TikTok Algorithms and Mental Health
Contents
Introduction
The social media app, TikTok, has become an extremely popular platform ever since its rise during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and its recommendation algorithm. The algorithm suggests videos that seem to be perfectly tailored to each user's individual personalities and interests which makes the app addictive. Due to its popularity many people believe that TikTok can be a source of happiness, however, the strength of its algorithm can actually have various effects on the mental health of its users, especially when it comes to depression, body image, and eating disorders. On one hand, if someone already struggling with major depressive disorder uses the app, the algorithm has been known to allow that user to continuously be recommended depressive content which can make it more difficult for them to seek help and get out of their depression. On the other hand, during the start of the pandemic, ‘TikTok Therapy’ arose allowing people to have easier access to professional advice. Similarly, the platform has created a sense of community among people recovering from eating disorders allowing them to share their experiences with struggling with an eating disorder. However, social media, including TikTok has a strong correlation to body dissatisfaction and promoting disordered eating which can be very harmful amongst TikTok's users, especially given their young demographic.
History
The platform began in 2016 as an app called “Douyin” by a company called ByteDance in China and was then internationalized as a different app by the name of TikTok. With it first launching internationally in September of 2017, TikTok quickly rose to the top of the charts by late January of 2018. In August of 2018, Tiktok merged with an extremely popular app at the time called Musical.ly. Musical.ly was a startup company whose social media platform was used to create lip-sync and comedy videos and was widely used by young adolescents. The popularity of the app really started to increase during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when most of the world was under isolation and used the app to connect with others during a time of uncertainty. As the app gained popularity, large celebrities, such as Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian, also began to use the app which increased downloads even more. In 2021, it had reached 1 billion users and earned over $4 billion in revenue. The app allows users to make short videos, anywhere from 15 seconds to 3 minutes, and can lip-sync to their favorite songs, use comedic sounds, or just make whatever they please as long as it stays within TikTok’s guidelines. The “For You” page is where users can discover new videos based on previous activity on the app which is dependent on TikTok’s own algorithm. Additionally, users can react to the content they see by liking, commenting, and sharing the posts which is said to increase the accuracy of their feed. Users can also interact with other users of the app by following them and can connect personally with them by private messaging which creates a sense of community. Other features include live streaming, stories that last for only a day, a feature called ‘TikTok Now’ which resembles the app BeReal, and a following page where users can view only content of those that they follow. Many companies and brands also use TikTok as a way to promote their company via paid promotional videos (Wikimedia, 2023).
The Algorithm
ByteDance has specified the four main goals of TikTok algorithm to be “user value”, “long-term user value”, “creator value”, and “platform value”. To achieve their goal of adding active users on a day to day basis, the company strives to optimize two metrics in the videos that it suggests, those being “retention” and “time spent”. The Wall Street Journal did their own study on the app’s algorithm and discovered that not only does the app track the users interactions with other posts, such as their likes, comments, and shares, but they also track how long a user spends on each video and uses those statistics to give the user more videos that will keep them on the app and keep them scrolling as long as possible. A document produced by Tiktok’s engineering team in Beijing “TikTok Algo 101” gives more detail about their algorithm and was created to describe the algorithm to their nontechnical employees. In this document they give us an equation that is roughly used to calculate how a video is scored (Smith, 2021):
Plike X Vlike + Pcomment X Vcomment + Eplaytime X Vplaytime + Pplay X Vplay
Although, what the coefficients of this equation stand for (P, V, E) is not specified, it is believed that this equation is a sum of the predicted value created by machine learning and the actual value of the users behavior for three types of interaction: likes, comments, and playtime. Based on this equation, the videos with the highest scores for each user will be suggested on their “For You” page. Content with the most overall views is also prioritized over content with less views and interactions in order to drive creator monetization and creator quality (Smith, 2021).
