Latest / Mini Scroll / Lucky Girl Syndrome to TarotTok: Is TikTok’s Algorithm Leading us into Spiritual Psychosis?

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Lucky Girl Syndrome to TarotTok: Is TikTok’s Algorithm Leading us into Spiritual Psychosis? · Mini Scroll

• 0:00
  On the evening of January 3rd, 2024, I was scrolling my TikTok
• 0:04
  for you page when I was served a video that I felt was a sign.
• 0:07
  The video posted by an anonymous account with a quick clip of a
• 0:11
  cityscape with the text quote. Everything will work out in the
• 0:14
  end. Interact 3 times for good luck.
• 0:17
  It was 24 hours after one of the hardest and most confusing days
• 0:21
  of my life and in that moment I really felt like I could use
• 0:25
  some good luck. Though I have never believed in
• 0:27
  religion, manifestation, or New age spirituality, I liked and
• 0:31
  favorited the video. Then I opened my camera and
• 0:34
  posted a private video using the sound, interacting 3 times.
• 0:39
  Despite my skepticism, interacting with this TikTok
• 0:42
  actually did make me feel a little better.
• 0:45
  It gave me a small sense of control, like I was putting some
• 0:48
  of my stress back on the universe at a very turbulent
• 0:51
  time in my life. But interacting with this video
• 0:54
  didn't just make me feel good, it also indicated to my TikTok
• 0:57
  algorithm that I was interested in this content content.
• 1:00
  For the next few weeks, my For You page was consumed by
• 1:03
  manifestation videos, and Isaac continued to privately interact
• 1:07
  with these videos in the very small hope that they might
• 1:10
  magically bring me some good luck.
• 1:12
  My algorithm sent me deeper down a rabbit hole, introducing me to
• 1:16
  astrology, TikTok, Tarot Card, TikTok, and ultimately Spirit
• 1:21
  Guide TikTok. I was in a vulnerable place
• 1:24
  mentally and emotionally, and my algorithm reaffirms that for me.
• 1:27
  Between January and February, I posted over 50 private
• 1:31
  manifestation videos, nearly one a day for two months.
• 1:35
  Now as the dust is settled and I've emerged from the stressful
• 1:38
  period feeling more common in control, it's hard not to look
• 1:41
  back at those videos from just a couple short months ago and
• 1:45
  think, are things working out for me because I interacted 3
• 1:48
  times from Centennial World? I'm Lauren Meisner and this is
• 1:52
  Infinite Scroll, a podcast about Internet culture, the creator
• 1:56
  economy, and how social media is shaping Gen.
• 1:58
  Zed. Welcome back to Infinite Scroll,
• 2:01
  everyone. I am so sorry that we had a week
• 2:03
  off. I just had to kind of get my
• 2:06
  schedule in place. Now I have so much going on and
• 2:10
  so many things that have been solidified in the last couple of
• 2:13
  months with the business, which is really exciting.
• 2:15
  But yes, it's going to take some time to like, ease into this new
• 2:18
  workflow. So that's why I needed the week
• 2:19
  off. But I am excited to be back and
• 2:21
  talking with you about this wild topic.
• 2:25
  And I feel like it's a topic that everyone can relate to that
• 2:28
  kind of spirituality manifestation side of TikTok and
• 2:31
  how it's so easy to end up on that pipeline and how there's a
• 2:35
  lot of people currently discussing how it can lead to
• 2:38
  spiritual psychosis. So that's getting a little bit
• 2:41
  ahead of everything, but Please remember to rate, review and
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  It helps me grow. I absolutely love reading your
• 2:50
  reviews. It like keeps me going for real.
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• 3:02
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• 3:05
  Internet from that week. And also join our Geneva group,
• 3:08
  which is also called Infinite Scroll, where you can chat with
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  other people who are obsessed with Internet culture and
• 3:12
  creator drama and tea. And you can chat with me.
• 3:15
  OK, I'm going to read a couple reviews.
• 3:17
  Actually had a ton of feedback from the Baby reindeer podcast.
• 3:21
  So many people so sweet about my brother.
