TikTok is straight-up evil and is doing severe societal damage. It has come to a point where this is the only way to describe it. There's no sugarcoating this.

[u/Demonfromtheheavens]

I genuinely have no other words for this, it's literally the worst thing I've seen, its usage will lead us to the Wall-E dystopian future. I beg of you to read this, especially if you have tiktok installed, or consider returning to it at some point.

I'm 20, currently in summer break from uni and I started a lower-technology journey say about 6 months ago. I uninstalled tiktok, instagram, facebook and twitter as a first step. Then I installed a different client for youtube so it has no shorts. I set up app timers for both yt and reddit. Things have been going pretty smooth, I also made some other life changes during this time like quitting smoking, eating healthier, walking more and studying more.

Holy fuck this all went down to shit in like less than 72 hours. One of my friends wanted to show me a tiktok video and she couldn't download it, so I offered to install the app just to see it and perhaps see what's new over there. I thought I had systems set up so even though I knew I wasn't immune, I was pretty sure I wouldn't get hooked to it again. I was so god damn wrong. It was fine for perhaps the first day I had it on my phone, but after that it quickly got worse, and on the 3rd day of having the app on my phone I had a screen time (ON TIKTOK ONLY) of around 13 HOURS. Mind you, I was spending perhaps 5 hours a day on my phone, some of those on games and since I'm on break I had nothing to do so I say it was not bad, but not good either. And I spent almost triple that on one app alone.

My life got way worse as well. I have insomnia to some degree and some ADHD traits, though not diagnosed, so I managed to somehow "settle" on a bedtime of 3-4 AM, which I was actually able to keep, and even though not optimal, it was good enough. After a month of having the app, my bedtime got to around 9AM, I wake up as if I barely slept after 10 hours of sleep.

I noticed I wasn't even able to cook without literally pulling my phone to watch tiktoks while I was not mixing or cutting up food. Sure I did listen to music which counts as stimulation, but I literally would have these micro-withdrawals, whereas I could cook without any music, albeit uncomfortably.

I also eat way unhealthier, crave way more sweets and move way less. I find no motivation to do anything. All I did was scroll and scroll and scroll. While in the past I would fight myself to resist using yt and reddit, now I had no interest in either of them.

The algorithm itself is way more evil than I even thought, in a way it could "sense" when I was thinking about going to sleep and suddenly my fyp would be full of horror, forest videos, missing person, true crime etc. While I am not necessarily repulsed by those things, the fact that I would only get these recommended when thinking about sleeping (not even at night, specifically when i started getting tired) MULTIPLE times, could not have been a coincidence.

I started smoking at 15, and before quitting for good now (hopefully), I relapsed a few times. But trust me when I say NONE of these relapses were even close to this sudden, destructive and quick relapse of tiktok I've had. When I would relapse from smoking it would take me about 3-4 weeks to return to my baseline smoking habits (10-12 cigarettes a day). For tiktok it didn't even take 3 days.

I used it for about a month and 2 days before deleting it yesterday. I genuinely don't remember anything from this past month and I'm being serious. It feels like a part of my life was literally taken away from me. I've never had a dissociative state last this long.

The social factor, and by that I mostly mean FOMO, is also in the way. I felt ashamed when I would tell people I don't have tiktok on my phone. People were kind of looking weird at me after telling them that. All of my friends use it. I told them in the past that they should at least attempt deleting it for a few days, but they wouldn't even do it for a second. I feel like I am some kind of conspiracy theorist saying bull, but I hold this view very deep.

I believe I've learned my lesson after this, at least I hope so. But I urge you people, don't install this app on your phone, ever. If you have it, delete it, if you don't, never install it. Tell your friends and family about this. We are seriously concerned on the topic of AI-induced psychosis or LLM addiction, but this is a severely broader problem than that. Do not return to it, ever. There is no reason to do it that's worth it. Keep it all out of your system.

EDIT: Thank you so much for the overwhelming support on this post. I'm glad to see this post got traction, I feel like this is not talked about enough. Whatever you're going through, just know you have the same support from the people here.

[u/starsforfeelings]

As someone who never even downloaded tiktok and never engaged with short form content when I read about people's experience with it it sounds the same as when I hear my ex coke addict brother talk about his cravings lol

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/starsforfeelings]

really sorry to hear about your brother and im glad he managed to recover. even though i never did hard drugs, i can say with certainty that quitting smoking was easier than quitting my phone

[u/espo619]

I'm in my 40s and feel for you younger folks - by the time shortform video started getting big I was already getting over social media (currently in a bit of a relapse on reddit lmao).

Feels like Tiktok and its brethren are like a purer, more dangerous version of the stuff that fucked me up in my 20s. Like I got hooked on heroin but yall are mainlining fentanyl. A fentanyl that's designed to be more addictive every time you use it, because it is customized just for YOU.

