Tiktok is everywhere, and it’s not hard not to jump in on the latest trends when even celebrities are it. But the platform is also known to come with major security issues, which is why the government has banned government personnel from using the app. Here are a few good reasons why you should stay away from TikTok.
Empty, time-wasting videos and pranks
TikTok can be addicting given that users get the impression that they can consume a lot of information in short, digestible, and very entertaining clips. Aside from the fact that watching these short clips on a regular basis negatively affects a person’s ability to focus and concentrate for longer periods, these short TikTok clips always accumulate and amount to hours and hours of wasted time which users can never get back.
Inappropriate Content
If you have kids, you may want to wait until they are older before allowing them to watch TikTok clips. Young kids are very suggestible and should not be on a platform where all sorts of ideas floating around can influence them in ways that may not be ideal for their social, mental, and emotional growth. The fact that kids are wasting time on the platform instead of being out in nature or being physically active is a good enough reason why kids are better off not knowing that this kind of app exists.
Dangerous Pranks
TikTok has seen an increase in disturbing and dangerous pranks becoming more and more common in the past two years, from the skull-breaker challenge to the Devious Lick challenge. Other challenges promote downright criminal behaviour, like the challenge that encourages users to damage or steal school property. Since most of the platform’s users are bored, impressionable kids, it’s not a surprise why many of these dangerous challenges still gain momentum.
Censorship Issues
It is a lesser-known fact that the platform censors some types of content, especially content that belongs to the political and controversial categories and is very much actively enforced by staff. Controversial videos tend to fare badly on the platform, or their makers often see a drop in popularity when they produce controversial content. TikTok also does not use hashtags which means that users belonging to marginalised communities may find it hard to find content that reflects their communities and their experiences.
Data Security
Like any other tech company that has scaled up the way TikTok did, security issues become a major concern because the company becomes a target for hackers. Data security is a concern for any company or social media app that makes money with user-generated content. As TikTok gets bigger, the data that it holds gets bigger, and this makes the company an attractive target to hackers and government agencies.
There are so many reasons why TikTok is a fun app to have on your phone. However, there is also plenty of reasons why you are better off without this app. Get your time, attention, and concentration back by taking a break from the platform. Not only are you protecting yourself and your family from useless and sometimes harmful content, but you are also being proactive in safeguarding your online security.