Research Question:

What psychological impact does TikTok have on users?

Aims:

To examine the problems caused by the easy accessibility of social media.

To show how social media affects audiences psychologically

To demonstrate the creative limitations caused by the contagious addictive nature of social media platforms.

Research Phase

We focused on how social media—especially TikTok—impacts users’ psychological well-being. Unlike traditional media, social platforms allow individuals to freely express their emotions and opinions, creating stronger psychological effects. TikTok’s short-form video format is particularly notable: with concise content, fast pace, and clear style, it captures attention within seconds (Ye et al., 2022). While entertaining, this format can also foster addictive behaviors. For example, TikTok viewership increased by 275% in the first four months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 (Potrel, 2022).

This addictive nature is explained by dopamine release triggered each time users receive notifications, which reinforces repeated engagement (Addiction Center, n.d.). Combined with the ease of scrolling, this makes social media especially habit-forming.

For creators, short-form content is easier to produce and allows for rapid experimentation (Potrel, 2022). However, this also risks reducing originality: instead of generating unique ideas, creators often follow trends to maximize likes and shares, which can dilute the essence of authentic creativity (Seomajid, 2022).

Methodology

Five sections of design thinking:

1. Empathize

Investigate the problems of social media platforms that are easily accessible and easily accessible in daily life, and identify psychological effects such as contagious addiction and creativity limitations caused by such easy accessibility.

2. Define

It depicts a problem that can be easily seen in everyday life due to the easy accessibility of the platform, and implies that it is a problem that can happen to anyone, not a specific audience.

3. IdeateWhile sharing various methods through the ideation stage to express the topic, it was important to express that the platform has easy accessibility, and at the same time, it was focused on the fact that it should be characterised as being easily "contagious". In particular, we tried to convey the issue of the psychological impact of social media platforms by using the keyword "contagion."

4. Prototype

Premiere Pro was used to create a prototype that demonstrates the problems with the easy accessibility of the platform "TikTok", and visual prototypes were created using After Effects to demonstrate the psychological impact on audiences and the addictive nature of the contagious social media platform. It should imply to the audience that it can happen to anyone, not a specific target, and it should be intended to highlight the psychological impact on the audience.

5. Test

In the prototype, we had to best represent the contagious nature of social media and the great psychological impact it has on the audience. To this end, we experimented with the first-person perspective of the audience and the psychological delivery method through animation.

Process

We started with a storyboard to translate abstract research findings into concrete visual ideas. Each frame was designed to symbolize psychological effects such as repetition, distraction, and acceleration. For example, hand gestures of endless scrolling were repeated across frames to emphasize addiction, while fragmented shots symbolized time distortion. This stage helped us align our visual direction and narrative flow before moving into production.

Storyboard:

During shooting, our team collaborated closely. Sera and Khang acted in front of the camera, performing everyday actions like scrolling, walking, or reacting to notifications. I was responsible for camera operation and movement, experimenting with first-person shots and dynamic tracking to immerse the audience in the perspective of a TikTok user. The handheld style and sudden zooms created an unsettling yet familiar atmosphere, making the scenes both relatable and disturbing.

Once the footage was collected, we moved into editing with Premiere Pro. Following the storyboard, we built rhythm through quick cuts, jump cuts, and repetition of certain sequences. Color grading shifted from neutral tones to increasingly saturated hues, visually echoing the growing psychological tension. The editing process was essential in simulating the fast-paced, overwhelming rhythm of TikTok’s short-form videos.

Finally, we integrated After Effects animations and visual effects to extend beyond what live-action could convey. Glitch effects, looping overlays, and distorted text were added to visualize the “contagion” theme — representing psychological states such as distraction and overstimulation. These effects blurred the boundary between reality and virtuality, amplifying the sense of addiction and making the audience feel the contagious nature of social media.