• 3:23
  I don't want to read all the YouTube comments like, you know,
• 3:24
  normally I kind of pick and choose, but a lot of them had a
• 3:27
  lot to say about the actual episode or sorry, series.
• 3:31
  And so I just kind of chose some from Spotify.
• 3:33
  So Hannah on Spotify says, as ever, absolutely brilliant,
• 3:37
  thank you. Putting in a request for a
• 3:38
  Bridgerton press for a deep dive because they are making some
• 3:41
  very intentional outfits and behavior choices and causing
• 3:44
  waves. OK, I haven't seen any of that.
• 3:47
  I feel like I might be a little bit late to that now that it's
• 3:49
  been a couple weeks since you posted that Hannah, but I'm
• 3:51
  going to look into it. I'm going to see maybe it's like
• 3:53
  something good for mini scroll. I'll have to see.
• 3:56
  OK. And then Camille says, Oh my
• 3:57
  God, you and your brother have such great chemistry.
• 3:59
  You should totally bring them on more often.
• 4:01
  Such a well spoken young man So sweet.
• 4:03
  Thank you guys so much. OK, so as a very high level
• 4:11
  mentioned in the intro, I went down a bit of a spiritual rabbit
• 4:16
  hole at the beginning of this year and I feel it was not
• 4:19
  totally in my own control, which is a huge part of this problem.
• 4:23
  So that's why I wanted to talk about this topic today.
• 4:25
  I was thinking about like, what type of topic could we talk
• 4:28
  about? What's really like popping off
• 4:30
  on TikTok, What's really going on online?
• 4:32
  And more and more myself, but also the people around me, like
• 4:35
  my friends and colleagues are getting served these like
• 4:38
  manifestation, spiritual guide, Tik Toks.
• 4:42
  And I think it's partly just because like, times are tough,
• 4:45
  you know, like we're all a little bit unwell right now.
• 4:47
  And we have been for a while and TikTok knows that and TikTok is
• 4:51
  praying on that, whether the algorithm is doing that
• 4:53
  intentionally or not. But I really wanted to talk
• 4:55
  about my experience with this side of TikTok and how, you
• 4:58
  know, one innocent move of like seeing one video.
• 5:01
  And I'm like, you know what, Maybe I actually will interact 3
• 5:04
  times with this video just to be a little bit superstitious and
• 5:07
  see what happens, how that can truly snowball and become an
• 5:11
  actual problem in your life. In recent years, a new niche has
• 5:15
  emerged on TikTok that Gen. Z is obsessed with.
• 5:18
  Unlike dance videos or political commentary, this side of TikTok
• 5:22
  embraces spirituality. While there is a corner of the
• 5:25
  app that caters to Christianity looking at you tried wives.
• 5:28
  Tik Tok's viral take on spirituality is a little
• 5:31
  different. As Joseph Russo, a professor of
• 5:34
  anthropology at Wesleyan University, tells Rebecca
• 5:36
  Jennings for Vox quote, It's a mismatch of different Christian
• 5:40
  and non Western beliefs and aesthetics.
• 5:42
  At its core, this new age TikTok spirituality is about good and
• 5:46
  evil, an idea that is present in all religious systems worldwide
• 5:49
  and always has been. The spiritual side of TikTok
• 5:52
  covers a lot of different types of content ranging from
• 5:55
  astrology to manifestation Tik Toks to tarot card readers, and
• 5:59
  I have been on all of those sides of TikTok.
• 6:02
  That being said, no matter what side of TikTok you frequent,
• 6:05
  when you scroll through the For You page, you are like to
• 6:07
  encounter some spiritual adjacent content in a matter of
• 6:10
  minutes. But for those of you who are
• 6:12
  unfamiliar with the side of the app, there have been a couple
• 6:15
  trends or viral moments that have broken through to the
• 6:17
  mainstream. For example, manifestation style
• 6:20
  TikTok content. The majority of the
• 6:22
  manifestation content on TikTok is teaching viewers how to
• 6:25
  effectively manifest their goals and desires.
• 6:28
  For those unfamiliar with the world of manifestation, it's all
• 6:31
  about quote thinking aspirational thoughts with the
• 6:34
  purpose of making them real. Jennings explains there there
• 6:37
  have been a number of different manifestation techniques that
• 6:39
  have resonated with TikTok users, but the concept of Lucky
• 6:43
  girl syndrome was one of the most prolific.