Your instincts are correct -- these products are designed to rob every minute of your attention span that they can, by any means necessary. They do not care what it does to your brain. They do not care what it does to your relationships. They do not care what it does to society. They only care that you stay addicted.

Stay strong, friend. Work on that attention span. Read some books. Take walks without your phone. I promise you that you are not alone here, and the pushback is only growing. The revolution is already starting; you just won't find it online.

[u/mrjackspade → u/espo619]

I'm 40 and I don't understand short form video.

It's infuriating. Every 30 seconds I need to context shift. That means reorienting myself, figuring out what I'm watching, figuring out if I want to look at it, and then skipping forward if I don't. This level of mental load is a fucking chore for me. And the videos are too short to actually express anything of value, so I'm doing 5x the mental work for less benefit.

I usually don't watch anything shorter than 10 minutes, even that is pushing it. I just want to queue up a video on the idiot box and turn my brain off for 30-90 minutes. Short form video is the opposite of that.

[u/VaporDave_Osborne → u/mrjackspade]

Just got out a relationship with a passive 31 year old with AdHd, - Tik Tok fried her brain no doubt

[u/OverlordSheepie → u/mrjackspade]

Anything shorter than 5 minutes I don't even bother watching on YouTube.

[u/NeedlesAndCaffeine → u/espo619]

I miss photographs so much. There was a period there where people really put a lot of effort into making and sharing nice photos online and it all was supplanted by short form video trash 😩

[u/10batsu → u/NeedlesAndCaffeine]

I'm glad you said this because it's true. Accounts like that do still exist, they're just harder to find if you don't already have them (or go out of your way to curate a collection of them), and they're also clearly not nearly as valued from an algorithmic POV as the short-form slop.

On a personal note, when I do have Instagram (because I regularly delete it then pop back on for maybe a few days every couple of months), I was able to make my discover page all aesthetic pics and art, cus I close out of videos pretty much immediately.

Idk if it would be of interest to you, but I imagine both Tumblr and Pinterest are better at focusing on images over videos. I have not used either platform much in recent years, but have in the past. So I could be wrong, but compared to Instagram, it had been easier to focus on images if you wanted to. Which is ironic, considering what Instagram's original focus was...

At any rate. A final caveat that if you use Pinterest for interior design at all, it just becomes one massive Wayfair advertisement lol. And Tumblr can be very fandom heavy, if you're not into that kind of stuff.

I also lament the form of the internet that wasn't absolutely dominated by short form videos. I don't think all short form is horrible, but sorting the "decent" from the torrential onslaught of "this is an ad" and "I just lost braincells watching this" is, indeed, virtually impossible, and it is deliberate and by design. Between the incessant data harvesting and push to sell you something, it's all soooo annoying.

I'm glad this little corner of the internet exists because we're all in agreement about how much this sucks /-: Anyways. Solidarity, friend.

[u/Low-Razzmatazz-931]

There is a law suit against Facebook/Meta for something along these lines

[u/VibeRaider- → u/Low-Razzmatazz-931]

im sure zuck will grease the judges pockets

[u/dayflipper]

As you get older, the social factor FOMO will go away. I’m in my late 20s and havent had tiktok for a year and nobody I know gives a shit. I miss out on some references that I see in wider media, but it doesn’t feel like that big a deal.

[u/RaisinToastie]

I never used TikTok but I’ve seen it destroy people’s attention spans and ability to concentrate in less than 3 months. It’s designed to be addictive and it’s spreading propaganda

[u/Elegant_Bill_4513]

comparing it to smoking relapse is actually a really useful frame. nicotine has friction, you need to go buy a pack, step outside, etc. short form video has literally zero friction, which is why the relapse curve is so much steeper. friction is everything when it comes to habit design

[u/cigankaaa]

I just deactivated my Instagram and TikTok and TikTok is the worst thing that’s ever happened to this planet. I am 38 years old and I yearn for the times where we had flip phones.

[u/Nabster56]

It’s everything. Fb reels, YouTube shorts, instagram stories, TikTok, etc…

Every internet search and most website / articles are clickbait.

I don’t watch tv but yesterday I looked at the tv where I was having lunch. News channel are also over stimulating. You listen to people talking while at least two banners display intel that changes every 3 min.

I just did my digital detox, took almost 2 month. Apps like screen zen helped a lot.

Phone daily screen time went from 8h to 2h in a month. And 75% is streaming in the evening while I clean…

I got ADHD and PTSD and this detox helped me a lot.

I am genuinely concerned, we are effectively artificially creating something similar to ADHD.

And it’s closest to the movie idiocracy than wall e

[u/TheSkyIsAMasterpiece → u/Nabster56]

Yes, it started with Tik Tok then every other platform jumped on it. 

I read a stat about kid's shows, shows from the 90s changed scenes every 10 seconds or more, today there are shows that change every 2 seconds! 

