The adapted Facebook addiction scale, which measures the six basic elements of addiction to the social media giant.
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A news story has known some of the behaviors of “TikTok addiction”, when users develop an addiction to the viral video application.
TikTok, which hasn’t been studied as much as social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, can inspire compulsive behavior.
Troy Smith of the University of Trinidad and Tobago analyzed the knowledge of 354 students, adding 173 TikTok users and 313 Facebook users.
Facebook users completed a questionnaire known as the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, which measures the six basic elements of addiction: prominence, change of temperament, tolerance, isolation, conflict, and relapse.
On the Facebook dependency scale, the criteria are: having an obsessive mindset with Facebook, feeling an increasing desire to use Facebook, using Facebook for non-public issues, unsuccessfully seeking to decrease Facebook use, getting agitated or disappointed when you are forbidden. use Facebook, and use Facebook to such an extent that it has a negative effect on school or work.
For this study, an edition of the scale was adapted in which the word “Facebook” was replaced by “TikTok”.
Users who scored higher on this scale used TikTok more intensely, and the majority of users (68. 2%) were classified as “no risk” of TikTok addiction, 25. 4% of them were considered “low risk” and 6. 4% were rated as “at risk”. TikTok lately has a billion users worldwide.
“Although most users seem to be using TikTok in non-problematic ways, the study demonstrates that there is a risk of overuse and imaginable problematic use and it is linked to addictive behaviors that can have a negative effect on users’ everyday lives. “those affected,” Dr. Smith said.
“In addition, the study notes that while there are similarities between the addictive process on Facebook and TikTok, there are significant differences in manifestation, predictors, and intensity of use related to average use compared to problematic use. As such, a user could provide problematic usage on a fast platform and not have the same insufficient reaction to the broader category of social media.
The ultimate maximum symptoms of addiction, Dr. Smith continued, are that the user becomes nervous, irritable, worried, or displays strong emotions of sadness when they are at a disadvantage on the social networking site.
“TikTok addiction is undoubtedly a very genuine thing. Unfortunately, what this study has not explored is society’s reliance on the web since the pandemic. We have been forced to live in an exclusively online world, whether in our professional or non-public lives. Social media sites like TikTok have become a form of escape for many, especially our younger generation, but what starts as an innocent emotion can temporarily turn into something more serious,” says Nuno Albuquerque, lead remedies representative for the UK Addiction Treatment Group;
“We know this because we treat other people for social media and web addictions, and we’ve noticed firsthand an increase in the number of other people we treat since 2020. But the difficulty comes from the way we treat this. addiction, especially when a withdrawal-based style of remedy is not appropriate. Instead, we focus on the individual’s non-public triggers, establishing barriers and barriers, encouraging genuine interactions to negate the emotions of loneliness, and strategies to increase self-esteem and self-esteem. esteem.
In a statement, TikTok said, “Our goal is to support the well-being of our network so that they feel part of their TikTok experience. We’re taking steps like proactively streaming reminders in the feed to take breaks from our app, restricting late-night push notifications for young users, and allowing parents to manage screen time as part of our family circle’s matching features. »
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