Effects On Mental Health
Depression
In 2021, the Wall Street Journal did an investigation to dive deep into the TikTok algorithm. They programmed user bots who had a set of particular interests, however, those interests were never entered into the app. The bot would scan each video for hashtags or images that were related to the programmed interests, when one was found it would stop, watch, and rewatch these videos. One of the bots’ main ‘interests’ were sadness and depression, and within three minutes of opening the app, the algorithm suggested a video about losing people in your life. The bot stopped and watched this video two times. As the bot continued to watch the TikToks and stop in the ones that are related to depression and sadness, the algorithm is getting a sense of ‘who’ the bot is, what its interests are and what content it is interested in. However, instead of trying to steer the bot away from sad content and things that may worsen its depression, it continues to suggest these videos and after about 35 minutes of being on the app about 93% of the content becomes related to sadness and depression. A TikTok spokesperson has said that the algorithm will periodically suggest new content, unrelated to the content that a user is usually recommended, in order to try to help the user discover new interests and content. However, in the case of this bot, the Wall Street Journal found that these videos were very sparse making it difficult for the user to steer away from the depressive content (Dow, 2021). This causes an issue as someone who may be depressed can easily become more depressed or have a hard time getting out of their depression due to the depressive content that they see on their TikTok feed. Additionally, the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published a report that said that it can take no more than three minutes after opening the app to be shown content that relates to suicide (CCDH, 2022). Although, a TikTok spokesperson has said that they are constantly trying to prevent it from happening, until they completely mitigate this type of content, it will continue to harm the mental health of their users. On the more positive end of things, although TikTok has been seen to cause a negative impact on depression, the app has also been used as a form of therapy. Since the app rose during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been used not only to feel connected to others but also to provide mental health advice during a time of isolation. Even after COVID-19 isolation ended, ‘TikTok Therapy’ remained prevalent. Informative content that highlights different coping techniques for mental health disorders such as depression or anxiety made by real psychiatrists has increased awareness for mental health issues and has helped to reduce the stigma of therapy in a way as well. TikTok therapists also have used popular self-help techniques while also staying within the current trends in order to appease the algorithm (Avella, 2023). TikTok therapy has also, in some cases, helped people understand their disorders better and gain a sense of identity. Although it can not replace professional therapy, it is beneficial to those who may need immediate help and to those who may not have access to a professional therapist (Miodus & Jimenez, 2021).
Body Image and Eating Disorders
In some cases, TikTok has created a sense of community among people recovering from eating disorders, however, on the other hand TikTok has also been linked to an increase of body dissatisfaction in many young adolescents. One article, “‘This is just how I cope’: An inductive thematic analysis of eating disorder recovery content created and shared on TikTok using #EDRecovery”, written by Shannon Herrick, Laura Hallward, and Lindsay Duncan, talks about the coping mechanisms that people in eating disorder recovery use through TikTok, more specifically, the types of videos they create and share through the app. They share their stories through different formats including their experiences as an inpatient in an ED unit, eating in recovery, which includes “what I eat in a day” videos and videos in which they face their trigger foods, transformations throughout their recovery, and even humor. TikTok has provided a platform in which many creators feel comfortable using their voice and speaking out about their recovery and eating disorders, in general, which in turn has created a community among many people struggling with eating disorders which can be very beneficial to their recovery and may even encourage others who may not have yet gotten the help they need to reach out and take the first step. After sharing her story through TikTok, one creator responded to a comment asking if she thought that professional treatment actually helped her, she said “the short answer: YES. I didn’t think I would make it to my 16th birthday. Treatment was hard, but it only works if you want it to. I’m so grateful for everyone who saved my life, including you guys” (Herrick et al, 2020). Not only did she mention that the community she found on TikTok helped save her life, by mentioning the importance that professional help had with her recovery, she, like many other creators like herself, is encouraging others to seek help if they are struggling with an eating disorder. Many of these creators, use the hashtag #EDRecovery, which is important to note because other TikTok users, particularly users struggling with an eating disorder and/or currently going through recovery, will view this content and as per the algorithm mentioned above if this user interacts with the content or even just watches the video all the way through, they will begin to see other TikTok videos of similar content on their “For You” page (Herrick et al, 2020). Although TikTok can create this sense of community among people recovering from eating disorders, this is not the case for all. Despite TikTok’s efforts to ban pro-ED hashtags and content, they continue