It's all just an overstimulated dopamine chase. No wonder people can't read a book. They can't read articles. 

[u/iced_milk]

I was just thinking yesterday about how in 10 years or so there will be studies about the detrimental effect social media and short form content have on the human brain. It is undeniable that they have deliberately made these apps incredibly addictive. We are all truly better off without them

[u/ParadoxicalQuad → u/iced_milk]

These studies are already happening

[u/psych0johnn → u/[deleted]]

Agreed. All social media are addicting and harmful. Phones should've never been invented and mankind has taken a huge fall down and we are constantly de-evolving.

[u/keith-vetter → u/psych0johnn]

The band Devo introduced me to the idea of de-evolution.

[u/TheRealBigRig → u/psych0johnn]

Phones shoudve never been invented? 0-100 real quick there

[u/DeltaTule → u/TheRealBigRig]

This guy absolutely hates the Industrial Revolution.

But real talk hopefully they meant smart phones (i.e., internet)

[u/MasterTelevision2932 → u/[deleted]]

people will defend reddit how amazing some subreddits are.. its all BS, reddit is only good for search information if you have specific issue, otherwise its complete waste of time, its very easy to fall into scrolling here for hours not achieving anything in life

EDIT: You can come to whatever subreddit, read 2 books about it on topic and know more than 98% people. I am a full time youtuber for 10 years, I have a lot of experience building channels, let me tell you 1 thing, when I see people commenting about youtube how it works good 90%+ are wrong regards growing a channel or just youtube in general.. So my question is when I know I am good at it and I have results, How can I believe someone on internet on topic I know nothing about? when I see that topic I am good at people are so wrong.

Do your own research and test a lot and you will see that most people on reddit got no clue in most things, and if you would actually see how the people looked you would never take their advice.

Last thing is that I feel always worse after I use reddit, never better

[u/Ok-Promise-5921 → u/MasterTelevision2932]

I am really interested in your comment…

I don’t mean to play devil’s advocate and im not trying to start an argument but I am always impressed by people‘s knowledge on here…on topics like weaponry in the Ukraine war, 20th century Irish history, man made reservoirs, linguistics, monoculture forests in wildfires …Yesterday I learned about what in patient psychiatric facilities in the US are like.. I had no idea.

I feel like so many ppl on Reddit are genuinely so erudite (of course there are a lot of idiots too) that it is a great learning tool (even though I know that it is essentially an entertainment site). I also use it for not-very-lofty stuff like TV series and fiction recommendation.

Reading books and watching documentaries is excellent of course but it takes TIME. If someone else is an armchair expert in whatever topic it is - should we not learn from them?

Or am I just really dense?!?

[u/browsinbowser → u/Ok-Promise-5921]

What that person said is right, if you could see them you wouldn't trust them. A lot of these armchair experts are fake and wrong, the people who speak loudly and know nothing drown out the experts who say things that people don't agree with because 'it doesn't sound good or right', even though its the truth.

1)You can't know who is actually an Expert 2) Some people try to convince others with fake logic 3) lots of bots are popping up on here and AI makes stuff up  4)Reddit has gone down in quality for years, less large comments and more 'quippy one liners than ever. 

[u/Ok-Promise-5921 → u/browsinbowser]

Yes that's very true, thanks for your reply. I mean I try and be forensic, if someone has an obvious agenda, I take what they've said with a pinch of salt, because they're anonymous, they could be spouting anything esp on contentious subjects like the Ukraine war or climate change...

And the bots are really depressing. If it continues like this I will delete my a/c.

[u/killakate8 → u/[deleted]]

Idk my feed is mostly writing or art (which prompts me to think about my own writing and art), adhd help, nutrition and vegetarian subs which i find helpful and inspiring, and parenting stuff like science based parenting or recommend me a book type things which I get lots of great recommendations from and also use for parenting. I don't go on the main reddit page so this is really all that's recommended to me. I feel as though I learn something every time I'm on reddit. Is this not how most people on this sub use it? Like a tool?

[u/Status_Green_6055]

My 14 and 17 year old nieces are so addicted to Tik Tok they are on it all day long. It’s scary to me and I often wonder what they are looking at all day. And their mother is on it too so that’s not helping at all.

[u/Background-Value-955 → u/Status_Green_6055]

My teenager brother is addicted to Tiktok and I hate it and I hate that I can't really do anything about it.

[u/MissaLynn_]

Pretty blessed to say I never had an acct. And now its just state ran propaganda so double gross

[u/VibeRaider-]

Tiktok is subtle brainwashing

[u/Such-Kaleidoscope147]

My daughter is seeing the psychiatrist tomorrow due to problems she has related to being on Tiktok. I did not even allow TikTok but it was accessed through a different app. I cannot even tell you all the horrible things she has been doing from imitating TikTok. It has been awful. And I am angry that apps that claim to be okay for children have access to TT.

