UNAIR NEWS – After being blocked by the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemkominfo) in 2018, Tik Tok application is open for public use. Not only teenagers who use the social networking music video app from China, but the governor, politicians, and celebrities are also hit by Tik Tok ‘fever’. Reported by Kompas.com, the app is ranked second after WhatsApp for most downloads in PlayStore.
Seeing this phenomenon, Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) Psychology lecturer, Ike Hendriana, M.Psi., Psychologist, gave her response. According to her, the reason many people use the app is for entertainment reason. Furthermore, Ike considers that the trending Tik Tok is also used by many people to attract the attention of public so they can get a like or follow to their account. So it aims to ‘perpetuate’ followers of celebrities on social media.
“From a psychological point of view, Tik Tok phenomenon returns to the needs of each individual. We cannot make a standard about this need because it is personal,” she explained.
Nevertheless, the counselor at UNAIR Help Center also stated that Tik Tok also reaped pros and cons from the community. Ike explained that pro groups might see the application as a natural thing in the current social media era. She considered that children with social media now belong to the digital native group, so they can quickly adjust to digital demands. As for the con group, the lecturer born in Bandung considered the group to always see its benefits. They assume that Tik Tok lack of good education and are not in line with the breath of digital literacy that should be taught to children.
Furthermore, not a few people think that people who play Tik Tok are “alay” or over reactive. The personality and social psychology lecturer saw that the Alay label was not a social convention. So if there are many public figures who are too busy playing Tik Tok, it does not need to be judged as a shift.
“Before it was blocked, some people used to say Tik Tok was alay, now when a survey is conducted there are still people who say that. It means, the term “alay” comes from those who are not supportive to the app and “alay” does not present many people,” she stressed.
Finally, Ike hoped that with the ban-lifting of Tik Tok application, the Ministry of Communication and Information must implement several regulations, such as no violence or pornographic content in the app. Furthemore, adults and parents are also encouraged to provide assistance and supervision to their children.
“Given the current Tik Tok users vary in terms of age, children must be monitored so as not to be exposed to negative social media. Likewise, the adults should not create negative content that can be viewed and imitated by teenagers whose way of thinking is not yet mature, ” she concluded.
Author: Nikmatus Sholikhah
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
