Alright, so let’s talk about this new TikTok feature that’s supposedly going to help us stop doomscrolling. Apparently, the app now has a guided meditation exercise that pops up every night at 10 pm for users under 18. Sounds interesting, right? The screen turns blue, calming music starts playing, and you’re told to take a deep breath and relax. Dr. Willough Jenkins, a child psychiatrist, is on board with this idea and even got paid to promote it.
But wait, there’s more. If you’re not feeling the meditation vibes and want to keep scrolling, you can dismiss it. However, if you’re still glued to the app after an hour, you get hit with a prompt asking you to either keep scrolling for 15 more minutes, opt out of notifications for the day, or change your settings. Users over 18 can also turn on this feature whenever they want. The goal of this whole shebang is to encourage healthier digital habits among the youth, especially since TikTok has been under fire for allegedly messing with people’s mental health.
Now, not everyone is thrilled about this new feature. Sabina, a 15-year-old from NYC, finds it annoying because it interrupts her “precious phone time.” She’s all about that free will, so she just clicks it off. Dr. Yann Poncin, a child psychiatrist from Yale, thinks teens want to be in control of their TikTok time and don’t need some random meditation exercise telling them what to do. And get this, TikTok tried a similar feature before for users under 16, and almost everyone kept it on. Talk about mixed feelings, huh?
So, is this whole meditation thing just a show for TikTok? Some users like Chioma and Siriveena think so. Chioma tried a feature that interrupted her scrolling after an hour, and she wasn’t having it. She found it infuriating, to say the least. Siriveena, a user-experience designer from DC, thinks it’s ironic that apps like TikTok want us to spend hours glued to our screens but then try to push these screen-time limits on us. She even bought third-party apps to help curb her social media use, but nothing worked. In the end, the only thing that actually made a difference was physically distancing herself from her phone.
In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with notifications and addictive apps, it’s hard to find that balance between screen time and real life. Maybe this meditation feature is a step in the right direction, or maybe it’s just another gimmick to keep us hooked. Who knows, right? All I can say is, it’s a tough battle out there, trying to resist the allure of endless scrolling and mindless swiping. But hey, if putting down your phone and taking a breather is what it takes to stay sane in this digital age, then count me in.
