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 was 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 three 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 for the next few
• 1:01
  weeks. My For You page was consumed by
• 1:03
  manifestation videos, and as I continue to privately interact
• 1:07
  with these videos in the very small hope that they might
• 1:10
  magically bring me some good luck, my algorithm sent me
• 1:14
  deeper down a rabbit hole, introducing me to Astrology
• 1:17
  TikTok, Tarot Card TikTok, and ultimately Spirit Guide TikTok.
• 1:22
  I was in a vulnerable place, mentally and emotionally, and my
• 1:25
  algorithm reaffirms that for me. Between January and February, I
• 1:29
  posted over 50 private manifestation videos, nearly one
• 1:33
  a day for two months. Now, as the dust has settled and
• 1:37
  I've emerged from the stressful period feeling more common in
• 1:40
  control, it's hard not to look back at those videos from just a
• 1:43
  couple short months ago and think, are things working out
• 1:46
  for me because I interacted three times?
• 1:49
  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, everyone.
• 2:02
  I am so sorry that we had a week off.
• 2:04
  I just had to kind of get my schedule in place.
• 2:07
  Now I have so much going on and so many things that have been
• 2:11
  solidified in the last couple of months with the business, which
• 2:14
  is really exciting. But yes, it's going to take some
• 2:16
  time to like into this new workflow, so that's why I needed
• 2:19
  the week 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,
• 2:28
  that 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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  subscribe. It helps me so much it helps me
• 2:47
  grow. I absolutely love reading your
• 2:51
  reviews. It like keeps me going for real.
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  Please also sign up to our newsletter, which is called
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  Infinite Scroll. On Wednesdays we send out a
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  commentary article about a trend, creator, drama or news.
• 3:02
  And on Friday we round up the five biggest think pieces on the
• 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
• 3:10
  other people who are obsessed with Internet culture and
• 3:12
  creator drama and tea. And you can chat with me, OK,
• 3:16
  I'm going to read a couple reviews, actually had a ton of
• 3:18
  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.
• 3:24
  Like, you know, normally I kind of pick and choose, but a lot of
• 3:27
  them had a 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 toward deep dive because they are making
• 3:41
  some very intentional outfits and behavior choices and causing
• 3:44
  waves. OK.
• 3:45
  I haven't seen any of that. I feel like I might be a little
• 3:47
  bit late to that now that it's been a couple weeks since you
• 3:50
  posted that Hannah. But I'm going to look into it.
• 3:52
  I'm going to see maybe it's like something good for mini scroll.
• 3:55
  I'll have to see. 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 on TikTok, What's really
• 4:31
  going on online And more and more myself.
• 4:34
  But also the people around me, like my friends and colleagues
• 4:37
  are getting served. These like manifestation,
• 4:39
  spiritual guide, Tik toks. And I think it's partly just
• 4:43
  because like, times are tough. You know, like we're all a
• 4:46
  little bit unwell right now and we have been for a while and
• 4:49
  TikTok knows that. And TikTok is praying on that,
• 4:52
  whether the algorithm is doing that intentionally or not.
• 4:55
  But I really wanted to talk about my experience with this
• 4:57
  side of TikTok and how, you know, one innocent move of like
• 5:01
  seeing one video. And I'm like, you know what?
• 5:02
  Maybe I actually will interact three times with this video just
• 5:05
  to be a little bit super prestitious and see what
• 5:07
  happens. How that can truly snowball and
• 5:10
  become an actual problem in your life.
• 5:13
  In recent years, a new niche has emerged on TikTok that Gen.
• 5:16
  Zed is obsessed with. Unlike dance videos or political
• 5:20
  commentary, this side of TikTok embraces spirituality.
• 5:23
  While there is a corner of the app that caters to Christianity
• 5:27
  looking at you, trad wives, Tik Tok's viral take on spirituality
• 5:31
  is a little different. As Joseph Russo, a professor of
• 5:34
  anthropology at Westland 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 I
• 5:59
  have been on all of those sides of TikTok.
• 6:02
  That being being said, no matter what side of TikTok you
• 6:04
  frequent, when you scroll through the For You page, you
• 6:06
  are likely to encounter some spiritual adjacent content in a
• 6:10
  matter of 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.
