To Mark Mental Health Awareness Month, TikTok Has Announced Some New Events And Features To Help Users Out.
Within this activation is a range of live stream events, in-app activations and content. These are there to help users find relevant support.
The content put out by the channel will be posted under the main hashtags #MentalHealthAwareness, #SelfCare and #LetsTalkMentalHealth. Under these hashtags, users will be able to find mental health discussions. TikTok has also announced that they will be highlighting several nonprofits throughout the month.
Within their live stream schedule, TikTok has announced a range of content including:
- A Live discussion on how to set boundaries with parents led by psychotherapist Dr Courtney Tracy and hosted by Cosmopolitan on May 10th at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT.
- A ‘Get Ready with Me’ mental health check-in with Leyna Bloom and Olivia Ponton, hosted by Sports Illustrated on May 19th at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT.
- A broadcast of the 4th Annual Sound Mind Live Music Festival for Mental Health on May 21st at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT.
- A LIVE musical performance by YUNGBLUD, followed by a mental health discussion with the artist on May 23rd at 5 pm ET / 2 pm PT.
Lastly, they have announced that they will be releasing helpful guides that will offer support and tips to readers. These include the ‘Well-Being-Guide’ and the ‘Eating-Disorder-Guide.
Over the past two years, TikTok has gained a lot of scrutiny from the media in relation to how usage of the app affects young people’s mental health.
Many of the trends on the app relate to body image and can encourage young people to feel insecure about their looks. These trends have included users showing how their noses go straight down relating to a ski slope and users taking part in trends showing how they have lost significant amounts of weight and are ‘finally happy’.
As well as these blatantly comparative trends. Just existing on the app itself can have a bad impact on teens who will inevitably compare their lives to those on their For-You pages. Although mental health is a significant issue that affects young people, is it not slightly ironic that the platform that is capable of causing so much harm to people is the one which is offering support for the damages it may have caused without being fully accountable.
It may seem that although this page is a good platform to promote discussions on mental health, these discussions should be hosted by professionals who know what they are talking about rather than celebrities on the app who may be out of touch with their audiences.
Finally, for our previous #SocialShort, click here.