• 6:45
  Back in 2023, Lucky Girl syndrome started blowing up on
• 6:49
  the app. Essentially A repackaged version
• 6:52
  of the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction suggests
• 6:55
  that by embodying a certain belief or desire, we can attract
• 6:58
  those outcomes. In other words, it's the belief
• 7:01
  that thoughts have a vibrational frequency that attracts similar
• 7:04
  frequencies. So if you think positively, then
• 7:07
  positive things will happen to you.
• 7:08
  When the lucky girl syndrome trend was making its rounds on
• 7:11
  the app, 2 popular mantras and affirmations started
• 7:14
  circulating. Things are always working out
• 7:17
  for me no matter how it looks at any point in time, and this
• 7:20
  universe is rigged in my favor. Quote Humans have always loved
• 7:24
  christening old concepts with new names to make them sound
• 7:27
  more exciting, but no technological advancement has
• 7:30
  quickened this process like TikTok has, Jennings says of
• 7:33
  lucky girl syndrome. While many TikTok users started
• 7:36
  using lucky girl syndrome during their daily lives, many experts
• 7:39
  noted some of the pitfalls of this trend.
• 7:41
  In an article for The Conversation, PhD candidate
• 7:44
  Rebecca King noted that lucky girl syndrome often leads to
• 7:47
  quote, misplaced optimism, with an increased focus on thinking
• 7:52
  rather than action. Quote, if you're too poor or
• 7:54
  unsuccessful, this is what you'll get back.
• 7:57
  Obviously, this is quite an unhelpful message, which likely
• 8:00
  won't do much for the self esteem of people who don't feel
• 8:02
  particularly lucky, let alone those who are facing significant
• 8:06
  hardship. Another particularly popular
• 8:08
  side of spiritual TikTok is consuming content created by
• 8:11
  tarot card readers and astrologists.
• 8:14
  Depending on their specialty, these creators will post videos
• 8:17
  doing astrological or tarot card readings for their followers.
• 8:20
  It is worth noting that these readings are never for a
• 8:23
  specific person, but instead a group of people often broken
• 8:28
  down by astrological signs. Given that these videos are not
• 8:32
  directed to a single person, they are vague enough that many
• 8:35
  people seem to resonate with what whatever the creator says.
• 8:38
  At the time of recording #tarot has over 8.2 million posts and
• 8:43
  other hashtags like #tarot talk and #tarot reading have almost 4
• 8:47
  million posts combined. Under these hashtags, you will
• 8:51
  find thousands of people offering readings on anything
• 8:54
  from career paths to relationships to family life.
• 8:57
  And if you click on any video you will likely see users
• 9:00
  flooding the comments section with phrases like I claim this
• 9:04
  energy to quote UN quote claim the message in a a reading
• 9:07
  creators might ask users to share the video with the first
• 9:10
  person that comes up comment on the post or as I was doing make
• 9:15
  a video using the sound. This is often just an attempt to
• 9:19
  boost their engagement or grow their following.
• 9:21
  But it has almost become the chainmail equivalent of the
• 9:25
  twenty 20s astrologist. Tik tokers make similar content
• 9:28
  with popular creators like at moon priest and at Astro Bella
• 9:32
  Luna telling users how to maximize the traits in their
• 9:35
  birth charts. Some of these creators might
• 9:37
  share a monthly horoscope, while others will explain what each
• 9:40
  placement in the birth chart means.
• 9:42
  Lastly, for the psychics, mediums, or spiritual guides who
• 9:46
  seek to explain certain phenomena or assist users
• 9:49
  through different periods of their lives, these creators
• 9:52
  often begin their videos or their live streams with
• 9:54
  statements like quote a message from the spirits Awaits You or
• 9:58
  inclusive expressions like Someone out there is thinking of
• 10:01
  you to engage their audience. Similar to the way that
• 10:04
  astrologists and tarot card readers work, they will not
• 10:07
  cater to a specific audience and share fairly general advice,
• 10:11
  which makes it so that many users end up resonating with
• 10:14
  their content. While these kinds of videos
• 10:16
  might seem innocuous, tick tokers have started noting that
• 10:19
  this type of content has the potential to send users down a
• 10:23
  harmful path, especially those who are in vulnerable situations
• 10:27
  or who are susceptible to mental illness.
