice : Will it make us dependent on TikTok even after the situation improves?

VOCABULARY

Bored : A lockdown :
A social network : Lip-synced :
A frontline worker : Cringe :
To be hooked to/on : A spike :
To shift : Mindfulness :
To crave (for) : To cut off (from) :
To channel : A moral compass :
To overcome : Self-worth :
To require : Literacy :
A crowd : A bandaid :
Boredom : To convey :
Random : A schedule :
To argue : Restraint :
A need : To emphasise :

EXPRESSING ADVICE


Use a modal verb à It’s raining, you should take an umbrella

Make it into a question àWhat about taking an umbrella ? Why don’t you take an umbrella

Put yourself in the person’s position à If I were you, I would take an umbrella

Make a suggestion à I would recommend/suggest taking an umbrella

Advise in a stronger way àYou had better take an umbrella



Practice :
Tu es malade, tu devrais appeler le médecin.
Pourquoi n’irais-tu pas voir ta grand-mère après le confinement ?
Si j’étais toi, je me tairais.
Je te suggère d’acheter un vélo.
Tu ferais bien de désinstaller TikTok, #PasDeVie.