Why I’m Cutting on Socials…
My phone minus TikTok
Everybody has heard of TikTok at this point. The new Vine of the Internet. The new popularity-based system. The new clout race app. The new oh lemme try to dance in order to potentially randomly blow up and stop pursuing that boring corporate job that I’m learning in school.
I find myself using this app more often than I’d like to and you probably are too.
I’m waiting in line at the grocery store… TikTok!
I’m going to the bathroom… TikTok!
I’m studying… TikTok!
Why am I so addicted to this app?
Well, it is really easy… the answer is in the structure of the app itself.
You open up the app, you literally get smacked with a video. You like the video? You watch it and you might even hit that little like icon. You don’t like what you are seeing? You simply swipe up. The algorithm just feeds you with another piece of information.
Now comes this concept of instant gratification…
It is the concept that you don’t have to do anything in order to be rewarded. You get your reward instantly. This the very answer to why this app is so addictive.
I don’t think it is a good thing to treat yourself with so much instant gratification. Just like anything else in life. Abuse of a thing is always bad.
If you are supposed to do homework which is not always a funny thing to do. You are basically hustling to be rewarded in the long run with a great grade on the midterm. Then with that great grade on the midterm, you are going to have better opportunities at some companies and be taken more seriously.
The same concept applies to working out. You hustle in the short term by lifting some heavyweights. In the long term, you are going to have a better shape, a better sense of self, more energy, you get the idea.
When you are watching TikTok, you have no effort to give. You instantly get rewarded with things that you want to watch.
I feel like this trains you to stop pursuing hard things. Instead of doing projects, you are going to prefer getting rewards that are much closer at hand than the long term. So, you are going to play around on TikTok and not be productive.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that it is not OK to kid around on TikTok every once in a while. What I am saying is that I feel like people should be conscious of what TikTok implies and why it is such an addictive platform.
Especially now, I feel like we are spending way too much time giving our lives away to computer screens. We should enjoy reality a tad bit more. We should not grant ourselves that obnoxious amount of instant rewards.
For now, I have deleted TikTok. Let’s see what happens…
I’d love to hear opinions on this, lets discuss in the comments down below!
Yours Truly