• 10:29
  In recent months, there has been increased dialogue about
• 10:32
  spiritual psychosis and how this corner of the platform may
• 10:36
  foster this condition. Now, before we dive into this,
• 10:39
  it's important to note that I am not a mental health professional
• 10:42
  and no one who worked on this episode is a mental health
• 10:44
  professional. So we've gathered information
• 10:47
  from a liable sources. But it's crucial to recognize
• 10:49
  that if you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms that
• 10:52
  suggest a mental health issue, seeking assistance and
• 10:55
  information from a qualified professional is recommended,
• 10:58
  according to the National Institute of Mental Health in
• 11:01
  the United states. Quote Psychosis refers to a
• 11:04
  collection of symptoms that affect the mind where there has
• 11:06
  been some loss of contact with reality.
• 11:09
  During an episode of psychosis, a person may have a difficult
• 11:12
  time distinguishing between reality and fiction, where they
• 11:14
  may be experiencing delusions or hallucinations.
• 11:17
  Quote There is no one cause of psychosis, the National
• 11:20
  Institute of Mental Health continues.
• 11:22
  Psychosis appears to result from a complex combination of genetic
• 11:25
  risk, differences in brain development, and exposures to
• 11:28
  stressors or trauma. Psychosis may be a symptom of
• 11:31
  mental illness. However, a person can experience
• 11:34
  psychosis and never be diagnosed with schizophrenia or any other
• 11:37
  disorder. Now there are different types of
• 11:39
  psychotic episodes, but creators on TikTok are becoming
• 11:43
  increasingly concerned about quote UN quote spiritual
• 11:46
  psychosis. It should be noted that there is
• 11:48
  no such term in the DSM, but spirituality and religious
• 11:52
  delusions are sometimes associated with psychosis.
• 11:56
  For this episode, we reached out to Doctor Ash King, a
• 11:59
  psychologist and researcher specializing in social media
• 12:02
  authenticity and identity, to gain more insight into spiritual
• 12:06
  psychosis. Quote Spiritual psychosis is not
• 12:09
  a clinical term and not something that is likely to be
• 12:11
  referenced in legitimate therapeutic spaces, she says the
• 12:15
  spiritual element raised by the Tik Tokers implies a psychosis
• 12:18
  which is driven or sustained by associations with certain
• 12:21
  spiritual beliefs. From my perspective, it appears
• 12:24
  more as a criticism, skepticism, or judgement of out of body or
• 12:28
  difficult to logically explain experiences other people are
• 12:32
  reporting to have had in relation to their spiritual
• 12:35
  rituals or beliefs. In other words, Tik Tokers use
• 12:38
  this term to refer to a phenomenon when individuals
• 12:41
  experience spiritual or religious beliefs that are
• 12:44
  disruptive to their well-being or daily functioning.
• 12:47
  This may involve a belief in a divine force, vision, or message
• 12:51
  manifesting through different synchronicities like Angel
• 12:54
  number or repeated patterns. As for how spiritual psychosis
• 12:58
  might make someone behave, A TikTok user named Ali Backup
• 13:01
  account explains that it can leave someone quote.
• 13:04
  Unbelievably arrogant or unbelievably paranoid or a
• 13:07
  combination of the two. Video essayist of herbs and
• 13:10
  altars, whose real name is Dorian Bridges, made similar
• 13:13
  conclusions, noting that. In spiritual psychosis, 1 is
• 13:16
  unlikely to be relaxed and peacefully enjoying their
• 13:19
  spiritual practices. They are far more likely to be
• 13:21
  worked up about everything, believing themselves,
• 13:24
  themselves, their family, or the whole world from some
• 13:27
  supernatural or human evil, or feeling utterly euphoric and
• 13:31
  untouchable because they've unlocked the secrets of the
• 13:34
  entire universe and everyone has to know about it.
