Position Paper 4

 Social Media’s Positive Impact on Society

        I have talked all semester about how Social Media tends to have a negative impact on society. I will not argue with that, but on the other hand, I sincerely believe that it can have a positive impact as well. A new social media hit the app store in September of 2016. This app was TikTok. This name is now known widely in arguably almost all countries worldwide. TikTok has blown up immensely over the past few years. It was a platform that many people were taking part in, especially at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. “TikTok saw a significant increase in popularity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States, with a growth of 180 percent among 15-25 year old users after the pandemic broke out and people started working and studying primarily from home” (Statistica). TikTok was the number one top grossing app on iOS App Store globally in the second quarter of 2020, with much thanks to consumers spending an increasing amount of time on social media apps during the coronavirus pandemic. This increase in app usage led to the app turning into an iconic avenue for idea exchange.

TikTok has been significant in teaching people “things they did not learn in school.” I asked my Instagram followers what is one thing that they learned from TikTok that they did not know before. Those responses included: “The salt and pepper shaker hack” (yes, this is a from YouTube, but it was seen on TikTok by most people), “Learning about which drugstore shampoos and conditioners are bad or good for your hair,” “Coping mechanisms for dealing with narcissistic parents as well as dealing with ADHD hacks,” “How to slide the visor in your car,” “You can turn a pill bottle cap over and make it a screw on rather than a push to unscrew cap,” and “Self-defense hacks as a girl especially while alone at night.” TikTok is an app I could never see myself deleting solely based on the fact that I have learned many life altering facts on it. The hacks that TikTok houses range from simple thing such as fun innovative ways to open a beer bottle, how to make your jeans fit better, and how to reheat pizza in a better way to things that could potentially save someone’s life. Coming from a simple app on a phone, I would say that is extremely impressive. TikTok has reached an array of audiences with its hacks and has undoubtedly impacted lives in an unbeatable way.

TikTok has also been instrumental in its impact on the music industry. It is no secret that TikTok has been the reason behind many songs gaining the fame that they have. The app is an unbeatable platform for artists, record labels, and managers to promote their music. It allows artists who may not be a known name to get their start without having to dedicate a ton of money into their work. TikTok is proving that you do not “need the backing of traditional media platforms to curve your place in the music industry” (College of Contemporary Music). That platform has made it possible for songs to go from relatively unknown artists go viral overnight. The first song that I consciously remember getting “big” because of TikTok is The Git Up by Blanco Brown. That is just one example of a song that TikTok absolutely blew up. I think undoubtedly, the song that TikTok boosted the most, was Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo. The song has been released since January 8, 2021 and already has 192,476,640 views on YouTube as well as has 684,423,526 streams on Spotify. TikTok has changed music consumption habits by allowing users to discover songs they have never heard instead of being recommended songs that based on what you already know on streaming platforms. “Originally, you had to rely on a label’s resources and network to get your name out there. Now, you can upload your single song on TikTok and bypass all the radio stations” (College of Contemporary Music). TikTok has become massive enough that it has been compared to “the short-form version of YouTube.”

I think that one of the most impactful things that TikTok has addressed is all of its mental health content. Mental health is not discussed or normalized enough, but this platform has allowed for these previously stigmatized mental illnesses to be addressed. TikTok has approached these issues in a raw light and offers a window into someone else’s world struggling with mental illness themselves. As someone who suffers with a mental illness, TikTok has been instrumental in me learning coping mechanisms and even learning more about my illness as a whole. It normalizes something that has seemed to be taboo to discuss in the past. By normalizing these conditions, it allows for mental health education to become more of a norm. On the other hand, it could be argued that TikTok negatively impacts mental health as it can have negative impacts on one’s self-confidence. That is a conversation for another time. This app is helping to normalize anxiety, depression, OCD and many other mental health illnesses. “Life hacks for depression rooms, helpful anxiety tutorials, and a realistic look at the sheer torture of living with OCD rituals are all on view–giving support and reassurance to those suffering along in silence” (Psycom). It is no doubt that this app has had a positive impact on dealing with how to live with any different types of mental health issues.

Social Media is not as bad as it is spelled out to be when it is used in moderation. The impacts that social medias such as TikTok have had on daily life are unmatched. From being the reason we discover new music, to making our lives a little easier one hack at a time, to helping teach more about issues that are not as normalized as they should be, TikTok is to thank for being a positive influence in our everyday lives.