If ever there was a time to talk about the topic of TikTok with our kids and students, now is it.
Yes, it happened. Saturday, the TikTok app went dark in the US, a day after the ban approved by Congress was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Then, by Sunday, it returned. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to extend TikTok’s life for 75 days to give ByteDance (its owner) more time to find a US owner (or partner).
Two weeks ago, Jonathan Haidt and I discussed the incredible power of TikTok to garner youth’s attention and some of the problems that have ensued.
The desire for kids to participate in the TikTok craze is immense. To this point, read what one dad of a 12-year-old emailed me last week.
“My two kids are 9 and 12 years old. Literally yesterday, I discovered my older son had created a TikTok account without asking permission (using something which seems to be called a “virtual browser”)...It's probably our biggest tech-parenting controversy to date, with many more to come.”
For years, teens have told me how they have struggled madly to limit their use of the app but often feel “addicted” to it. To hear teens talk about their experiences on TikTok, check out this episode of my podcast that gets into it.
Question 1. How much less time on social media do we think happened from Saturday night until Sunday, when TikTok was down?
With 170 US million users, did it have a big impact? Did people immediately go to other platforms?
I heard this from one college student:
“ Deleted the app. I haven’t gone to the others. It feels good to not have a distraction. Using the TikTok break as a break. Hoping to stay off it. Everyone is taking a break. Even when it came back on, I didn’t re-add it. It made me reflect on how much time I was spending on it and consider what I was revealing about my preferences and interests through my click patterns — and to whom.”
Question 2. How does TikTok (and Meta/Instagram, Snap, etc.) make money, and how does that impact our well-being?
Look, here's the thing: The platforms have a GIGANTIC incentive to keep us scrolling on all these apps. Our time translates into more traditional ads they can sell and being presented more influencer marketing.
The other big issue is that selling us things is all about showing what we are missing in life. It is about making us feel deficient.
So while we are enjoying dogs rescuing kittens and dancers blowing our minds, our feeds are infused with continuous messages of “your life would be better if, …..” We are constantly being influenced by how we feel, think, and behave.
Question 3. Let’s pretend TikTok experienced a true death in the US. Would the time spent scrolling on it be shifted to platforms such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat’s Spotlight? Would there be a net zero in social media use or a decrease?
Question 4. What would happen to all the creators whose work is featured on TikTok? Devastating, for sure. What is a guess about how many have their work spread across many platforms?
1. There was very strong bipartisan support for the law that was passed, which said that TikTok had to either be shut down or sold to a US company. What are the reasons for such high support?
The two biggest being China collecting our data and influencing/ compromising our national security. (TikTok has refused to sell and instead challenged the ruling up to the level of the U.S. Supreme Court, which said the law was constitutional.)
There are many examples of collecting data. One example is a 13-year-old who posts, and then years later, she runs for president, and the country does not want her to be a leader, so resurfaces past posts.
Examples of national security can influence Americans' views around the China-Taiwan conflict. A possible war in the future indeed affects our national security. This is very complicated, and I am not going to go into this here.
2. We have social media platforms based in the U.S. that are not politically neutral. How do we feel about other countries social media companies having this sway compared to U.S. social media companies having this sway?
Last week we released the updated version of our original movie, Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age which is now updated with the latest science, research and expert insight, making it more relevant than ever.
You can watch the trailer below, learn more about the movie here and if you are interested in hosting a screening of this movie in your school or community, please make an inquiry and learn more about the process here.
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If ever there was a time to talk about the topic of TikTok with our kids and students, now is it.
Yes, it happened. Saturday, the TikTok app went dark in the US, a day after the ban approved by Congress was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Then, by Sunday, it returned. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to extend TikTok’s life for 75 days to give ByteDance (its owner) more time to find a US owner (or partner).
Two weeks ago, Jonathan Haidt and I discussed the incredible power of TikTok to garner youth’s attention and some of the problems that have ensued.
The desire for kids to participate in the TikTok craze is immense. To this point, read what one dad of a 12-year-old emailed me last week.
“My two kids are 9 and 12 years old. Literally yesterday, I discovered my older son had created a TikTok account without asking permission (using something which seems to be called a “virtual browser”)...It's probably our biggest tech-parenting controversy to date, with many more to come.”
For years, teens have told me how they have struggled madly to limit their use of the app but often feel “addicted” to it. To hear teens talk about their experiences on TikTok, check out this episode of my podcast that gets into it.
Many young people are overwhelmed by constant social media use, which can displace important activities like sleep, schoolwork, and friendships. Over 200 school districts are suing platforms like Meta for harms related to social media addiction. The blog covers what problematic social media use is from a clinical perspective and how our kids can talk with a friend (or family member) if they are worried their friend might have some level of problematic use.
READ MORE >
A week ago, Instagram announced changes to its rules for “Teen Accounts.” All new teen users will be defaulted into these accounts, and current teen users will transition over the next two months. Instagram’s head of Products, discussed these changes, and one comment surprised me. She mentioned that teens aged 13 to 16 will need parental permission to have a public account, hoping this would encourage dialogue between teens and parents about social media use. However, I feel this still puts too much responsibility on parents when we need broader societal solutions. I discuss this and the rest of the changes in today's blog.
READ MORE >
We have created a table that compares the 4 most common social media platforms and the specific ways they are similar and different. Spoiler alert, they are way more similar than different. It makes perfect sense since companies see what young people use on other apps and incorporate such features into their own apps.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
