I'm not entirely sure I believe this argument that Tiktok is a different level of addictiveness than "traditional" social media (which IMO is a fake distinction with no fundamental difference to "$NEW" social media, but that's a separate discussion). I'd like to see if any data or studies actually suggests the endless scroll of twitter, facebook, instagram and reddit, or the autoplay of youtube, is less addictive than tiktok.
I've certainly seen friends and family compulsively scroll and obsessively check instagram and snapchat in a manner no different than what people are criticizing about tiktok. It seems like people witness their "their generation" using instagram/snapchat for hours on end; then they see the younger generation using tiktok for (the same number of) hours on end, and get the idea it's far more damaging.
I can't seem to find a single site (which would presumably mean a consistent methodology) that lists recent data for average|median use per day for both of them, but I've seen numbers saying people spend 33-50 min per day on Facebook, vs 90+ min per day on TikTok.*
I suspect the curated short video format is what really holds people's attention in a way that is different from "traditional social media".
*disclaimer: as reported by different sites, with different methodologies, and different reporting dates.
I've certainly seen friends and family compulsively scroll and obsessively check instagram and snapchat in a manner no different than what people are criticizing about tiktok. It seems like people witness their "their generation" using instagram/snapchat for hours on end; then they see the younger generation using tiktok for (the same number of) hours on end, and get the idea it's far more damaging.