to be recommended on users for you pages which can be detrimental to adolescents, especially as much of this content encourages disordered eating. Herrick mentions “The spread of pro-ED content is difficult to trace and halt, which presents a disconcerting issue regarding the safety of TikTok’s young, impressionable user base that warrants further attention (Herrick et al, 2020)”. In the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) article mentioned previously, they also reported that the app’s algorithm also has suggested content promoting eating disorders to users within the first 10 minutes of signing up for an account (CCDH, 2022). Aside from pro-ED content, Social media in general is known to be related to higher body dissatisfaction due to edited bodies and “fitspo” also known as fitness inspiration. The clinical director of the Eating Disorders Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Abigail Matthews, talks about the effects that social media use, including TikTok, has on her patients with existing eating disorders. Dr. Matthews explains, “When on these platforms, they are infiltrated with images of their peers who appear to have it ‘all’ – perfect bodies and perfect lives. As most of us know, many images on social media are doctored with filters and editing tools, so the bodies portrayed are unrealistic and unachievable (AED, 2021).” Her patients often talk about the negative comparisons and body and self dissatisfaction they get from interacting with these apps (AED, 2021). Approximately 25% of the users on TikTok are between the ages of 10-19 years old, making their demographic particularly younger than most other social media. With this younger demographic, users may be especially vulnerable to the effects of the content that they are seeing. In 2021, The academy for eating disorders (AED) recommended a series of actions to be taken with social media platforms in order to reduce the harmful effects they have on eating disorders, two of which were: 1. To increase their transparency around their recommendation algorithms as they believe that public knowledge of how these algorithms work can lead to community empowerment to report potentially harmful content. And 2. To direct resources and funding toward the identification and removal of harmful and eating disorder promoting content (AED, 2021).
Ethical Implications
Although there have been some positive impacts on mental health through TikTok, those mostly seem to be from the users and the connectivity of the platform rather than the recommendation algorithm. The recommendation algorithm that TikTok has created has shown to have negative impacts on some of its users mental health which poses the question of if TikTok is prioritizing engagement and profit over the mental health and well being of its users. With one of the main goals of the company's algorithm being “long-term user value” and the algorithm being centered around retention, it is clear that TikTok wants to keep users on the app for as long as possible. However, with that being a main priority it may be hard for the company to not lose sight of the well being of their users. Even though TikTok has said that they continue to create precautions to limit the amount of potentially harmful content that is allowed on the app and suggested to users, they continue to be criticized for the content that has been shown on users “For You” page created by their recommendation algorithm. As the majority of users are adolescents, an impressionable age group, many organizations such as the academy for eating disorders (AED) and the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), have emphasized the importance that the company increases their effort and funding into removing this type of content altogether as well as becoming more transparent about their algorithm.
References
(AED), Academy for Eating Disorders (2021, November 2). Urgent responsibility to reduce harms posed by social media on risk for eating disorders: An open letter to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other global social media corporations. Newswise. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.newswise.com/articles/urgent-responsibility-to-reduce-harms-posed-by-social-media-on-risk-for-eating-disorders
Avella, H. (2023). “tiktok ≠ therapy”: Mediating Mental Health and Algorithmic Mood Disorders. New Media & Society, 146144482211472. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221147284
CCDH. (2022, December 22). New report: Deadly by design. Center for Countering Digital Hate | CCDH. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://counterhate.com/research/deadly-by-design/?amp
Dow Jones & Company. (2021, July 21). Inside TikTok's algorithm: A WSJ video investigation. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-algorithm-video-investigation-11626877477
Harriger, J. A., Evans, J. A., Thompson, J. K., & Tylka, T. L. (2022). The dangers of the Rabbit Hole: Reflections on social media as a portal into a distorted world of edited bodies and eating disorder risk and the role of algorithms. Body Image, 41, 292–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.03.007
Herrick, S. S., Hallward, L., & Duncan, L. R. (2020). “This is just how i cope”: An inductive thematic analysis of eating disorder recovery content created and shared on TikTok using #EDrecovery. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 54(4), 516–526. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23463
Miodus, S., & Jimenez, A. (n.d.). TikTok therapy: An exploratory study on popular TikTok Mental Health content. TMS Proceedings 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/tms0000137
Smith, B. (2021, December 6). How TikTok reads your mind. The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/business/media/tiktok-algorithm.html
Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, February 10). TikTok. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok
