ANANYA JAIN NEVER PLANNED ON BECOMING ADDICTED TO TIKTOK. Jain, who is 24 years old, downloaded the app at the peak of the Covid pandemic. She had heard about TikTok's data privacy issues, so she promised herself that she wouldn't post or comment on anything - just watch a few videos and call it a day. That lasted less than a month.
"It just pulled me in because I was so lonely," Jain said.
"I was looking for friends." And TikTok delivered. A huge Harry Potter fan, Jain was roped into the BookTalk community. She was struggling with acne, but dancing dermatologists told her about over-the-counter skincare products. Later, #polo and #horsesoftiktok became enthralling since she could live vicariously through the players from underneath her covers. Whenever Jain felt the loneliness creep in, the platform gave her a quick dopamine hit.
Innocuous 15-second videos would lead to two hours of scrolling. Soon, Jain would watch TikToks during work breaks to de-stress, or in her bedroom as she was trying to go to sleep. The app became the source of all her social and entertainment needs. Yet she also felt lonelier than ever.
"I was addicted to my phone, I had the worst mental health possible that you can imagine," Jain said. Her online friends were anonymous strangers, after all, not the kind of people you'd ask to pick you up from the airport or call up in the middle of the night. It was a vicious cycle: TikTok fed her loneliness but was also what she used to try to alleviate it.
Jain is the founder of mental health startup FullCircle.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 05, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 05, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Ours is an age of confusion. How should we navigate it? Timothy Garton Ash
In these times of planetary polycrisis, we try to get our bearings by looking to the past. Are we perhaps in The New Cold War, as Robin.
The world according to Jason
Covid vaccines, chemtrails, the Great Reset... Why do people invent false conspiracies when there are so many real ones to worry about? There's only one way to find out: George Monbiot asked a believer from his home town
From a small step for man to a giant gold rush for mankind
If the 20th-century space race was about political power, this century's will be about money. But for those who dream of sending humans back to the moon and possibly Mars, it's an exciting time to be alive whether it's presidents or billionaires paying the fare.
A bitter pill Inside the anti-doping movement's civil war
Furore over Chinese swimmers has sparked an ugly dispute between organisations that target athletes who use banned substances
Museum of Yoruba life is custommade for Lagos
Opposite the Nigerian National Museum in central Lagos, a swimming pool and a memorial hall once stood as an integral part of the city, a popular congregation point that evoked a sense of pride.
First steps for Nutbush Quest goes on for origin of line dance
For 50 years, Australian primary school students have been learning the steps to a dance that will carry them through social events and weddings and allow them to locate other Australians across crowded nightclubs anywhere in the world.
Press freedom How political attacks are rising globally
Political attacks on press freedom, including the detention of journalists, suppression of independent media outlets and widespread dissemination of misinformation, have significantly intensified in the past year, according to the annual World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Rio reporters risking all to shine light on the city's underworld
A brutal killing in 2018 has inspired journalists to probe the links between police, politicians and mafia
Is great ape tourism to blame for killing off chimps?
Viruses that only cause common colds in humans are devastating populations of chimpanzees and gorillas
Dig for disaster Calls to move to centre or right won't help Sunak out of this hole
As terrible council and mayoral results rolled in for the Conservatives last Friday, was there any part of Rishi Sunak that regretted sealing Boris Johnson's fate as prime minister by resigning as his chancellor less than two years ago?