• 6:37
  There have been a number of different manifestation
• 6:39
  techniques that have resonated with TikTok users, but the
• 6:41
  concept of Lucky 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 of the Law of
• 6:52
  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 positive things
• 7:07
  will happen to you. When the Lucky Girl Syndrome
• 7:10
  trend was making its rounds on the app, 2 popular mantras and
• 7:13
  affirmations started circulating.
• 7:15
  Things are always working out for me, no matter how it looks
• 7:18
  at any point in time. And this universe is rigged in
• 7:21
  my favor. Quote.
• 7:23
  Humans have always loved christening old concepts with
• 7:25
  new names to make them sound more exciting, But no
• 7:28
  technological advancement has quickened to this process like
• 7:31
  TikTok has, Jennings says of Lucky Girl syndrome.
• 7:34
  While many TikTok users started using Lucky Girl Syndrome in
• 7:37
  their daily lives, many experts noted some of the pitfalls of
• 7:40
  this trend. In an article for The
• 7:42
  Conversation, PhD candidate Rebecca King noted that Lucky
• 7:46
  Girl syndrome often leads to quote, misplaced optimism with
• 7:50
  an increased focus on thinking rather than action.
• 7:53
  Quote If you're too poor or unsuccessful, this is what
• 7:56
  you'll get back. Obviously this is quite an
• 7:58
  unhelpful message which likely won't do much for the self
• 8:01
  esteem of people who don't feel particularly lucky, let alone
• 8:04
  those who are facing significant hardship.
• 8:07
  Another particularly popular side of spiritual TikTok is
• 8:10
  consuming content created by tarot card readers and
• 8:13
  astrologists. Depending on their specialty,
• 8:15
  these creators will post videos doing astrological or tarot card
• 8:19
  readings for their followers. It is worth noting that these
• 8:22
  readings are never for a specific person, but instead a
• 8:26
  group of people often broken down by astrological signs.
• 8:30
  Given that these videos are not directed to a single person,
• 8:33
  they are vague enough that many people seem to resonate with
• 8:36
  what whatever the creator says. At the time of recording, #tarot
• 8:41
  has over 8.2 million posts, and other hashtags like #tarot talk
• 8:45
  and #tarot reading have almost 4 million posts combined.
• 8:49
  Under these hashtags you will find thousands of people
• 8:52
  offering readings on anything from career paths to
• 8:55
  relationships to family life. And if you click on any video,
• 8:59
  you will likely see users flooding the comments section
• 9:02
  with phrases like I claim this energy to quote, UN quote, claim
• 9:06
  the message in a reading. Creators might ask users to
• 9:09
  share the video with the first person that comes up, comment on
• 9:12
  the post, or, as I was doing, make a video using the sound.
• 9:17
  This is often just an attempt to boost their engagement or grow
• 9:20
  their following, but it has almost become the Chainmail
• 9:24
  equivalent of the twenty 20s Astrologist.
• 9:26
  Tick tokers make similar content with popular creators like at
• 9:30
  Moon Priest and at Astro Bella Luna telling users how to
• 9:33
  maximize the traits in their birth chart.
• 9:36
  Some of these creators might share a monthly horoscope, while
• 9:39
  others will explain what each placement in the birth chart
• 9:41
  means. Lastly, there are the psychics,
• 9:44
  mediums, or spiritual guides who seek to explain certain
• 9:47
  phenomena or assist users through different periods of
• 9:50
  their lives. These creators often begin their
• 9:52
  videos or their live streams with statements like quote a
• 9:55
  message from the spirits awaits you, or inclusive expressions
• 9:59
  like someone out there is thinking of you to engage their
• 10:02
  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,
• 10:10
  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 talkers 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
• 10:41
  professional, and no one who worked on this episode is a
• 10:44
  mental health 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
• 12:08
  not a clinical term and not something that is likely to be
• 12:11
  referenced in legitimate therapeutic spaces, she says.