• 13:36
  There have been a number of prominent social media users who
• 13:39
  have fallen down the spiritual psychosis pipeline.
• 13:42
  One such creator is Alex Serves Tea.
• 13:45
  Alex currently has 1.1 million followers on TikTok and started
• 13:49
  as an account covering workplace issues, workers rights, and
• 13:52
  creating comedy skits. According to At Alley P backup
• 13:56
  account, her spiritual journey started because someone DM D her
• 13:59
  saying they can tell that she's a healer.
• 14:02
  She later contacted the person and had them read her Akashic
• 14:05
  records. This is basically understood as
• 14:08
  a cosmic library where past, present, and future are all
• 14:12
  accessible. It is believed that
• 14:14
  spiritualists such as psychics, mediums, or guides can access
• 14:18
  these records and gather information and insights about a
• 14:21
  person's past lives, present life, and future.
• 14:24
  Aliks became increasingly involved in this sort of
• 14:26
  spirituality, culminating in her going on a retreat and taking
• 14:29
  ayahuasca afterward. She ended up posting a four hour
• 14:33
  video detailing quote my first ayahuasca experience and also
• 14:38
  summarizing it in a TikTok video.
• 14:40
  This video has amassed over 36 million views.
• 14:43
  For anyone that doesn't know, Ayahuasca is a plant based
• 14:46
  psychedelic. People typically use ayahuasca
• 14:49
  for spiritual experiences by participating in rituals led by
• 14:52
  spiritual guides, as speculates on Alex's experience quote.
• 14:56
  What I truly think happened is there wasn't just a little bit
• 15:00
  of ayahuasca done. There was a lot.
• 15:03
  She went to a lot of ceremonies in such a short period of time.
• 15:08
  Ever since, Alex's content has become increasingly concerning.
• 15:11
  One of her recent videos shows her looking directly into the
• 15:15
  eclipse with the caption When they tell you to do something,
• 15:18
  do the opposite. She has also posted other videos
• 15:21
  talking about how aliens will come to Earth.
• 15:23
  TikTok creator at Neomudang has expressed concerns about Alex's
• 15:28
  videos, saying she disagrees with how Alex interprets these
• 15:31
  phenomena. She points out that Alex tends
• 15:33
  to disregard any potential scientific explanations.
• 15:37
  She also mentions knowing individuals who have consumed
• 15:40
  similar content and later experienced psychosis,
• 15:43
  highlighting the risks associated with this side of
• 15:45
  TikTok. Another user at Jasmine's Garden
• 15:48
  23 didn't name Alex in her video, but she insinuated that
• 15:51
  her content is anti-Semitic rage baiting rebranded right wing
• 15:56
  evangelicalism. Aside from Alex Love's tea,
• 15:59
  Danielle Johnson, an astrology influencer, is another example
• 16:03
  of a creator who seemingly experienced spiritual psychosis.
• 16:07
  Warning here, This is an extremely upsetting and dark
• 16:10
  example. Recently, Danielle made
• 16:12
  headlines after stabbing her partner, pushing her eight-month
• 16:16
  old baby and 9 year old child out of a moving vehicle, and
• 16:20
  then later crashing her car on the Four O 5 Highway in Los
• 16:23
  Angeles and killing herself. Tragically, her baby passed
• 16:26
  away, but her older daughter did survive.
• 16:29
  All of this happened on April 8th, the morning of the most
• 16:32
  recent solar eclipse. Her post leading up to the
• 16:35
  eclipse expressed concern for the event, which led many social
• 16:38
  media users to speculate whether she was suffering from spiritual
• 16:41
  psychosis. As Noah Goldberg writes for the
• 16:44
  LA Times quote, she seemed especially disturbed by the
• 16:47
  solar eclipse, calling the astronomical event the epitome
• 16:51
  of spiritual warfare and telling people that they needed to
• 16:54
  quote, UN quote, pick a side. Prior to the event, she also
• 16:57
  started posting anti-Semitic Q Anon and COVID-19 conspiracy
• 17:01
  theories. While many social media users
• 17:03
  are convinced we can't be sure whether Danielle was actually
• 17:07
  suffering from spiritual psychosis, Lieutenant Guy Golan
• 17:11
  told The Associated Press quote. We just don't know why she did
• 17:14
  what she did, saying that the police are not considering the
• 17:17
  eclipse to be a contributing factor to the events.
