Why experts worry that TikTok could increase the mental health crisis among American teenagers | CNN Business

New York
CNN
—

Jermone Yankey said he used to spend his nights when he was in college, not studying or partying, but scrolling through TikTok until the sun came up.

“I saw that I wasn’t putting effort into my own life, I was just trying to live vicariously through what I’m seeing,” Yankey, 23, said. He said he lost sleep, his grades suffered and he became disconnected from friends and himself.

In 2021, he deleted the app. The positive impact, he said, was obvious. “It’s so great to be able to go back to sleep after midnight,” she said. “It’s great to be able to get up early and be more productive in the sun.”

In recent months, TikTok has faced increasing pressure from state and federal lawmakers over concerns about its ties to China through its parent company, ByteDance. But some lawmakers and researchers have also been examining the impact the short-form video app may have on its younger users.

Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, the incoming chairman of a new House select committee on China, recently called TikTok “digital fentanyl” for allegedly having a “corrosive impact of constant social media use, especially on men and young women here in the United States.” Indiana’s attorney general filed two lawsuits against TikTok last month, including one alleging the platform lures children to the platform by falsely claiming it’s friendly to users between the ages of 13 and 17. And a study by a non-profit group claimed that TikTok can surface potentially harmful content related to suicide and eating disorders for teenagers within minutes of creating an account.

TikTok is far from the only social platform scrutinized by lawmakers and mental health experts for its impact on teens. Top executives from several companies, including TikTok, have been grilled in Congress about the issue. And this week, Seattle Public Schools sued social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube alleging the platforms have been “causing a youth mental health crisis,” making it harder for the school system to “fulfill its educational mission”.

But psychologist Dr. Jean Twenge said TikTok’s algorithm in particular is “very sophisticated” and “very sticky,” which keeps teens engaged on the platform for longer. TikTok has amassed more than a billion global users. Those users spent an average of an hour and a half a day on the app last year, more than any other social media platform, according to digital analytics platform SensorTower.

“Many teens describe the experience of going on TikTok with the intention of spending 15 minutes and then spending two hours or more. This is problematic because the more time a teen spends on social media, the more likely they are to become depressed. And that’s especially true for end-uses,” Twenge said.

This can only exacerbate a long-term rise in mental health problems, fueled in part by technology. Psychologists say that as smartphones and social media boomed around 2012, so did the rate of depression among teenagers. Between 2004 and 2019, the rate of teen depression nearly doubled, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. And for teenage girls it’s worse. In 2019, one in four girls in the United States has experienced clinical depression, according to Twenge.

TikTok said it has tools to help users set limits on how much time they spend on the app each day. TikTok also continues to implement other safeguards for its users, including ways to filter mature or “potentially problematic” videos and more parental controls.

“One of our most important commitments is to support the safety and well-being of teens, and we recognize that this work never ends. We continue to focus on strong safety protections for our community while empowering parents with additional controls for your children’s account through TikTok Family Pairing,” TikTok said in a statement to CNN.

The company said that between April and June 2022, it removed 93.4% of self-harm and suicide videos from the app before they were ever viewed. But teens say it’s not the most blatant videos that keep them engaged. It’s the content programmed for them in the “For You” section of the app.

“It’s very well curated for you,” said Angelica Faustino, an 18-year-old sophomore at the University at Buffalo, who says she spends 3 to 4 hours a day on TikTok.

“There’s a lot of body checking on TikTok — a lot of people are showing things about themselves that might be unsociable. You see, if you look at it enough times, maybe it should be,” Faustino said.

For all the concerns, however, there are signs that TikTok and other social networks can also have a positive impact on younger users.

Most teens say social media can be a space for connection and creativity, according to Pew Research. Eight in 10 13- to 17-year-olds say social media makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives, and 71% say social media is a place where they can be creative, according to Pew.

And some of Gen Z, the generation raised on TikTok, have found unique opportunities on the platform.

Hannah Williams spends her time on TikTok running her business, Salary Transparent Street. She interviews everyday Americans about how much they make at work, providing salary transparency to her nearly 1 million followers.

“I quit my job in May 2022 to work on my social media page on Tik Tok full-time because I saw a great opportunity to do something with my career,” Williams, 26, said.

“I think it’s interesting that we can try to use social media to really impact the world for good,” he said, “and I hope that’s what happens.”