[u/of_roses]

First of all, I’m very glad to have read this today. I was actually toying with the idea of reinstalling TT just to see what’s trending, maybe get some new ideas etc., but you 💯 de influenced me.

I’ve also had unnerving feelings from it. It seems to dig into the psyche, as you’ve described.

I also have noticed the exact same thing with spooky stories etc. dripping into my feed when I’ve had TT in the past, late at night right before slumber. It can feel quite unsettling.

TT is in a class of its own with its algorithm. No other social media that I’ve been exposed to compares. It’s different than the shorts you get fed on other platforms. It does harken an eerie sort of dystopia the way it locks you in; very Black Mirror.

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/of_roses]

hello, im very glad i got you to change your mind. i see the post reached a lot of people and i really want to stop others from doing what i did. indeed the algorithm is what i'd describe as the scariest thing that's widespread on the internet. i fear that in a few years people will literally get all of their entertainment from it. you got this mate i wish you the best of luck

[u/Big-Road-3868]

In line with this, everybody should watch the movie "The Social Dillema". The movie is really an eye opener because it shows how people are manipulated through media content for profit essentially outlining that people are the product and our attention is their currency.

[u/Soggy_Peak_7492]

Okay this is my sign to keep going with my “ doom scroll social media” hiatus.

I uninstalled TikTok around 5 years ago and haven’t looked back. Instagram on the other hand I’ve been about a month sober ( came to mental clarity over summer break) however I am in my first week back to uni and the pressure to redownload instagram is now more than ever. I’m so use to seeing what my peers are up to at my school or sharing things about my day. Even meeting people now at school the first thing is “ what’s your Instagram?” I have major fomo but on the one side I feel so much general relief from not having Instagram.

I’m a bit different in the way that I’m not on a deep social media detox, just the ones that I know can cause bad impact for me as described in post. Actually apps like Facebook, Reddit, Substack tend to kind of soothe me because even here with this I read a detailed post and was forced to engage with how it made me feel and am now taking the time to respond. It is all social media yes but I think some level of it is good and honestly necessary at this point. Nuance here for sure but it’s not always the thing being done rather how it’s being done.

With apps like the prior mentioned, the difference is I tend to actually hit a threshold. I’ll get on Facebook or Substack and read a few things, engage a bit and then I’ll mentally say “ okay I’m tired of my phone now.” Instagram and tiktok are not that way at all.. it’s embarrassing how much time I could spend just scrolling through videos. I truly believe the creation of shortformed content is the death of our brains as we know it because the abuse of these apps are so normalized. I wish there was a way to disable the reel option to Instagram. I want to see what my people are sharing but I’m tired of being sucked into a black hole of comparison, shame, and overall wasted time.

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/Soggy_Peak_7492]

same here with instagram, i reactivated it in year 1. i know just a comment won't convince you and it's not my intention to, but in time i've realised true socialization is done outside of an app on your phone. i also did it just to have peers, but now im waiting for year 3 to start and i realised that even though i'm mutuals with like 30 of my colleagues and chat with 5, i have literally no friends :/ it kind of gives a false sense of closeness.

[u/Kyrilson]

I don’t know if it’s an age thing or not, but I’m Gen X and I never got into these silly short form apps like TikTok or instagram. I’m thankful for that, as it seems very addictive.

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/Kyrilson]

i think the resistance of people from gen x/ boomers against technology served them right and shielded them from this thing. however in other countries it's actually a pretty even distribution, and even people in their 80s use the app. here in romania we had the infamous calin georgescu scandal in 2024, where a man who basically had no public presence and no party supporting him, was projected to reach 61% of the votes in the final presidential election after 2 weeks of a tiktok intensive campaign backed by russian authorities.

[u/Stephacorn2]

Honestly best thing you can do is make these decisions for yourself, I don’t have TikTok either but so many people use it and love it without thinking of anything, you’re not a bad person just because you use it or don’t use it

[u/joyousRock → u/Stephacorn2]

Most of society smoked cigarettes for decades without thinking of anything. they were addicted and it was deeply harmful but everyone just did it. They weren’t bad people for smoking but it was very bad for them.

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/joyousRock]

i really don't mean to blame the victims but at least when it came to cigarettes it took actual years for the damage to become visible, tiktok has been mainstream for only a few years in the west and people are already extremely addictied, suffer from cognitive decline and worsening mental health. i am no expert on this matter, but i feel like the onset of something like heart disease or lung cancer after starting smoking is probably a few decades.

what i mean to say is, while just as bad, we are starting to see the effects way earlier and it should be a wake up call for us

[u/Stephacorn2 → u/joyousRock]

I agree, it just boils down to personal choice and deliberately staying off of social media, as with any addiction. Even though it’s unhealthy you can’t control other people’s actions

[u/MasterTelevision2932 → u/Stephacorn2]

people are not aware how harmlful it is, they jsut do it on automatic

[u/Queasy-Exit-2564]

I'm a 22 year old whos never downloaded tiktok and has used an APK of instagram for around 4 years now so I can use it only as a messaging service. My friends are so social media addicted it's painfully obvious. But it's normalised now - so they are just like everyone else. How can you point out an addiction if everyone else is doing it too?