• 17:20
  Having said that, other social media users believe she might
• 17:23
  have been suffering from postpartum psychosis or another
• 17:26
  mental illness. While the cause behind this
• 17:29
  devastating event remains unclear, social media users cite
• 17:32
  her increasingly conspiracy beliefs, doomsday predictions,
• 17:36
  and her ties to the spirituality, Reiki, healing,
• 17:39
  and astrology communities as proof that it was spiritual
• 17:42
  psychosis. Now, many creators who have
• 17:45
  discussed spiritual psychosis have highlighted the role of
• 17:48
  social media, particularly TikTok, in increasing the risk
• 17:51
  of experiencing psychosis or other mental health concerns.
• 17:55
  It is worth noting that there hasn't been a significant amount
• 17:58
  of research into the connection between social media usage and
• 18:01
  spirituality, but doctor ash king tells us quote.
• 18:05
  The pervasiveness and ubiquity of these digital platforms have
• 18:09
  the power to influence identity formation in young people and
• 18:12
  spirituality is 1 slice of experience which can be woven
• 18:15
  into the fabric of our identities.
• 18:17
  Nevertheless, new age spirituality has a long existed
• 18:20
  in pop culture and the digital world.
• 18:23
  I'm sure we all remember the tween magazines that we all used
• 18:25
  to buy and they all had a horoscope section.
• 18:28
  Aside from this, famous Youtubers in the mid twenty 10s
• 18:31
  embraced this sort of spirituality for content's sake.
• 18:34
  Many creators went through a stage where they would make
• 18:37
  videos with psychics and mediums.
• 18:39
  The Psychic Twins, AKA Terry and Linda Jamison are probably the
• 18:43
  most notable example. Starting a YouTube channel of
• 18:45
  their own in 2015, they fit right into the digital landscape
• 18:49
  at the time. Shane Dawson was a major part of
• 18:51
  their growth and his audience really embraced them on the
• 18:54
  platform at the time. He was adjacent to this kind of
• 18:57
  content with his conspiracy theory breakdowns and paranormal
• 19:00
  videos. Terry and Linda went on to
• 19:02
  collaborate with some of the most famous Youtubers at the
• 19:04
  time, including Tana Mojo, Jenna Marbles, The Dolan Twins, and
• 19:08
  Even Misha Paytas. In each of these videos, Terry
• 19:11
  and Linda conducted psychic readings for the influencers,
• 19:14
  which soon became one of the most popular collab ideas on the
• 19:17
  platform. While this type of content has
• 19:19
  existed on the Internet for some time, the conversation
• 19:22
  surrounding the adverse effects of spiritualism online has only
• 19:26
  gained significant attention since the rise of TikTok.
• 19:29
  There are a number of reasons for this, but the shift can
• 19:32
  largely be attributed to the increased accessibility and
• 19:36
  frequency of such content online.
• 19:38
  By now, we're all aware of how the TikTok algorithm operates.
• 19:42
  It determines what we like and engage with through likes,
• 19:44
  comments, follows, or how long we spend on a video, and
• 19:47
  subsequently serves us similar content, Rebecca Jennings
• 19:50
  explains for Vox Quote. TikTok, for instance,
• 19:53
  facilitates a pipeline for viewers that begins the moment
• 19:56
  they log on, servicing more and more content related to
• 19:59
  something they enjoyed in the past.
• 20:01
  Because of how short TikTok videos are, users can consume
• 20:04
  100 videos in the same time span as they could watch a single
• 20:08
  YouTube video. And naturally, the speed at
• 20:10
  which the idea travels correlates to its
• 20:12
  simplification. An exciting or provocative idea
• 20:15
  can draw someone in, but not necessarily keep them around for
• 20:18
  long enough to help them fully understand it.
• 20:21
  Here, Jennings makes an interesting point.
• 20:23
  TikTok short form format and algorithm might not give viewers
• 20:27
  the opportunity to fully comprehend a concept and its
• 20:30
  implications. Consequently, TikTok users
• 20:33
  embrace an idea without understanding it in full.
