I'm Uninstalling TikTok

As I talked about yesterday in my April 2025 wrap up, I spend far too much time on TikTok. I'm talking about near 24 hours a month. That's 12 full days every year, if not more. That's absurd.

Before we talk about the negatives, let us talk about why I use TikTok in the first place.

It's Not All Bad

There's actually a lot of good content on TikTok. I know that it gets a bad rep, and rightly so, but there's good stuff on there just like there is on any social platform.

I love the book scene on TikTok. Yes, there has been toxicity there, but mostly I just ignore the drama and get some good book recs. I also enjoy watching others discuss the books they've read, even if I have no interest in reading those books. I really like the finance stuff on TikTok as well. I've been trying to pay attention to my own finances, somewhat unsuccessfully, and the creators over there have been good at keeping me motivated and interested in doing so.

There are many other small little niche topics on TikTok that I enjoy. It's no wonder I spend so much time there.

The short form content really is addictive. Because what's 15 or 30 seconds in the grand scheme of things? So, I'll watch that one video. And then the next one is only 30 seconds more, so that can't hurt, can it? And before I know it, I've been sitting on the can for 20 minutes, doing nothing but watching the latest TikTok trends.

And that's where the bad comes in.

The Addictive Nature of TikTok

In small doses, TikTok is wonderful. But you can't watch just one video. You're going to watch one, and then another one, and then another one. Even the most willful of people will find themselves falling down the rabbit hole.

This happens every time you open the app, and it gets worse the longer you've had it installed because it learns what you like and shows you more and more that you're interested in until you find yourself unable to pull away.

It's no wonder they think this app is bad for kids. And not because of the China nonsense, but simply because kids need to learn to do more than just doom scroll. There's grass to be touched. Guys like me who apparently don't know better can get away with it, even if it's not healthy. Kids could ruin their lives if they truly get addicted to this shit.

I know the anti-woke guys won't like me talking about it, but all this is really about mental health. Little bits of TikTok are okay, and even educational, but spend too much time on it, and it feels like it starts to warp your state of mind. You start thinking that the "news" you see on there is almost certainly the right news. You think that the opinions you see are rational and well thought out.

I've caught myself over and over again, thinking about some of the news that I've heard on TikTok like it was delivered by Dan Rather himself. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there is some truth to some of it, but there's a lot of spin going on.

Goodbye, TikTok

Last month, my first month tracking my app usage, was a shocker to me. I used TikTok for over 27 hours, way more than I thought. But, I figured that since I was aware of the problem, it'd be easy to just stop using TikTok so much. It's just an app, just don't open it.

Simple.

Obviously, given that I only cut that number down a couple of measly hours, it is, in fact, not that simple. Now, I could try again. Show some will power. Maybe institute a focus state on my phone that blocks the app when I should be doing something else.

But, I think it's just better if TikTok goes away. So, I've uninstalled it from my phone. It's gone as of when I write this, and I don't intend to install it again. Will I miss some of the content on there? Yes. But the important creators, the ones that offered true value, I've found on YouTube for more long form content.

And no, I'm not going to just replace TikTok with more YouTube. I don't spend much time on YouTube while on my phone, so I doubt that will be an issue. On my computer, that's another story, but I feel like it should be fine. I'm not so driven to watch one video after another. And YT shorts are terrible, so I very rarely even watch those. But I'll monitor it. If it does become a problem, I'll think about how to curb YouTube as well.

It's not as if I want to get rid of online content altogether. I don't mind some of my time spent watching other people's content. But it needs to provide value beyond just mind-numbing entertainment. I would like to get something out of it, beyond just a waste of time. A book rec, a review, or even a laugh. Something that engages my mind, and it won't be so bad. But it can't be hours and hours on end. I have shit to do.

So, do you use TikTok? If so, have you thought about deleting it? Please let me know in the comments below or on Mastodon.

This is day 13 of 30 in 30, my attempt to blog every single day for a month.