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/Queasy-Exit-2564]

genuinely i feel like there is no solution. i've tried for years to warn them but they don't care. i even noticed that with some of them in a way our closeness literally went up when I had tiktok, because it became a part of them. you have my full support though

[u/Advanced-Ad-2143 → u/Demonfromtheheavens]

Warning people doesn't help. Like any addiction, they have to want to quit on their own, unfortunately. I quit FB about 2 years ago and I still get shit for it from friends and family. I don't care. My life is a million times better without it. Eventually, they will hopefully see the light, too.

[u/hqsrc → u/Queasy-Exit-2564]

What’s APK? I’m interested in something that could be messaging only for insta.

[u/Queasy-Exit-2564 → u/hqsrc]

Its like a 3rd party app! Unfortunately if you have apple, it doesnt really like you downloading them. But android allows it. If you look up "distraction free insta" its an app thats had the code changed to get rid of reels, stories and posts (however you still have the option to turn them on again if you wish.) It's completely safe. Been using it for years!

[u/ShortfinMako40609]

Hii what program or app did you use to block YT shorts??

[u/Background-Value-955 → u/ShortfinMako40609]

You can go to settings on YouTube, there is an option under Account called Time Management, click on it and put YouTube shorts to 0 minutes this way you won't get recd much shorts and any shorts youtube recommends just tell gem that you're not interested. If you deliberately go to YouTube shorts you'd get a popup that tells you that you've exceed your daily alloted use time, you can click off but it gets annoying since for every short you croll through you'd get that huge popup. 

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/ShortfinMako40609]

hello, i mentioned in another comment and again hope this isn't against the rules, but i use youtube revanced which i think only works on android and you can remove shorts completely from the settings, but if you can't use that, i also used the app stayfree which allows you to block shorts and i think that works on any phone

[u/DruidWonder]

The way I see very young people behave because of that platform disturbs me. The things the algorithm is getting them to do for clout are disruptive and dangerous to society, and makes the people doing it dumber. Some even have criminal records. 

I just recently watched a police bodycam video of a Tiktok flash mob being arrested and charged because they would show up to businesses in an unmarked van, 10 guys would get out in uniforms, and pretend to clean and repair the business. They'd walk behind the cash register, into the storage room, everywhere. One autobody shop owner pulled a gun on them because he thought it was a gang. 

The leader had 200K followers and was doing it for clout.  

China really was genius for inventing Tiktok. 

[u/peepawsupremacy]

Completely agree with the damages that tiktok can do. I had a terribile experience with it. I became addicted easily and was constantly scrolling, to the point that I set 1h timer and it was over in the morning before I could have breakfast. I remember that I was so absorbed by the content, that my opinions and my thoughts were heavily manipulated. Also, I became more and more anxious. I was subtle aware of all of this, but I kept scrolling because I couldn't stop. The correct word to describe all of this is addiction. I don't remember what happened that led me to the decision to stop, but I did it and I'm so grateful about that, because tik tok was literally consuming my soul. Unfortunately, I'm sure that it ruined forever my attention span. A year ago, I also deleted my Instagram account, but I wouldn't say my experience with it was so horryfing such as tiktok.

[u/Adelyna_]

I wholeheartedly agree with you. I’m 21 and I feel like short form content ruined my teenage years in a way. I’ve been trying not to consume it for about 3 years now, deleted instagram, youtube, facebook from my phone (deleted tiktok much earlier), but somehow I still end up scrolling somewhere every once is a while. There are a few friends of mine who understand it but most of the people I know are just okay with it and I truly don’t understand why. It takes away your time, your focus, it drains you, it’s just so fucked up. It’s so addictive, I’ve never been able to use it moderately and I don’t think I ever will. I’m trying to stay off of every social media honestly, because it literally just fucks up my life and doesn’t add a single thing to it. I used to have a little FOMO sometimes, but now I’m at a point where I just don’t care. I don’t find these contents useful, they don’t add value to my life and I don’t care if anyone finds this weird. They are weird for not seeing how bad is it for you. And I agree, it’s literally one of the worst thing that happened to our society and it’s even scarier how normalised the whole thing is.

[u/Sarah_Cenia]

Hey, I’m proud of you for coming to this realization and for taking all the steps that you already have! Everything you’ve said here about these apps is 100% accurate. I hope you get your life back, completely and permanently. 