• 20:36
  We have seen this as TikTok spiritual side enters the
• 20:39
  mainstream with trends like Lucky Girl syndrome.
• 20:42
  The more we interact with these concepts, the more susceptible
• 20:45
  some vulnerable TikTok users like me at the beginning of the
• 20:49
  year are to following the path of creators like Alex serves
• 20:52
  tea. In a similar vein, Dr. ash king
• 20:55
  notes how the terminology used on TikTok and the experiences of
• 20:58
  others that we might see on the for you page tend to shape our
• 21:01
  own experiences. Quote Psychosis is a complex
• 21:04
  psychological phenomenon, and experiences tend to be labeled
• 21:07
  as psychotic when they are distressing, alarming, or
• 21:10
  harmful not only for the individual experiencing the
• 21:13
  episode but also for the people around them.
• 21:15
  Different cultures, including certain religious communities,
• 21:18
  conceptualize and manage psychotic experiences very
• 21:21
  differently, sometimes viewing them as reverent or holy.
• 21:25
  Now, this is not to say that this content is inherently
• 21:28
  dangerous, or that every person engaging with psychics or tarot
• 21:32
  readers on TikTok will suffer from delusions or poor mental
• 21:35
  health. But what is troubling is how
• 21:37
  certain creators, with the help of the algorithm, target
• 21:40
  vulnerable users. YouTube of herbs and altars
• 21:44
  address such concerns in a YouTube video titled TikTok
• 21:47
  Spiritual spiritualism a fast track to spiritual psychosis.
• 21:51
  They position Tik Tok's invasive algorithm as a major concern for
• 21:55
  spiritual psychosis, where creators can make quote.
• 21:57
  Video with 0 hashtags that describes you perfectly.
• 22:01
  While this may lend to increased credibility for the TikTok
• 22:04
  creator, Dorian knows that there is a significant difference
• 22:07
  between quote describing you and your present state from all this
• 22:11
  data, as in data that the TikTok algorithm has and telling you
• 22:14
  the future. Although this may seem obvious
• 22:17
  to some, it it isn't to others, especially those who may be
• 22:20
  suffering from a pre-existing mental illness or younger TikTok
• 22:24
  users, Dorian says. Quote.
• 22:26
  There are a vast number of mentally ill people on TikTok
• 22:30
  because of the fact that it's one of the most addictive and
• 22:33
  easily digestible forms of online entertainment.
• 22:35
  And it has a similar law to YouTube in that there's a
• 22:38
  parasocial relationship there whereby a single person is
• 22:41
  talking to you, hanging out with you.
• 22:42
  It's a great loneliness Buster and the Super accurate algorithm
• 22:45
  brings struggling people together in a way way that can
• 22:48
  be really beautiful, but it can also be dangerous.
• 22:51
  And the impact of Tik Tok's spiritual content is heightened
• 22:55
  by how it's presented to users. The algorithm can essentially
• 22:59
  manufacture patterns by repeating previous styles of
• 23:01
  content a user has engaged with. This reaffirms the spiritual
• 23:06
  synchronicities that a user might be seeing.
• 23:08
  Moreover, many creators present their readings as personalized,
• 23:12
  even though they're actually reaching hundreds of thousands
• 23:15
  of people. This quote UN quote personalized
• 23:18
  approach can be very convincing and sometimes threatening to
• 23:21
  vulnerable users. So if a user is mentally unwell
• 23:25
  and interacting with his niche, they may end up being bombarded
• 23:29
  by these spiritualist, potentially scary higher voice
• 23:33
  tik toks and ultimately exacerbate their issue.
• 23:36
  And this whole conversation doesn't even touch on the very
• 23:40
  real possibility that many of these creators are basically
• 23:44
  just grifters. The terrifying thing about
• 23:46
  spiritual psychosis is that you can think yourself into it.
