Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash
Ever since TikTok was released, students have been using it like crazy. There must be many interesting underlying reasons for TikTok to gain the keenness of students these days. So, what are the interesting elements that TikTok has to provide, to attract such a myriad amount of students in such a short time?
It’s not to say that students undergo the most amount stress as compared to other age groups. However, they are less experienced when it comes to managing it. Hence, this application might come in handy, to play a part in mitigating their stress levels. If it isn’t already clear, stress management is an important skill to have when going through one’s studying life, hence students should learn ways to de-stress albeit when meeting deadlines, or managing other aspects of their lives.
Any student that has come across TikTok would often be familiar that it is a creative and community-led social media platform which allows them to be as creative as possible in their videos. Whether it is for cherishing moments, entertainment or unleashing one’s creativity, it all comes from a mere smartphone.
The community formed by TikTok helps students feel less lonely by bringing people together. It generally makes people feel closer, not just between friends but also forming socially constructed communities within TikTok users. For example, students expressing their common interests on TikTok such as dancing, drawing and music performances. As a result, students will start gaining updates and comments from the public who share common interests as them, hence, forming a student community.
There are so many different contents available that can cater to students’ different interests. Short and interesting videos on TikTok generally help to relieve stress and wouldn’t take much time off students’ busy schedules. Short videos are generally more interesting and easier to watch as it is easier for students to focus their attention on them. A study by the International Journal of Trend in Research and Development has found that a person’s attention span has decreased over the years and shortened from 12 minutes to 5 minutes.
Like they say, every pleasure has its pleasure and its pain. According to the chart below, 31% of students spend about 3-4 hours on TikTok, which is a significant and excessive amount of time spent on the app. This shows a risk of students overspending their time on TikTok, while neglecting important responsibilities and study-related tasks at hand. Ultimately, this can lead to more stress in their lives due to time-constraints, so a balance is needed between the two.
Photo by Ivan Wong on Instagram
Finally, TikTok serves as a distraction for students, to keep them sane from all the craziness life throws at them. It helps students cope with the stress, from watching all the entertaining content produced in the app. With that being said, do you feel like TikTok helps you de-stress? Feel free to let us know your thoughts!
By: Ivan Wong