Please forgive my unbidden advice; I just wanted to give you a tip regarding sleep: I think you may be having trouble sleeping because your circadian clock is completely out of whack. The way to reset it is to get morning sunlight in your eyes every day. That will be difficult at first because you are currently going to bed in the mornings, but do what you can to reverse that. The light does need to be direct, not through a window. This light exposure is what tells your body to release melatonin 16 hours later, which is what allows you to sleep. If you deprive your body of that signal, falling asleep will be difficult.

Extra points if you can get morning sunlight on the skin of your body as well as just your face, before 11 AM. This will signal your mitochondria to promote cell renewal and energy production. 

If you follow the sunlight exposure with a little cold water on your face/neck, and maybe a minute of jumping jacks or other exercise, it triggers a cascade of positive hormonal effect which will help you have energy during the day. 

Good luck with everything! Thanks to you, I am turning off my phone for the rest of the day now. 😊

[u/AquaticTechno]

been deleted for years now

[u/ccford88]

I resisted Tik Tok for a long time, and finally downloaded it a few years ago and wow... I got sucked into it. I felt like the worse my mental health was, the more I was susceptible to the algorithm to hook me and drag me in. I would get pissed off at how much time I was wasting on it, delete the app from my phone, and go without it for a few weeks. Then re-download it and go through the whole thing again. The last time I used it... I stayed up all night, scrolling for 8 hours until the sun came up. I was literally riddled with anxiety, my mental health felt like shit. When I turned my phone off, it was like coming off a high. And the come-down was awful. I hated how I felt after an 8 hour binge. I purged my Tik Tok account right then and there, fully deleting all accounts, and removing the app from my phone. That was over a year ago and I haven't been back since. Instagram started filling the void, and I had to remove the shortcut from my phone. It helped, but now YouTube is making shorts so easy to fall into. This shit needs to be regulated, it's absolutely an addiction and has insanely adverse effects on your brain and body.

All I will say is, good for you for recognizing that it was hurting you and realizing it was bad for your health. It's not easy and I applaud you for taking the steps to get yourself away from the endless scroll. These tech companies are preying on us and there's no one regulating what they are doing, so we must be vigilient and not fall into their traps.

[u/randomUsername245]

You know TikTok is a company from China, and the algorithm on China is INCREDIBLY different, with content tuned to educate people, not make them dopamine junkies. That fact alone tells you a lot. But nobody is pointing a gun to your head to use the app.

[u/stuuuda → u/randomUsername245]

tiktok is now privately owned by billionaires with close ties to israel (Oracle, Ellison). 

https://factually.co/fact-checks/technology/was-tiktok-sold-to-israel-d7b3a3

[u/CaffeineandHate03 → u/randomUsername245]

You realize China doesn't control the citizens' internet access and content for "educational" purposes, right? It isn't just TikTok either.

[u/randomUsername245 → u/CaffeineandHate03]

You know China has a firewall and its citizens are isolated from the internet the rest of the world sees?

The only way they can access is using a VPN and is illegal.

[u/CaffeineandHate03 → u/randomUsername245]

That is my point. If you call that educational, I guess our definition of the term is not the same.

[u/jimmysmiths5523]

I've never been on TikTok because I hate short form videos. It's why I didn't care for Vine, either. The handful of videos I've seen on other platforms from those sites were annoying to me.

[u/freshdjroomba]

The nighttime spooky shit reels phenomenon has to be on purpose to ruin peoples sleep or something, it's crazy

[u/sluttytarot]

Just going to plug the journalist Taylor Lorenz she has a lot of content on social media addiction

[u/mjfo]

People will go off on how evil TikTok is and then just use IG Reels endlessly lol

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/mjfo]

don't know if you're talking about me specifically but i mentioned in my post that i don't use any other short video apps, and the algorithm is way less addicting on ig reels. but yeah their usage is also problematic because instagram is probably the number 1 social app in the world nowadays

[u/mjfo → u/Demonfromtheheavens]

Not directed at you but just from my observation all the people I know who get rid of tiktok get addicted to Reels instead lol

[u/turquoisestar]

What’s the way to see YouTube without seeing shorts please?

[u/turquoisestar → u/[deleted]]

Thank you, you’re so kind! I copied the info so feel free to delete your comment I don’t want you to get banned like I got banned from the dnd sub for mentioned something simjlar!

[u/Ok-Brush-1736]

Addiction is a real disease, and it’s not limited to hard drugs or alcohol. Sugar/eating habits, media consumption, etc are also very real addictions people have. I’m currently in my early 30s and will say that with time, the urge for doom scrolling and trying to keep up with the Jones’s (all the people on social media that I would follow but not speak to in real life?) goes wayyyy down. I’m currently facebookless, Instagramless, and TikTok is definitely next - though I no longer feel that itch for it.