• 23:49
  If you fall down enough niche rabbit holes and you really
• 23:52
  believe them, you can think yourself into a really messed up
• 23:55
  state. Of course, Tik Tok's
• 23:57
  conspiratorial culture only enables this kind of thought
• 24:00
  spiral. Conspiracy theories have long
• 24:02
  been popular among Gen. Z, but they found a new home on
• 24:05
  TikTok, with entire accounts being dedicated to explaining
• 24:08
  different theories and even blind items about celebrity
• 24:11
  gossip. While this may feel separate to
• 24:13
  Tik Tok's spiritual niche, this mindset paves the way for
• 24:17
  paranoia and the compulsions that come with spiritual
• 24:20
  psychosis. Though I have noted how
• 24:22
  curiosity about spirituality online can lead users down a
• 24:25
  dangerous path, there are some positives to the spiritual side
• 24:29
  of TikTok that cannot be overlooked.
• 24:32
  Growing up in a fast-paced and often chaotic world, many young
• 24:36
  people have turned to New Age spirituality for guidance,
• 24:39
  believing that the likes of astrology and tarot accurately
• 24:42
  represent who they are meant to to be.
• 24:44
  In our conversation with psychologist Dr. Ash, she
• 24:47
  explained why New Age spirituality holds appeal for
• 24:50
  young people, saying Quote. It often implies that we have
• 24:53
  considerable amount of control over our lives and experiences.
• 24:56
  In a time when so much feels uncertain and out of control, it
• 24:59
  makes sense that Gen. Z would be drawn to a belief
• 25:02
  system which empowers them with more autonomy over their lives.
• 25:06
  Gen. Z is a profoundly stressed
• 25:09
  generation, according to the American Psychological
• 25:12
  Association. Quote Quote Gen.
• 25:14
  Z adults and younger millennials are completely overwhelmed by
• 25:18
  stress, reporting significantly higher stress levels than older
• 25:21
  generations. Considering Gen.
• 25:23
  Z's political consciousness, it's no surprise that much of
• 25:27
  this distress stems from societal level problems like
• 25:30
  climate change, sexual harassment, and domestic
• 25:32
  violence. However, there are also
• 25:34
  individual level stressors like the cost of living in housing
• 25:37
  crises around the world that contribute to this feeling of
• 25:41
  distress. As Gen.
• 25:42
  Z searches for stability while simultaneously distancing itself
• 25:46
  from organized religion, it's understandable why New Age
• 25:49
  spirituality has found a home online.
• 25:51
  It offers a way to build communities and find comfort in
• 25:54
  something quote UN quote bigger. In an interview with Harper's
• 25:58
  Bazaar, a 17 year old girl named Hannah explains why she
• 26:01
  resonates with New Age spirituality.
• 26:03
  Explaining quote Being spiritual, while not religious,
• 26:06
  allows me to have many of the benefits that organized religion
• 26:09
  offers, such as connection, life purpose, and moral guidelines,
• 26:13
  while avoiding the parts of religion that may contradict
• 26:16
  with my personal beliefs. Because I'm able to have these
• 26:19
  benefits while avoiding religious shame or conflict, I
• 26:22
  can lead a fulfilling and free life.
• 26:24
  Of course, Gen. Z isn't the only generation to
• 26:27
  have faced struggles and subsequently turned to
• 26:30
  alternative spirituality. The first big astrology boom
• 26:33
  actually occurred during the Great Depression.
• 26:35
  It rose in popularity in Germany between World War One and World
• 26:39
  War 2, and it saw another boom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 26:44
  All of these were times of great despair and stress.
• 26:47
  Ultimately, with people using this type of spirituality to
• 26:50
  make sense of their lives, it's clear that it isn't all bad.
• 26:54
  And while the TikTok algorithm may not be entirely to blame for
• 26:58
  sending users into spiritual psychosis, problems do arise
• 27:02
  when vulnerable people are being fed conspiratorial beliefs by
• 27:06
  content creators who set out to fear monger and bait people all
• 27:11
  in the name of engagement. Infamous Scroll is a podcast
• 27:15
  written, produced, and presented by me, Lauren Meisner for
• 27:18
  Centennial World. Additional research and
• 27:20
  reporting is by Annabelle Ben David and preliminary research
• 27:23
  is by Nick Meisner. Editing is by Danny Fennick.
• 27:26
  Thank you so much for listening. I love you guys and I will talk
• 27:29
  to you next week. Bye.