The appeal of short-form videos has been growing substantially as social media junkies’ attention spans have shrunk. Vine was the first platform to launch the concept in 2012. It enabled users to produce and distribute six-second videos, causing a disruption in the online video arena.

Vine was phased out in October 2016 after competitors such as Instagram adopted the format. Then came Tik Tok, which completely transformed the internet. Tik Tok was originally known as Douyin, a Chinese-only app developed by Byte Dance.

The app was extremely popular, with over 100 million users and one billion views per day in just one year. The company released Tik Tok, a globally available version of Douyin, in order to attract a wider audience.

TikTok and its recording-breaking ventures

TikTok was previously named the most popular website in the world in 2021. Short-form videos from a number of genres are available on the video-focused social networking program. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, and Amazon were all beaten by the app. According to domo.com, 167 million TikTok videos are watched every minute of every day. Google, on the other hand, executes 5.7 million searches each minute, accounting for over 90% of all online searches.

How does its algorithm work to get all of us addicted to it?

According to a 2016 study, the average human attention span has decreased to eight seconds, two seconds less than that of a goldfish. The growing intake of data is one cause for the drop. Following attention, these platforms focus on the user’s incentive system. Humans are motivated by both requirements (food, sex, sleep, etc.) and rewards. When we get enjoyment from an action or behaviour, our brain feels pleased. Information is another good example of a resource that pays off.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, activates the internal reward system. It’s the chemical in the brain that regulates pleasure. It is released in pleasurable settings and encourages people to engage in pleasurable activities or occupations.

In a word, reels and Tik Toks keep you captivated by not exhausting your short attention spans and presenting you with new and intriguing information.

The impact TikTok creates on young minds

The app’s advanced algorithm guarantees that each user is shown more content, encouraging them to stay longer on the platform. And the longer a person stays on the app and watches more videos, the smarter the algorithm becomes at suggesting new videos to them.

While the program has lately come under fire for potentially sharing user data with the Chinese government, for which it was outright prohibited in India, the actual danger that applications like TikTok pose is the risk of teenagers and young children being addicted to them.