TikTok was created by Bytedance, a Chinese multinational internet technology company headquartered in Beijing and was introduced in 2017. It is a social media application in which users can create 15 to 60 seconds or 3 minutes of short lip sync, comedy, acting, and talent videos with the available background music. In Pakistan it has quickly become the most downloaded app on the internet today with 500 million active users worldwide. TikTok has attracted most of the younger generation; 90% of them use TikTok on a daily basis. The biggest question, however, seems to be whether or not this is a good thing because TikTok and Pakistan have a love-hate relationship, it has been banned four times by Government in Pakistan. Firstly, we talk about the positive and negative effects of TikTok then we make conclusion on the base of some famous Pakistani TikTokers.
Positive Effects
Moral Entertainment
The major advantage of TikTok is that it serves as a great source of entertainment. With TikTok, users can fun, act, and expand their social circle. TikTok is interactive, with creative challenges and comedy people make for others to recreate and have fun with. And it provides steady enjoyable content. Overall, TikTok is a great app to help stay entertained, especially during the stress of the pandemic.
Publicity
TikTok is a great app for people that want to get famous off of unique talents and daring. Good at art? Want to knock over a mountain of plastic cups with a ping pong ball? With TikTok, anyone can create short videos doing anything they choose to do that’s appropriate and legal to ensnare the public interest and become viral in society.
Learning New Things
On top of the funny videos and the dancing videos, there are some people that make videos with great opportunities and life tips that can help many people. Also, there are other people like doctors, teachers, advocates on TikTok utilizing the platform to teach new things every day.
Providing New Opportunities
With the ongoing pandemic, young students such as high schoolers have been finding remote volunteering and internship opportunities directly from TikTok. As an engaging platform, TikTok connects determined youths together to volunteer for nonprofits like Linens N Love or intern for companies.
Negative Effects
Despite the many benefits of TikTok however, there are negative effects to take into consideration as well. Some of the following negative effects of TikTok are:
Addiction
Most people scroll through the page looking at videos perfectly catered to their tastes through the TikTok algorithm. The app is designed to be addictive, with an unlimited stream of videos at around 30 seconds each, making it hard to get bored. It’s incredibly easy to fall down the TikTok hole and suddenly reemerge hours later having lost an entire day.
Bullying/Mental Health
While the application can be used to spread positivity, it can also be used as a platform for bullying. Some people use the app to criticize other people’s videos, while some users create videos deriding others. This leads to a negative impact on the mental health of everyone involved which can lead to life-threatening situations and decisions.
Unsafe
On TikTok, there are no restrictions as to who can join the app, so strangers can easily message children and create harmful situations.
Views About Some Famous Pakistani TikTokers.
The aim of this article is to find out the current status of TikTok social app in Pakistan because no material is available on this topic in Pakistan so, it is very needed to find out the effects and status of it. Here we mentioned precious views of some famous Pakistani TikTokers.
Advocate Rana Shakeel Shahid Rajput
Advocate Shakeel Shahid is a growing shining Pakistani TikTok star and we very thankful to him because he gave us both (positive and negative effects) in details. He pointed “If we look at the positive aspects of the app, it means that you can show your talent to the world not only through your acting or business skills but you can talk about laws rules and regulations in Islamic point of views. We can make your channel and discuss current issues, share knowledge and take other’s views. You can show your talent from home without any references like other platforms. He further adds, if someone working on research activities, they can also saw many research related contents on TikTok. People can also start their own business from this app, you start your business from Pakistan and gain benefits, popularity and earning from all around the world. Moreover, Shakeel discuss the negative aspect of TikTok, it supports vulgarity, many people become viral from bad contents. A viral group of girls gain popularity because of vulgar contents and bold videos, after uploading the videos TikTok community remove these videos. Some famous TikTokers copying Indian culture in this way they promote Indian culture. People famous from TikTok app could not gain respect and work in Pakistan Television and drama industry. We can say in Pakistan TikTok app gain 50 percent positivity and 50 percent negativity, it is depended on users, they spread positivity or negativity.
Ahmad Jee
Famous TikTok star Ahmad jee belongs to Sargodha city. He is making videos from the last 2 years. He has almost 1 million followers in TikTok, also singer by his profession. He said, “TikTok is a good entertainment and he gains so much respect and fame from this app but All of that stuff exacerbates our stress.” In addition, Ahmad said young users are often exposed to TikTok videos that fuel body dissatisfaction, appearance-related anxiety, exercise addiction and more. These videos can distort our self-image. He further adds, now a days it spreads negativity.
Usman Hassan
Another TikToker Usman Hassan (Dani Jee) belongs to Chakwal. He is using this app almost 2 years. He has 3 million followers in TikTok, he is also doing marketing as a business. He simply said, he has a good experience as a TikTok user. He pointed, People often paint TikTok in a bad light, but it’s truly unique in several ways. In short, he is a satisfied TikToker.
Conclusion
On the basis of TikTokers views we make following points as conclusion:
Use the Tik Tok family pairing feature to set screen time limits, disable DMs, and restrict content on any young teen’s account.
— Make sure to have full access to your teen’s account and follow them.
— Keep tabs on the types of videos they watch and post.
— Remind them to be positive and kind to others on the app while checking their activity to make sure they are not on the giving or receiving end of harassment.
Overall, TikTok is a great app to make and watch funny videos and meet new people. Also, it allows users to learn and discover new things and opportunities ranging from volunteering or interning positions. However, like all things TikTok can be harmful if not used properly. Make sure to be diligent and responsible to ensure a positive experience!
Special Thanks to Mr: Shahanshaw Akber” for conducting views from responses.
Reference: https://medium.com/how-tik-tok-is-affecting-youth-the-positive-and-negative-effects
About Author
Fakhra Khalid Naseem is the Visiting Lecturer at Department of Information Management, University of Sargodha, Sargodha Pakistan. She completed her BS (Hons) and M. Phil. in Library and Information Sciences from the same department. Her research focuses on Knowledge Sharing and job Satisfaction of Librarians.
Contact through: fakhrakhalid033@gmail.com