TikTok: The Good, The Bad and The Algorithms

TikTok was founded just six years ago and is already one of the leading social media platforms, becoming the world’s most downloaded app in 2020. It has more than one billon monthly active users and is especially popular with teens and young adults, with 42% of TikTok users aged between 18 and 24. 5 Live Breakfast has been looking at the impact of TikTok as the platform’s popularity continues to rise.

TOPICS: 01:43 – Shiona McCallum, a BBC Technology Reporter 04:03 – Jan Gerber, CEO and founder a mental health and addiction clinic 09:25 – Mesha Moinirad - otherwise known as Mr Colitis Crohn’s 14:41 – Influencer Seema Pankhania, content creator and recipe developer 17:58 - Sophie O’Sullivan, in recovery from anorexia and Tom Quinn, Director of External Affairs at the Eating Disorder charity BEAT 25:12 - Sam Ryder, musician and Eurovision star 28:03 - Marianna Spring, BBC’s Specialist Disinformation reporter 33:53 – Zeynab Mohamed who thought she had OCD after watching videos on platforms like TikTok and clinical psychologist Jane Gilmore 40:20 – Reporter Mark Hutchings speaking to a group of 15-year-old pupils at Pen y Dre High School in Merthyr