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Users express relief over potential TikTok ban due to

addiction

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TikTok's algorithm criticized for fostering app addiction

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Free-speech concerns arise amid TikTok ban discussions

By Greg Bensinger

Jan 17 (Reuters) - TikTok is entering its final hours in

the U.S. ahead of a potential ban effective on Sunday, prompting

howls of protest from devoted users of the beloved

video-streaming app.

Chelsea Rossi could not be happier.

The part-time real estate agent from Albany, New York, said

she spends a minimum of two hours on the app each day flipping

through short videos covering anything from beauty tips to

recipes.

"It's horrific," said the 23-year-old. "Honestly, I am happy

about the ban. I feel like I don't remember what life was like

before TikTok."

Owned by China's ByteDance, the app faces a complete U.S.

ban on Sunday unless it finds a non-Chinese buyer. The planned

shutdown stems from an April law signed by President Joe Biden

that will bar new downloads on Apple ( AAPL ) or Google

app stores and prohibit companies from providing

services that enable the app.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to rescue TikTok on Friday

from the law in a major blow to a platform used by nearly half

of Americans.

Lawmakers allege it is a surveillance and propaganda machine

camouflaged in banal dancing, prank and cooking videos served

daily to some 170 million U.S. users. TikTok has repeatedly

denied this.

Although some key U.S. officials are attempting to delay a

shutdown, some users are hopeful the highly addictive app

disappears forever.

Jennifer Whims, of Snohomish County, Washington, said she

has uninstalled the app multiple times since discovering it

years ago - only to reinstall it days later.

"It's become too much of a part of my life," said Whims, 32,

whose daily diet of five hours of TikTok videos includes tarot

readings and self-help instruction. "I'll be relieved when the

ban is in effect."

The app has grown into a cultural phenomenon, minting a

smattering of influencers and new celebrities whose reach

has proven irresistible to advertisers paying them to peddle

products such as Momofuku ramen noodles and Birkenstock knockoff

sandals in TikTok's online store.

Musicians such as Lil Nas X have catapulted to fame in part

because of TikTok's reach, while book enthusiasts on the app

have lifted authors such as Colleen Hoover to the top of

bestseller lists.

ALGORITHM MAKES APP ADDICTIVE

TikTok's secret sauce is its algorithm, which adapts to users'

behavior, showing more of some videos and less of others based

on factors such as how long they watch and whether they comment

or click a digital heart to "like" content. Meta's

Facebook and Google's YouTube, among others, are also designed

to enthrall users, keeping them pinned to their phones.

Yet the TikTok algorithm makes the app particularly

addictive, users say, rendering it nearly impossible to watch

just one or a handful of videos in a single sitting. And the

more one- to three-minute videos users consume, the better the

algorithm adapts to make it even more irresistible.

"There's definitely a dark side to it," said Andrew

Coleburn, 30, a software engineer in New York City. "I can

almost feel it decreasing my attention span."

Research shows TikTok is particularly well-designed to

encourage overuse and court documents suggest TikTok knew it

could become habit-forming. Thirteen states and the District of

Columbia sued the company, pointing in part to its addictive

qualities. The company has pushed back against those allegations

and notes it has user controls, particularly for teens.

Coleburn and others say they prefer TikTok to other

video-streaming sites such as Instagram Reels.

Like Whims, he has taken measures to curb his use, including

setting a one-hour daily time limit on using TikTok on his

phone. "I blow past that all the time," Coleburn said.

The potential ban has sparked free-speech concerns and

worries about government overreach. President-elect Donald Trump

and a growing list of U.S. officials have vowed to intervene to

spare the app from dissolution in the U.S. but it is unclear

whether Trump has the authority to do so.

Interior designer Abigail Green of Columbus, Ohio, said she

will be happy if a ban gets her off TikTok. At her peak usage,

she clocked four hours on the app each day and purchased a lip

stain she had seen touted on TikTok, though it did not last all

day as promised.

Green, 23, who has posted some of her own content on TikTok,

such as displays of her thrift-store purchases, said the app's

addictive qualities were dangerous because she could "scroll for

hours and hours."

"I had to delete the app a few times to detox," said Green,

who likens the demise of TikTok as akin to taking away a

smoker's pack of cigarettes.

With his newfound time following TikTok's domestic shutdown,

Coleburn plans to read more books. "I've found some new books to

read recently that I never would have otherwise," he said.

Where? On TikTok.