Ethics of Tiktok and Dopamine Effects on the Brain

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Introduction

In recent years, several social media platforms have gained popularity in the social sphere, distinguishing their respective influence. One of such platforms is TikTok, a video sharing app where users can create and watch short clips addressing virtually any topic. The content that TikTok users may encounter on the app is shaped by several factors, beginning with an interest survey inquiring about the user’s interest in animals, comedy, travel, food, sports, beauty and style, art, gaming, science and education. TikTok initially presents users with varied content that has high view numbers, and narrows down to more specialized content topics as the algorithm begins to learn about a user’s interests. The algorithm bases these trajectories off of clues such as how long a user lingers on a particular video or how many times they rewatch it. The hashtags and topics are then used to inform the algorithm and generate more videos with similar themes, creating content more and more tailored toward individual preference. This system has the potential to produce individualized content that only becomes more niche as a user continues to watch, which can lead a user deep into rabbit holes of content that may yield unpredictable emotional effects. This situation gives rise to certain ethical concerns, one being the question of how responses to TikTok videos affect one’s brain chemistry, and how dopamine levels are affected.

History of TikTok

Before TikTok, the short, looping style of video sharing became popularized by social media platforms such as Musical.ly and Vine. Released in 2012, Vine was used by many influencers to gain a following before moving on to more profitable and modern platforms. Musical.ly was released in 2014, and unlike Vine, was intended to be used as a lip-synching platform. TikTok followed shortly after with its release in 2016 and has been downloaded more than 2.6 billion times since February of 2021. It was created by the Chinese company ByteDance and was originally named “Douyin". When Douyin was originally launched in 2016, there were at least 10 other short video style apps competing in the Chinese market. TikTok quickly became the most successful app from Chinese origin in regards to global distribution. Musical.ly ultimately merged with TikTok in 2018, making the app available to users worldwide. Since its founding in 2016, TikTok has been distributed widely and attracted the attention of young users who can use this app to view, produce and comment on video content. The Covid-19 outbreak and enforced quarantine in 2020 represented a time of growth and diversification for TikTok’s user base. TikTok downloads peaked during the early stages of the global pandemic, and TikTok attracted new users through presenting itself as a source of lockdown entertainment and learning materials. TikTok’s global success has become an example of China’s ability to profit from the export of technology, strengthening its “soft power” and aligning with the Chinese government’s “digital silk road” aspirations.

In-app features

TikTok includes several in-app features that allow users to interact with content. The default video feed comes from the “for you” channel which appears on the top right corner of a user’s screen. A user can also swipe to the top left option of “following,” which displays content created only by accounts a user is already following. When viewing a video, a user has access to icons including the video creator’s avatar, a heart, a chat bubble, a favorites symbol, a share arrow and a circle displaying the music used in the clip. Clicking on the user’s avatar will display their videos as well as a list of their followers and following. The heart icon allows users to “like” videos on their feed, while the chat bubble allows for commenting on the video. It is also possible for users to like each other's comments on any particular video. The favorites symbol is used to save videos to a “favorites” folder where they can be organized into different collections, and the share arrow is used to send the video clip to other people. This act of sharing may involve directly messaging the clip to other TikTok accounts or sharing the video through other social media channels, such as Snapchat or Instagram. Other features of TikTok include the “duet” function where users can directly respond to a video by filming themselves side by side with the original. There is also a “stitch” function where users can use portions of another user’s video in their own. Users can also live stream content, or film themselves in real time. TikTok is available for download for users that are age 13 and older, and direct messaging has an age requirement of 16 years.

Dopamine explained

Dopamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter that is made in the brain. It is produced in a two step process, in which the amino acid tyrosine is first converted into L-dopa (also an amino acid). Then, L-dopa is converted by enzymes into dopamine. Dopamine plays a role in many of the central functions of the body and mind. As a neurotransmitter, dopamine communicates chemical messages from the nerve cells to the brain, as well as the brain to the body. Functions of dopamine as a neurotransmitter include pleasurable reward, behavior and cognition, attention, sleep and arousal, mood, learning, lactation, movement and memory. Aside from its role as a neurotransmitter, dopamine can also act as a hormone. Dopamine is closely linked to the sensation of pleasure, and is known as both the “feel good” hormone as well as the “reward center.” As a hormone, dopamine is released into the bloodstream and can cause blood vessels to relax or constrict, sodium and urine removal from the body, reduction in insulin production in the pancreas, slowed gastrointestinal content movement and a reduction in lymphocyte activity in the immune system. A “dopamine rush” is experienced when one participates in a rewarding activity, such as winning a game or eating delicious food. This sensation is also involved in reinforcement, which is why a person may want to participate in pleasurable activities over and over again, creating the conditions necessary to form addictive behaviors. Having too much or too little dopamine can cause various health issues, both mental and physical. Too little dopamine is linked to feelings of decreased motivation and excitement, as well as mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia and psychosis. Too much dopamine, on the other hand, has been associated with increased aggression and competitiveness as well as decreased impulse control. This can lead to conditions like binge eating, addiction, gambling and ADHD.

