With Tiktok continuing to skyrocket in popularity, we regularly see hundreds of new microtrends, songs taking over the world for 15 minutes, and a dizzying amount of social and political discourse. This infinite cycle of content locks viewers in and tends to leave them in a “terminally online state,” believing that because they have seen so many videos on a topic, it must be true and apply to the world outside their phone, right?
In reality, most of the content seen is indeed fleeting - the trends set to “take over the world” will shift to something else in likely less than a week, and barely take off outside of the echo chamber demographic the algorithm has pushed it to. One of the most visible results of the fleeting nature of sites like TikTok, is the result on fashion. The fast paced whirlwind of Shein hauls and try-ons has only perpetuated the fast fashion economy and attitude - leaving many believing that buying hundreds of new pieces every few weeks is normal and acceptable.
Shein alone adds 6000 new items to their site every day, giving consumers another endless stream of content to scroll through. The fast paced nature of modern trends (trend cycles being around 4 months rather than say, 5 years even a decade ago) leads to consumers rushing to combat their fear of missing out. This naturally leads to a rush of adrenaline in the brain, creating the thrill that comes with shopping - the repeating hits of dopamine and adrenaline create a reward-seeking loop that is naturally accommodated by an endless stream of easily accessible, cheap and “trendy” items to browse.
the repeating hits of dopamine and adrenaline create a reward-seeking loop
While hits of dopamine and adrenaline are nice, the manufacturing of clothing is responsible for 2-8% of annual greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. When these trends have moved on and clothing is then binned or “donated,” this does another round of damage. A huge portion of “donated” and discarded clothing ends up in huge landfills in countries that have no infrastructure to dispose of them, as they are too cheaply manufactured to be of any use second hand. Millions of clothing items are left on dumpsites, with synthetic textiles poisoning riverbeds, the human food chain, and are left to take hundreds of years to decompose. These endless cycles only benefit the large companies who profit from them, and this manipulation of dopamine will only continue to be encouraged, as the endless supply of shiny new content seems to have completely normalised and diminished the rest of the fashion process to the average consumer.
Less visible effects of endless information are those that are happening solely within the brain - A study from the Technical University of Denmark found that the constant stream of information from apps such as TikTok can narrow our collective attention span overtime, and many other studies point towards algorithms pushing mentally damaging content to users.
In 2021, internal research at Instagram showed the drastic mental health impacts of the app on teen users – most prominent was increased rates of eating disorders among teen girls, something proven time and time again to be easily facilitated by online content. Multiple sources support the idea that TikTok is causing negative long-term effects on the brain, particularly in younger and teenage users, whose brain development is said to not be complete until age 25. TikTok in particular creates yet another pavlovian dopamine loop, users get a hit of chemicals whenever they see something they enjoy, and the algorithm learns what users enjoy and pushes more and more. This leads to the pushing of extremist political content, eating disorder content and anything you give attention to, whether positively or negatively.
Multiple sources support the idea that TikTok is causing negative long-term effects on the brain
Overwhelming amounts of negative news headlines and endless discourse is also a contributor to overall higher anxiety and depression levels - while it is good to be informed and aware of the world around you, users have expressed the repetitive negative consumption of news to the point where it has gained its own term, “doomscrolling.”
We as users of these apps are the only ones who can control our usage, understanding that we are consumers, who are being played for money by these algorithms, is the first step in getting out of the cycles we may be stuck in. If you lack self control, certain restricting apps can help you avoid the habits you're stuck in - using your phone's in-built timers can help limit hours spent doomscrolling, and more specific topics (triggering or negative topics) can be blocked from apps and sites such as YouTube through browser extensions such as Blocktube, restricting certain words and phrases from your sight.
