Negative influence of TikTok trends on Nigerian youths
By Manasseh Mercy
Social media integrates digital media platforms, including combinations of electronic text, graphics, moving pictures and sounds in a structured computerized environment that allows users to interact with the data for appropriate purposes or otherwise. The digital environment can include the Internet, telecommunications and interactive digital television. The Web is now part of the overall business of communication, sales and services. It changes business practices across the globe.
Its technical limitations affect the amount of material and the speed of access. The network depends mainly on the connections of the telephone line, so the more they are good on a territory, the more the service will be reliable. As a result, messages can reach audiences and target groups in real-time and generate changes and trends.
Nowadays, younger generations grow up having good contact with different social networks, easily acquire digital culture and live in a digital world where only adults are naturalized citizens. Trends can bring awareness to other organizations and not just for selling products.
In 2014, the ice bucket challenge was a popular trend that spread across Instagram’s platform. The trend was created to help bring awareness and donations to Lou Gehrig’s Disease, also known as ALS, which stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Pete Frates, a former baseball player for Boston College, helped promote the nonprofit organization ALS Association because of his diagnosis of the disease. Both celebrities and regular social media account holders made videos of pouring ice water on themselves while tagging at least three friends to post themselves participating.
This trend was an example of one of the many situations that brought light to very serious topics. The millions of people posting about the ice bucket challenge resulted in the organization raising millions of money. That year, an estimated $115 million was raised for the cause in just a few months. The Ice Bucket Challenge was created to raise money for research purposes in hopes of finding a cure for ALS disease.
The Ice Bucket Challenge is just one of the many trends that took over social media platforms. Many nonprofit organizations have been going viral over the years, bringing awareness to millions of people. Situations like these can come out of pure luck to get everyone on the Internet to discuss a topic. Getting people to talk about specific issues brings attention to a cause that can get people to donate money. It’s not only companies and organizations that get attention online but also individuals as well.
TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. Young people use the App to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy and lip-syncing. It allows users to create videos and share them across a community. It is one of the most popular social media platforms in the 21st century.
In Today’s generation, popular trends on social media have a significant influence on younger generations. Trends can consist of different things such as makeup, clothes, music, toys, and interests. TikTok trends are viral short videos that use popular features, songs, sound effects and hashtags.
Some current TikTok Trends (November 2023) include Bird’s-eye View — November 17, 2023. In this trend, you grab your friends or coworkers, tape your phone to the ceiling, and record yourselves dancing and being silly. Another was (Added November 20, 2023) Smug Corgi/Confused Dog Meme Trend. Example: Posting a video with the CapCut template from the example with a funny text overlay describing a situation where you (the corgi) would be smugly doing something while the other person (represented by the other dog) is super baffled, often about spend a lot of money on something like Christmas decorations.
What are the potential risks? Users may be exposed to foul language and sexual content. Users can comment on other videos, which leaves the potential for online bullying or negative comments. The App promotes positive comments and encourages users to ‘say something nice’. However, if you encounter an inappropriate comment, you can report it as abuse.
Stalking, identity theft, personal attacks and misuse of information are some of the threats social media users face. Most of the time, the users themselves are to blame as they share content that should not be in the eye of the public.
These dangerous trends are not only harmful to the individuals who participate in them, but they also hurt society as a whole. When young people engage in these trends, they send their peers messages that it is acceptable to engage in risky and inappropriate behaviours. This can lead to a culture of recklessness and disregard for personal safety and etiquette.
It is essential for parents and educators to be aware of these dangerous trends and to talk to young people about the potential consequences of participating in them. It is also essential for social media platforms like TikTok to take responsibility for the content shared on their platform and to take steps to remove the dangerous content.
In conclusion, TikTok trends influence the social behaviour of Nigerian youths in one way or another. Nigerian youths engage in time-consuming and energy-draining trends, and sometimes, they cost money because they want to be famous and act like their peers. The Nigerian government should closely monitor and adequately regulate TikTok trends so as not to destroy Nigerian youths’ moral and social behaviour.
Mercy Manasseh is a student of Mass Communication from the University of Maiduguri and can be reached via mercymanasseh951@gmail.com.