Is TikTok Really Addictive? You Bet!

Until two weeks ago, I thought TikTok was some weird app where random people dance to popular hits. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I was born in 1973, which makes me part of Generation X. We’re expected to hang out with the boomers on Facebook and weep for the good old days when you could still drive a car without a seatbelt and smoke on the train. (At least, that’s how it was in Germany — I don’t know if it’s the same in America, but I don’t care).

We leave TikTok to the kids. Why? Because we’ve heard that the platform is more superficial than the fashion industry and that you only get your money’s worth there if you want to see wildly jumping teenagers who would even sell their mother for a few thousand views.

I finally downloaded the app anyway, for the following reason: the daughter of a friend told me that she now has almost half a million followers there and, in some months, earns more than he does. And this girl is only eighteen years old.

So, of course, you wonder whether you could use this platform as an author, too. It’s supposed to be much easier to reach thousands of people in one fell swoop than is now possible on Facebook or Twitter.

But before I can possibly embark on an adventure as a TikTok creator, I first have to find out how this platform really works. So I had no choice but to download the app and actually use it to find out.

Screen time doubled

When you open the app for the first time, the first video appears immediately. TikTok doesn’t know anything about you at this point and has to guess what you like. For me, they just started with comedy. Almost everyone likes to laugh, so it was a smart move by TikTok.

Because I liked the first video, I swiped down to see the following video. Again, this video was a comedy video. TikTok had already learned that I might like comedy because I had watched the previous video to the end. Had I wiped it away after a few seconds, TikTok might have offered me a different genre instead.

After a while, I also started giving out likes and taking a closer look at one or two creator profiles. TikTok learned from this, too. After a few days, I keep running into some Creators on TikTok. Not only are their videos shown to me when they have uploaded new content, but their older videos are also shown to me. In this way, it’s much easier for TikTok Creators to keep reaching their audience than on Twitter, for example, where it’s always the latest tweet that counts.

Because TikTok does a damn good job of identifying and catering to each user’s tastes, my daily screen time has doubled at times because of TikTok alone.

Some evenings I no longer watch TV but sit on the couch with my phone and headphones watching Tik-Tok videos. Just three weeks ago, I would have declared that this would certainly never happen.

TikTok can also be serious

Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, masses of TikTok videos suddenly appeared from the war zone. Most of the videos were largely uncommented eyewitness videos. Propaganda from both sides can also be seen, but nowhere near as prominently as on Facebook, for example.

Young Ukrainian women who previously produced fun videos in their children’s rooms now send videos showing their lives in bomb shelters, on the run, or after arriving in another country. Young Russians remind their followers that not every Russian is a Putin fan. By their clear commitment to peace and humanity, they put themselves in the greatest danger — and deliberately so.

The younger generation, dismissed by many older people as superficial and spoiled, shows on TikTok that they care about each other and are ready to do something and stand up for something. The massive peace demonstrations worldwide are so popular, not least because of TikTok.

I celebrate the people more than the platform

I like TikTok, and I am full of praise for the content and admire the sophisticated algorithm. However, I am aware that TikTok comes from a country that does not share my values.

All my data ends up on obscure Chinese servers, and probably the Chinese government would be able to assign me an accurate social score according to Chinese understanding at any time. On the other hand, I am used to grief as a European. We have been giving away our data to companies from the U.S. for many years, and we are very aware that this state is also not very strict about data protection.

But leaving aside the political and ethical issues, I can only take my hat off to TikTok. What they do, they do better than anyone else.

Do you have to know TikTok to understand the younger generation better? Whether we like it or not, the answer is undoubted yes.

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