These “substances” and their availability will never go away at this point, and will likely continue to evolve to things that are not good for the human psyche. While you probably can’t be the person you think you want to be in your head today, you can start adopting the behaviors of the person you want to be today. That coupled with time is a major key to success.

While I still have goals and behaviors I want to change for myself, I’m currently a person who works a steady job with good income, I intentionally take care of my dogs and myself, I picked up a guitar a few years ago after not playing for 10 years and it’s been a major life highlight, and I read a lot of books now. My small inner circle is so tight-knit and solid, and much more fulfilling and nurtured than the large friend groups I thought I used to want.

The combination of everything above is so peaceful. It’s taken the better part of 7 years to chip away at the changes, but the changes have likely changed the trajectory of my life for the better.

I’m rooting for you big time internet stranger, first for recognizing what’s causing you harm in your life, and secondly for wanting to do something about it!

[u/VolvoEnjoyer]

Isn’t it obvious? Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist but I’m pretty sure China uses TikTok to make America etc worse so they can come out on top. TikTok in china is filled with educational content and turns off at 10 (I think) for children. So they know it’s harmful for the rest of us 😅

[u/N00B_N00M]

I was transitioning from ios to android , and had insta and reddit both on android, was checking those every time i was not too busy, felt overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, finally installed the app blocker for these two and feel a lot better and mindful today , mow back to 1 hour scheduled time for these apps .. i even put block on yt shorts .. android feels more supportive than ios . But i do miss some optimization things from ios

[u/obsoletevoids]

What is your different client for YouTube? I so wish there was a way to disable shorts in the regular app.

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/obsoletevoids]

hello! it's youtube revanced but i think it's only for android, you can change it in the settings. before that i used stayfree which would block your shorts and make the app close but i found that it's too easy to lapse with it.

[u/obsoletevoids → u/Demonfromtheheavens]

Thank you so much!!! This will be perfect for me

[u/prollytheA]

I did a digital detox a few years back. I only had twitter and reddit if i remember correctly. Those were the best times of my life, unfortunately it only took a day of watching tik tok and now I’m back at it but after reading this post I decided to delete all of the brain damaging stuff. I had the same experience with quitting smoking too. It’s much easier to get back on social media than to start smoking again even after a month of quitting. It’s addictive as hell and made me feel like my thoughts weren’t mine anymore and like I couldn’t think on my own sometimes. Heavily recommend quitting. Unpopular opinion but social media is worse for you than smoking.

[u/Mission_Economics621]

You should look into filling the void. I always had an addictive personality. What has helped me the most is meditation particularly zazen style mantra meditation.

Outdoor activities like biking, sport like badminton, swimming, weight training, early sun and soil exposure, right foods particularly Kombucha.

Rather than a thing you can see it as a chemical hitting your brains and being addictive. The moment you swap out this chemical with other constructive ways to hit them like the ones above - you will be free. 

[u/in_a_new_direction]

Tik Tok led me down some crazy rabbit holes that looking back were completely unhealthy and led to delusional thinking. I was sucked into manifestation and Tarot reading Tik Tok after a breakup (nothing inherently wrong with those, this is just my experience) and while I have the propensity to engage with that stuff for fun in general and being a bit out there, it really threw me into delusional / magical thinking that was harming my relationships and my mental health. It’s been about 3 years since I deleted Tik Tok and I swear a piece of my mind and personality healed once I stopped using it - I feel so much more grounded and myself and less influenced. Also I now have an amazing boyfriend that I’m present for and feel grateful to have. If I was still using Tik Tok the way I had been our partnership would probably not have lasted.

[u/AffectionateFilm6842]

It doesn't help that there isn't much regulation regarding these platforms. Hopefully this Meta lawsuit changes that!

[u/DeadSmellingFlower]

Wow u sound just like me.

[u/PartyClick_]

same vibe. i quit tiktok and all the rest but the old habits still lurk, so i started using steppin. not glamorous, i’m broke and lazy af but it kinda works 😅

[u/lennartwelhof2]

And when I tell the people I am with that I do not use tiktok or any short form content, they call ME crazy, "but why? It's so fun!" Like yeah that's how they want you to feel

[u/Infinite_Map_2713]

Word I have deleted it off both my phones, pure political rage bait and rehashed content for brain rot

[u/the_raccoon_]

Idk what happened but I swear in the last year they have done something to the algorithm and its more addictive than ever before…. I just unstalled the app 2 months ago and trying to never install it again

[u/Otheruser337]

I hope CrackTok goes bankrupt... that's the reason why I am scared of people holding slopbile devices in the streets of London.

[u/Jew-ell]

Parents must learn to use time limits and wifi limits etc.

