America’s TikTok Habits – How TikTok Affects Sleep Quality

Let’s talk about TikTok.

Whether you’ve made an account or not, you’ve likely seen the TikTok app that is sweeping the world. TikTok serves as a platform for users to create and distribute videos. These videos cover everything from DIY home renovations to food challenges and more. But an app that offers a whole world of easily digestible entertainment comes with a major risk for overconsumption, especially when fresh content is only a swipe away.

In group chats across the country, people lament about their time spent scrolling through the app. A 2019 New Yorker article even explored the psychology behind TikTok’s addictive entrapment (we get it – the app is sucking us in, too). But many questions linger about TikTok’s effects on its viewers’ daily lives. At Best Mattress Brand, we’re particularly interested in how TikTok habits affect sleep.

To explore just how the app is affecting users, we conducted a study analyzing Americans’ TikTok usage. We surveyed over 2,000 Americans about their TikTok and sleep habits, asking several questions including:

• How long people stay awake watching TikTok
• Their attitudes around time limits
• TikTok use around the entire house
• And more!

Thanks to the app’s committed users, we were able to gain some pretty insightful data about Americans’ TikTok habits.

As the days get shorter and our lives become more hectic, excessive TikTok use will make it even harder to relax. Check out the results to see if you should change your TikTok habits to help you sleep!

First, we took a look at users’ TikTok habits across state lines. We were interested in which states may be staying up watching TikTok throughout the day.

The state with the highest average time spent on TikTok based on our survey was West Virginia.  Respondents reported averaging five hours a day on TikTok. This was over an hour more than the second-highest state, Nebraska.

On the other hand, the state with the lowest average TikTok use was Wyoming. Respondents reportedly average only 1 hour and five minutes on the app each day. It’s worth noting that, per CDC reports, Wyoming has some of the lowest counts of COVID-19 in the country. This could indicate that Wyoming residents have been able to return to more regular pre-COVID-19 schedules. This would leave less time in the day for watching TikTok, that’s for sure.

Next, we looked at where and when people watch TikTok to try to get a better idea about how much TikTok takes over peoples’ lives throughout the day, and where!

Much to our dismay, the top place that respondents use the app is in bed, at a rate of 46.8%. Reports from the National Institute of Health show that screen use in bed is associated with lower quality sleep. Increased screen use in bed could definitely impact TikTok users’ sleep schedules.

We also looked at the times when people generally use TikTok throughout the day. Our research shows the results were fairly evenly spread. The most predominant TikTok usage took place during rest times. For instance, 28.6% of respondents use the app when transitioning to their rest time after work and 25.8% of respondents watch the app during work breaks.

We were happy to see that only 12.99% of users reported using the app most while falling asleep at night. Hopefully, this is indicative of users knowingly leaving their phone on the nightstand when it comes time for bed.

Still, we know that there are a significant number of people spending time on TikTok before bed. So, for our last set of questions, we delved deep into TikTok and sleep.

Can you believe over 52% of respondents have spent more than 30 minutes staying awake to watch TikTok? This much time lost every night can make a huge difference in how you feel and function throughout your day.

According to an article from Time.com, this loss of sleep is associated with heightened health risks. These risks include obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Another striking insight we found is that many of these TikTok users are aware of the adverse effects of their TikTok usage. Over 67% of respondents said that they have noticed TikTok affecting their sleep. 47% of people have gone so far as setting time limits for their daily TikTok usage.

It’s worth noting that there are plenty of apps that allow users to set screen time limits for themselves. This makes it easy to enjoy TikTok for measured increments of time without worrying about overuse. Even if you are part of the 49.5% of respondents that are sleeping more during COVID-19, limiting your screen time is a healthy habit to keep up with.

Altogether, we found that Americans use TikTok throughout their day no matter what. But, for those that are logging on to stream the latest TikTok trends before bed, TikTok usage leads to hours of sleep loss. COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on people’s sleep patterns and unhealthy screen time habits can contribute. It’s important to join a solid amount of people that recognize and limit the use of TikTok.

Of course, it’s still worth it to hop on the app every once in a while to get in a laugh, find inspiration, or come together online in a socially distanced way. But, getting sleep is vital, and setting yourself up by limiting screen time and finding the right mattress will only help you.