• 12:14
  The spiritual element raised by the tik tokers implies a
• 12:17
  psychosis which is driven or sustained by association with
• 12:21
  certain spiritual beliefs. From my perspective, it appears
• 12:24
  more as a criticism, skepticism or judgment 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
  numbers 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, one is
• 13:16
  unlikely to be relaxed and peacefully enjoying their
• 13:19
  spiritual practices. Far more likely to be worked up
• 13:22
  about everything, Believing themselves defending themselves,
• 13:25
  their family, or the whole world from some supernatural or human
• 13:28
  evil, or feeling utterly euphoric and untouchable because
• 13:32
  they've unlocked the secrets of the entire universe and everyone
• 13:35
  has to know about. It There have been a number of
• 13:37
  prominent social media users who have fallen down this spiritual
• 13:41
  psychosis pipeline. One such creator is Alex Serves
• 13:44
  Tea. Alex currently has 1.1 million
• 13:47
  followers on TikTok and started as an account covering workplace
• 13:50
  these issues, workers rights and creating comedy skits.
• 13:54
  According to at Allie P backup account, her spiritual journey
• 13:58
  started because someone DM her saying they can tell that she's
• 14:01
  a healer. She later contacted the person
• 14:04
  and had them read her Akashic records.
• 14:06
  This is basically understood as a cosmic library where past,
• 14:10
  present, and future are all accessible.
• 14:13
  It is believed that spiritualists such as psychics,
• 14:16
  mediums, or guides can access these records and gather
• 14:19
  information and insights about a person's past lives, present,
• 14:23
  life, and future. Alex became increasingly
• 14:25
  involved in this sort of spirituality, culminating in her
• 14:28
  going on a retreat and taking ayahuasca.
• 14:30
  Afterward, she ended up posting a four hour video detailing
• 14:34
  quote my first ayahuasca experience and also summarizing
• 14:38
  it in a TikTok video. This video has amassed over 36
• 14:42
  million views for anyone that doesn't know ayahuasca is a
• 14:45
  plant based psychedelic. People typically use ayahuasca
• 14:49
  for spiritual experiences by participating in rituals led by
• 14:52
  spiritual guides. As Ali speculates on Alex's
• 14:55
  experience. Quote what I.
• 14:57
  Truly think happened is there wasn't just a little bit of
• 15:00
  Ayahuasca done, there was a lot. She went to a lot of ceremonies
• 15:05
  in such a short period of time. Ever since, Alexis content has
• 15:09
  become increasingly concerning. One of her recent videos shows
• 15:13
  her looking directly into the eclipse with the caption.
• 15:16
  When they tell you to do something, do the opposite.
• 15:19
  She has also posted other videos talking about how aliens will
• 15:23
  come to Earth. TikTok, creator at Neo Mudang,
• 15:25
  has expressed concerns about Alex's videos, saying she
• 15:29
  disagrees with how Alex interprets these phenomena.
• 15:32
  She points out that Alex tends to disregard any potential
• 15:35
  scientific explanations. She also mentions knowing
• 15:38
  individuals who have consumed similar content and later
• 15:41
  experienced psychosis, highlighting the risks
• 15:44
  associated with this side of TikTok.
• 15:46
  Another user at Jasmine's Garden 23 didn't name Alex in her
• 15:50
  video, but she insinuated that her content is anti-Semitic rage
• 15:54
  baiting rebranded right wing Evangelicalism.
• 15:57
  Aside from Alex Loves tea, Danielle Johnson, an astrology
• 16:01
  influencer, is another example of a creator who seemingly
• 16:04
  experienced spiritual psychosis. Warning here, this is an
• 16:08
  extremely upsetting and dark example.
• 16:11
  Recently, Danielle made headlines after stabbing her
• 16:14
  partner, pushing her eight-month old baby and nine year old child
• 16:18
  out of a moving vehicle, and then later crashing her car on
• 16:21
  the Four O 5 highway in Los Angeles and killing herself.
• 16:25
  Tragically, her baby passed away, but her older daughter did
• 16:28
  survive. All of this happened on April
• 16:30
  8th, the morning of the most recent solar eclipse.
• 16:33
  Her posts leading up to the eclipse expressed concern for
• 16:36
  the event, which led many social media users to speculate whether
• 16:40
  she was suffering from spiritual psychosis.
• 16:42
  As Noah Goldberg writes for the LA Times quote, she seemed
• 16:46
  especially disturbed by the solar eclipse, calling the
• 16:49
  astronomical event the epitome of spiritual warfare and telling
• 16:52
  people that they needed to quote, UN quote pick a side.
• 16:56
  Prior to the event, she also started posting anti-Semitic Q
• 16:59
  Anon and Covic 19 conspiracy theories.