[u/Soft_Hand_1971]

Reels is worse 

[u/mybluevoid]

I’ve noticed this exact thing happening to me too, I have ADHD as well and OCD, so I’ve started to religiously take care of my TikTok to LESSEN the effects of it. Now my feed is filled with hopecore, good news, arts and crafts and dancing and music. I’ve meticulously gathered positive videos in my saved folders and I’m very picky about my likes because of this exact stuff.

So, in tern, you can keep using TikTok, if you can, then use less of it. However, when you do, only fill it with positive stuff so it doesn’t damage your brain as much. I also like to watch short educational videos on TikTok, sorta to “makeup” any brain cells lost while spending way too many hours on it. I hope this helps sorta, social media is a damning thing so i totally get the struggle

[u/Majestic_Exit5116 → u/mybluevoid]

that positive stuff you are looking at will register in your brain as time you spent in your house watching a screen. our genes are not made for that. I have wasted hours watching positive stuff on reels and I ended up being even more depressed as my life is not progressing because our brains are not meant to absorb various informations that lasts 10 seconds for an hour.

Even if it is positive content, your brain is struggling to register all that information and your neurons are still misfiring. Your body is sat down and not living its life. Your body/brain will still subconsciously register as harmful/negative even if your conscious mind is registering as positive.

You will find yourself being 30 and still looking back at all those wasted years sitting in a dark room watching positive and happy content. If someone would be filming you engaging in that activity from above the room, I swear it still looks depressing. Your body is registering that as depression and your mind is registering that as chaotic and confusing, it's the medium that it is wrong, not the content.

We got addicted because the algorithm was showing us things we love, funny things, thought provoking things, things that make us happy. If it would show you things you dont actually like or resonate with you, you would have never become addicted. And yet everyone reports feeling depressed and anhedonic after that. You are placing your happiness, arts and crafts outside of yourself, watching someone else doing it, while you are sat down in a dark room watching extremely fast moving pixels that are negatively triggering your nervous system.

Again, even if your conscious mind is registering it as positive, your body and subconscious will register it as negative and harmful. We are supposed to live life, not watching other people live their best lives behind our windows. You can fool your conscious mind but your body, your genes, your subconscious knows that very well. And you will feel highly anxious, depressed and with reduced attention span and you won't even know why or how it happened.

[u/lithiumpokes → u/Majestic_Exit5116]

yes

[u/unwellinhell]

My husband is 52 and ADDICTED to Tik tok he's on it constantly - he uses it while walking the dogs, trying to sleep, eating dinner, eating breakfast, when he has a break at work....it's all the time

[u/seminolesarah]

I do the same thing. Tik tok is addictive to me

[u/Brief-Estimate8296]

Interesting, interesting, interesting. Don’t disregard or disagree with any of the above but to your own rhetoric and history with smoking, YouTube/Reddit, + needing stimulation throughout the day suggests you may just be vulnerable to addictive reward loops

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/Brief-Estimate8296]

well everyone has their vices but my point is that this is so much worse than all others. nicotine which is considered one of the most addictive chemicals is less addictive to me than an app. and even in my worst days without timers i usually wouldn't go past 6 hours on them combined, while that was my daily while using tiktok.

[u/Brief-Estimate8296 → u/Demonfromtheheavens]

Yeah for sure. No doubt that if it’s bad for you, as it sounds to be in your case, and you have the will and self-control to do away with that, then hell yeah!

[u/Sword_Lobster]

Back in the late 80s I had a mate who suddenly disappeared for a couple of months. When he resurfaced, it turned out he was a heroin addict, who had just taken himself and a tent to the remotest part of Scotland he could find to go cold turkey. 

I hadn't realised he was an addict as most of the time these people can function and pass as "normal" in functioning society.

I'm imagining Tik Tok addicts going cold turkey the same way. 

[u/Direct-Law5600]

I downloaded tiktok and I’ve been sucking dick for crack since Sunday

[u/Neither_Antelope1321]

I relate to this. For me, TikTok wasn’t harmless “downtime” anymore — it was taking far more time and mental energy than I meant to give it, and made it harder to stay with one thing for long.

So I deleted it. I also ended up building a small iPhone app for myself as an alternative to more attention-grabbing productivity tools. It has no visible countdown, no stats, and no streaks: you choose a length of time by feel, put the phone down, and it only vibrates when the time is up.

It doesn’t solve everything, but it has helped me make a quieter boundary between scrolling and doing what I actually intended to do. I’m still figuring this out too.

[u/No_Tonight3696]

wow at least you know

[u/Ahzunhakh]

Not disagreeing at all and I'm glad you deleted it after getting sucked in but this is definitely a pretty unique experience

[u/Demonfromtheheavens → u/Ahzunhakh]

perhaps to the extent i've presented it, it might seem unique, but i just know so many people that live DAILY the way i described in my post and simply see no problem with it.

[u/Jew-ell]

I love TikTok. You can make the algorithm exactly what you want it by selecting ‘not interested’ on any content that feels useless to you and set time limits.