Curating the best and worst of the internet Tuesday January 9, 2024 |
After that, our Senior Reporter Tricia has a "Problematic on TikTok" column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
| Scammers are becoming more clever, finding new and elaborate ways to steal your money. A man issued a public service announcement about a new Zelle scam after he almost fell victim to it. | While many memes evolve slowly, the 'Distracted Boyfriend' meme seemed destined for instant fame. You can watch the latest in the Daily Dot's "Meme History" video series here. | @clinicallyimpressed/TikTok (Fair Use) | Why a TikTok filter telling people what mental health diagnosis they look like bolsters stigmas | Happy New Year, "Problematic on TikTok" readers! Even though you might have taken some time off over the winter holidays, TikTok creators didn't take a break from participating in harmful trends on the app.
In December, TikTok platformed—and then seemingly deleted—a filter that purports to tell users which mental health or neurological disorder they "look" like. When used, the effect appears above TikTokers' faces as a blue rectangle. Its starting screen says "My Face Look Like I'm Having," and then the filter cycles through the names of different disorders like schizophrenia, depression, dementia, insomnia, eating disorders, and more.
Many TikTokers have made videos saying that the filter is ridiculous and testing it out.
"WHY WOULD THEY MAKE A MENTAL HEALTH FILTER," one TikToker, who received "panic disorder" from the effect, wrote.
"It's so inappropriate that TikTok would make a filter guessing people's mental health disorder just based on their face," said another, who also was told by the effect that he looked like he has panic disorder.
Why it matters
A TikTok effect cannot diagnose users with a mental health disorder, but it also shouldn't imply that mental health diagnoses have a specific "look." In fact, the idea that people who have depression, schizophrenia, or other mental health diagnoses look a certain way bolsters stigma and stereotypes.
And while talking about and normalizing the reality that many people have mental health disorders combats stigma around these types of issues, representation of mental health diagnoses is something that should be handled with care—not incorporated into a TikTok filter created in jest.
What's worse, commenters on videos using the filter are making insensitive remarks and jokes about many of the mental health diagnoses mentioned, thus multiplying the harm the filter has done.
Luckily, TikTok seems to have caught on that a filter that connects mental health conditions to how people look is a terrible idea that could have serious consequences. Though videos that use the effect, many of which were posted in December 2023, are still available on TikTok, users can't create any new content with the filter. | Here is what else is happening across the 'net. | 🥪 A TikToker went viral with her latest video showing the remains of a sandwich made in an unusual place… the aisles of Target. | 💍 One bride-to-be was shocked by the shoddy workmanship of a mall goldsmith and took to social media with her story, including that the jeweler aged her engagement ring " 100 years" in just 30 minutes. | Everyone's got opinions, and we want to know yours. Just click a button below to answer the question, and tomorrow we will let you know how fellow web crawlers like you answered. | Yesterday's responses: 68% of web crawlers said they have never had a bad rental experience, while 32% said that they have. | Ham radio enthusiast and serial radio scanner Mister Twister (@mister_twister_55) has been enthralling TikTok with a series of eavesdropping videos where he camps out in business parking lots and finds the walkie-channel employees are using. This allows him to listen in on conversations—in one viral clip, he documents some correspondence between Chick-fil-A employees, providing a glimpse into the hectic, and often wholesome employee exchanges while performing their job duties. The radio expert is at it again, and this time he's managed to tune his frequencies to a line used by employees at a Kohl's retail location who had an eventful day: everything from folks going into labor, crestfallen customers misplacing a bunch of holiday cash, and a shopper who really just wants to find a Foot Locker. " Kohl's did not disappoint, oh my God," a robotic voice narration says at the start of the video. | @mister_twister_55/TikTok (Fair Use), Eric Glenn/Shutterstock (Licensed) | 🎶 Now Playing: "Try Me" by Jorja Smith 🎶 | How did you like this newsletter? Click an icon below to give us a rating! | Copyright © 2024 The Daily Dot, All rights reserved.
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