Dopamine and “likes”

The “like” button on TikTok allows for instant gratification, and increased dopaminergic brain activity as a result of giving or receiving a “like” encourages continuing use of TikTok, or recreating the pleasurable experience. This positive reinforcement creates conditions which facilitate persistent use and addiction. Dopamine is involved with the prediction of a reward, and this notion can be applied to likes on TikTok. If a user receives more likes than they had expected, dopamine release is increased and the user updates their behavior and expectations. If less likes than expected are received, dopamine release is decreased and users become less expectant of reward. If the amount of likes is accurately predicted by the user, no dopamine is released and there is no adaptation of behavior or learning. This condition where no dopamine is released leads to habitual behavior through changing the strength of the brain’s neural connections in areas involved with action selection. For example, after a habit of checking TikTok like notifications daily is formed, a user will start constantly checking their like feed, regardless of any notifications driving them in that direction.

Dopamine and addiction

An overdependence on TikTok or other forms of social media has been compared to addiction to drugs or alcohol, as the brain mechanisms function similarly in both scenarios. There are now treatment programs across the United States dedicated to treating social media addiction as a compulsive behavior. In a 2019 survey, it was found that 40 percent of United States internet users in the age group of 18 to 22 reported having feelings of addiction related to their social media use. There currently are no defined diagnostic criteria for social media addiction, but the compulsive use of social media for the purpose of improving one’s mental state is a symptom of addiction. A “dopamine loop” describes the cycle of motivation, reinforcement and reward that is created when a user begins scrolling through TikTok. This dopamine loop leaves users craving more of the pleasurable reward feeling every time they open the app. Social networks make use of the same neural circuitry as slot machines to keep the attention of their users. For a regular user, the constant influx of dopamine created when using social media creates a deficit when they log off. This deficit is caused by the brain’s need to restore homeostasis. In the deficit state, dopamine levels are pushed below baseline, creating a sensation of decreased pleasure whenever the user is not on social media. Initially, the symptoms of the dopamine deficit mimic those of anxiety and depression. As more time passes, the deficit may begin to affect the synaptic plasticity of pathways involved with dopamine and pleasurable reward. These effects to synaptic plasticity can cause long term changes in excitability of particular synapses, including the extent of their activity and inactivity.

Adolescents

Adolescents represent a group that uses TikTok at a more significant percentage than other age demographics. As of August 2020, TikTok has more than 800 million daily users, 49% of which are teenagers. Adolescence is also a time period where individuals are still developing both physically and mentally. During this life stage, input of dopamine to the prefrontal cortex increases and dopamine levels in the limbic system increase as well. This increased dopamine activity may have implications for taking risks and increased susceptibility to boredom. The dopamine system innervates the prefrontal cortex, and evidence from projections of midbrain dopamine neurons indicates that dopamine receptor expression is in a high state of flux during adolescence. A study from the Journal of the American Medical Association provided evidence that teens who engage with social media for 3 or more hours per day may have an increased risk for mental health issues. Overuse of social media can predisposition a teenager’s brain to constantly crave and seek out instant gratification. This predisposition can make mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, ADHD and body dysmorphia worse than they would have been originally. Adolescents who become active on TikTok and other social medias at a younger age are at a higher risk for developing these mental disorders and addictive tendencies as they age.

Ethical implications

Although the long term health effects related to excessive social media use are somewhat unknown, there is controversy regarding the ethical implications of TikTok’s effects on dopamine and the brain. The scroll and reward pattern is linked to a flow-like mental state in users where high focus and productivity can distort the passage of time. Similar to other substance abuse and addiction disorders, TikTok addiction can be the result of several factors working simultaneously to jumpstart dopamine production. App design and functionality, variable reward pattern of the content stream, “flow-inducing” interface and endless scroll capability all utilize reward based learning to encourage addictive behavior. These elements of TikTok’s app design are facilitated by the app developers and hypothetically could be eliminated. However, content developers are motivated by success of the app, which relies on keeping the user's attention. Public health officials have called for increased research into the addictive potential of TikTok and evaluation of TikTok’s policies to prevent misuse and overuse of the app. From a psychological perspective, the ethics of adolescent use of TikTok has been called into question as well due to lack of self control and only a partially developed prefrontal cortex at this age. In the early stages of TikTok, creators used their knowledge of adolescent psychology to maximize profits, hiring popular “influencers” to promote the app and attract a young population. Ads were also strategically placed within other social media platforms known to be dominated by young users. Although there is an age requirement of 13, children are using the app without parental supervision and can lie about their age to bypass the requirement and make an account. Certain stakeholders argue that TikTok is not immoral and is different from other apps of the same style because it is more of a creative outlet for users. On this side of the issue, there is a belief that the moral panic surrounding TikTok is associated with parental concerns about children using technology unproductively. Those with this positive viewpoint are of the opinion that TikTok allows young people to create and play without complying to the online cultures of the past . These ethical implications are ongoing as society progresses through the age of technology.

Calls to ban TikTok

As TikTok has become more successful, the company has faced legal backlash from government officials calling to ban or restrict the app. In April of 2019, the Chennai high court in India made a declaration that TikTok encourages pornography and is harmful to children. TikTok was then banned for a week but became available online after India conducted negotiations. In January of 2020, The United States Army and Navy implemented a TikTok ban on government phones, and made a rule that phones that did not delete the application would not be allowed to use the Navy’s network. In June of 2020, India banned a total of 59 Chinese applications, TikTok included. American officials began to take action in July of 2020, following India’s ban, when United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a notice that the United States was considering restricting Chinese applications like TikTok. In August of 2020, United States President Donald Trump announced a “ban order” against TikTok. Had the order gone into effect on September 27th, 2020, as planned, it would have forbidden any United States company or citizen from transacting with the ByteDance company. After negotiations with ByteDance, Donald Trump issued a second executive order that overturned the initial ban order.