The purpose of this work is to give a fairly accurate idea of the impact of the TikTok social media platform on the attention of students during lectures. The effect of TikTok as a platform, the use of which takes more than 50% of the young audience a significant amount of time of the day, on the ability to perceive information, seems to be quite strong (Cervi 2021: 198). The peculiarity of TikTok as a platform that uses algorithms and integrates with the user with a sufficiently long time of use has a certain impact on the user’s mental health. A significant proportion of Generation Z, i.e. young people between the ages of 14 and 24, uses TikTok at least for 30 minutes a day (Stahl and Literat 2022).
Thus, the key years for obtaining education and the necessary skills are at risk of being wasted due to a shift in the focus of attention, a decrease in the duration of attention maintenance and, as a result, learning and academic performance. As part of this work, it is proposed to study the real impact of this social media platform on the mental state of students, with an emphasis on the skills to perceive academic and educational information.
The Difference in Formats
It is assumed that the format itself, in which videos are organized on this platform, is sharply inconsistent with the principles of presenting information in a lecture format. Conducting a lecture or a seminar as a manifestation of oratory and academic professional skills has a completely different specific impact on human consciousness. The perception of the lecture format requires a certain amount of attention and the ability to concentrate on the topic under discussion. The problem that using TikTok underestimates the attention span is extremely significant when it comes to the perception of the lecture format.
The student loses the opportunity to focus on the material, since the principles of information consumption in the TikTok format are completely different. Despite the fact that TikTok is a distributor of news and useful information, the platform itself primarily positions itself as a hosting and algorithmizer of entertainment content. This content is extremely diverse, eclectic, but short in length (Qin, Bahiyah and Musetti 2022).
TikTok is also distinguished by another important property inherent in other social media. The material on TikTok is presented in the Feed format, thus being a potentially endless stream of changing audiovisual information. It is not difficult to imagine how this format is radically different from the traditional format for the presentation and perception of educational and academic material. It can be extremely difficult for students to rebuild their minds to a less clip and chaotic format, which cannot but affect their learning skills negatively.
TikTok Abuse and Addictive Potential
The purpose of using TikTok by a student, in case the students themselves are not content creators, is primarily to distract from everyday problems and routine. It is in this aspect that TikTok, like any social media platform, turns out to be dangerously addictive for a significant risk group among young people. The ease of use and flexibility with respect to each user provided by the algorithms creates a certain ecosphere in which the student can feel more comfortable than in everyday life (Kaya 2022). The addictive potential of social media should be fully appreciated, since this type of media addiction is clearly capable of underestimating both academic performance and motivation to learn. Reality may begin to seem hostile to a young person and itself cause rejection and a desire to fence off.
TikTok, like many other social media, is an artifact of the culture of influencers, where the influence and popularity of people within a single medium is highly valued. This can have a depressing effect on the psyche of a teenager, being multiplied by an inferiority complex (Agater 2022: 6). A teenager ceases to receive an adequate assessment of oneself, constantly being in a reflective process of comparing himself with others who, in their opinion, are more successful and influential people.
One response to such a blow to self-esteem may be isolation, increased introversion, and decreased social contacts in real life. This may not have a positive effect on learning and academic performance, as a lack of motivation and fear of social contact prevent any normal learning. It is ironic that it is the interaction with the platform, the original purpose of which was to provide worldwide communication through video, that underestimates the student’s real social contacts.
The second option for the negative impact of influencer culture could be to deepen TikTok even more and give this pastime more value and symbolic meaning. It is also possible to start an active activity in this media as an addition to the constant passive consumption of media. It is obvious that isolationism and low self-esteem, which occurs as a result of underestimating one’s own abilities against the backdrop of Internet stars, cut off the channels to the perception of formal education. TikTok’s addictiveness can work through complex psychological mechanisms in which the consumption of information is directly related to the ego, self-esteem of the consumer.
Monetary Interest and Influence on Value Systems
It should also be noted that TikTok is not only a provider of endless entertainment content, but also an important commercial player in today’s market. The economy around TikTok is unique and operates according to unusual rules, but at the same time it is very fast growing and extremely promising (Bossen and Kotasz 2020: 467-468). Considering that the original message of the TikTok format was to immediately attract attention and quickly inform you instantly, it seems natural that advertising easily fit into this format.
Gen Z is being heavily influenced by ads on TikTok, as quantitative research from the Philippines proves the strong impact of the platform on consumer behavior (Araujo et al. 2022). TikTok very quickly adapts to the needs of the consumer, using the same systems of algorithms and cookies in order to offer the consumer the product they are looking for or secretly wanting.
Obviously, in this way, students’ value parameters can change, and consumer and purchasing needs can negatively affect their perception and desire to receive education. In fact, it is highly likely that it is through advertising channels in TikTok that the first money of adolescent consumers can go. The share of commerce in TikTok is very high associated with the market in which the underage audience is largely invested (Vaterlaus and Winter 2022). TikTok often sells serial numbers and packs for mobile applications and online games, and modern video games are often advertised by TikTok influencers (Prakash Yadav and Rai 2017). As a result, the student may not have time to prepare for classes or sleep, since TikTok advertises video games that also negatively affect activity, attention and organization.
Direct Psychological Influence
Despite the fact that these formulations refer to the most extreme cases of TikTok abuse, even with daily use for half an hour a day, the negative properties of the platform can make themselves felt. A study from China demonstrates that the environment in which a student is immersed in a TikTok video inevitably affects the perception of reality (Sha and Deng 2021). This system directly affects the principles of getting pleasure from a teenager, working on the principle of triggering a response through a fast stimulus. This method of mental influence can not only affect concentration, but also distort time, causing students to have the so-called state of flow, being in an endless stream.
The mental concentration that students give to TikTok cannot be given to other, more fundamental aspects of life in this way, since there is no adaptation to the traditional format of perception. In addition to depression and anxiety disorders, TikTok abuse can cause memory loss and memory problems, which is clearly not combined with productive learning.
Conclusion
TikTok can be perceived as a kind of reflection of the generation of people who use it. The researchers emphasize that the impact of this application needs to be examined from a variety of scientific perspectives, including psychological and sociological ones. TikTok largely determines the habits and lifestyle of generation Z, to which all modern students belong. The immediate impact of TikTok video is the main benefit of the platform and likely a guarantee that, unlike many other social media, it will last for years to come. The educational problem that arises from this is significant, because the TikTok culture, if enough attention is focused on it, distorts the usual patterns of thinking and receiving information. TikTok, if used or abused regularly, can become a real problem for a student, thus limiting the ability to learn and academic performance.
References
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