David Bridges
Today is World Mental Health Day, and to mark the event, TikTok has shared an overview of its evolving mental health support tools, along with new research into how people feel about mental health concerns, and the support options available to them.
First off, on its in-app support tools and options – in addition to its existing well-being resources, TikTok has launched a new ‘Mental Well-Being Comes First’ campaign, which is designed to help raise awareness of the importance of mental health, through dedicated in-app programming and tools.
As explained by TikTok:
“To further nurture TikTok’s environment of empathy and understanding, we brought together some of our community’s favorite creators with mental health experts to empower them to create responsible content around mental well-being. These creators learned how to talk about sensitive issues, like grief and eating disorder recovery, to build a better understanding around creating content on sensitive topics of mental well-being.”
The resources, presented by familiar TikTok stars, could help to spark more discussions around mental health, while also breaking down barriers around community perception.
As you can see in the above images, the initiative also includes links to TikTok’s mental health guides and tools, providing more ways for people to get immediate assistance and advice when dealing with such concerns in the app.
In addition to this, TikTok also recently conducted a global survey, in partnership with market research firm YouGov, to get a better sense of how TikTok users feel about mental health and how to best approach mental health concerns.
As you can see, there are still some concerning stigmas associated with mental health impacts, which is why TikTok is keen to provide more support, where it can, to help open up the conversation, and get more users connected to the support tools that they need.
Given its ever-increasing reach and influence, it’s important for TikTok to make mental health a focus, especially given the pressures that creators often feel, as well as the negative impacts of online comments and responses – which are just words on a screen, but can very often feel like much more than that.
The danger of posting publicly, which is the default on TikTok, is that it opens you up to a potentially huge audience, at least some of whom are likely to have negative things to say about your efforts. And because it’s public, those comments can be seen by everybody, which can weigh them more heavily in your mind in regards to how people perceive you and your work, and even what that might mean for your future prospects.
Definitely, it can become overwhelming, and with studies also highlighting the specific dangers for teenagers in social apps, in regards to negative comparison, bullying and more, it’s a key area for all social platforms to factor into their development, and provide as much additional support as they can.
As such, this is a good new push from TikTok, adding to its ongoing efforts.
Tessa Everly
Maya Kensington