• 17:02
  While many social media users are convinced, we can't be sure
• 17:06
  whether Danielle was actually suffering from spiritual
• 17:08
  psychosis, Lieutenant Guy Golan told The Associated Press.
• 17:12
  Quote, we just don't know why she did what she did, saying
• 17:15
  that the police are not considering the eclipse to be a
• 17:18
  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 and
• 17:39
  astrology communities as proof that it was spiritual psychosis.
• 17:44
  Now many creators who have discussed spiritual psychosis
• 17:47
  have highlighted the role of social media, particularly
• 17:50
  TikTok, in increasing the risk of experiencing psychosis or
• 17:53
  other mental health concerns. It is worth noting that there
• 17:56
  hasn't been a significant amount of research into the connection
• 17:59
  between social media usage and spirituality.
• 18:03
  But Doctor Ash King tells us quote the pervasiveness and
• 18:06
  ubiquity of these digital platforms have the power to
• 18:09
  influence identity formation in young people and spirituality is
• 18:13
  1 slice of experience which can be woven into the fabric of our
• 18:16
  identities. Nevertheless, New Age
• 18:18
  spirituality has a long existed in pop culture and the digital
• 18:22
  world. I'm sure we all remember the
• 18:24
  tween magazines that we all used to buy and they all had a
• 18:27
  horoscope section. Aside from this, famous
• 18:30
  Youtubers in the mid twenty 10s embraced this sort of
• 18:32
  spirituality for contents sake. Many creators went through a
• 18:36
  stage where they would make videos with psychics and
• 18:38
  mediums. The Psychic Twins, AKA Terry and
• 18:41
  Linda Jameson, are probably the most notable example, starting a
• 18:44
  YouTube channel of their own in 2015.
• 18:47
  They fit right into the digital landscape.
• 18:49
  At the time, Shane Dawson was a major part of their growth and
• 18:52
  his audience really embraced them on the platform.
• 18:55
  At the time, he was adjacent to this kind of content with his
• 18:57
  conspiracy theory, breakdowns, and paranormal videos.
• 19:00
  Terry and Linda went on to collaborate with some of the
• 19:03
  most famous Youtubers at the time, including Tana Mojo, Jenna
• 19:06
  Marbles, the Dolan twins, and even Trisha Paytas.
• 19:10
  In each of these videos, Terry and Linda conducted psychic
• 19:13
  readings for the influencers, which soon became one of the
• 19:15
  most popular collab ideas on the platform.
• 19:18
  While this type of content has existed on the Internet for some
• 19:21
  time, the conversation surrounding the adverse effects
• 19:24
  of spiritualism online has only gained significant attention
• 19:28
  since the rise of TikTok. There are a number of reasons
• 19:31
  for this, but the shift can largely be attributed to the
• 19:34
  increased accessibility and frequency of such content
• 19:37
  online. By now, we're all aware of how
• 19:40
  the TikTok algorithm operates. It determines what we like and
• 19:43
  engage with through likes, comments, follows, or how long
• 19:46
  we spend on a video and subsequently serves a similar
• 19:49
  content, Rebecca Jennings explains for Vox Quote.
• 19:52
  TikTok, for instance, facilitates a pipeline for
• 19:55
  viewers that begins the moment they log on, servicing more and
• 19:58
  more content related to something they.
• 20:00
  Enjoyed in the past because of how short TikTok videos are,
• 20:03
  users can consume 100 videos in the same time span as they could
• 20:07
  watch a single 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
  Tik Tok's 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
• 21:17
  communities conceptualize and manage psychotic experiences
• 21:21
  very differently, sometimes viewing them as reverent or
• 21:24
  holy. Now, this is not to say that
• 21:26
  this content is inherently dangerous, or that every person
• 21:30
  engaging with psychics or tarot readers on TikTok will suffer
• 21:33
  from delusions or poor mental health.
• 21:36
  But what is troubling is how certain creators, with the help
• 21:39
  of the algorithm, target vulnerable users.
• 21:42
  YouTube of Herbs and Alters address such concerns In a
• 21:45
  YouTube video titled TikTok Spiritualism, A Fast Track to
• 21:49
  Spiritual Psychosis. They position Tik Tok's invasive
• 21:53
  algorithm as a major concern for spiritual psychosis where
• 21:56
  creators can make quote. Video with 0 hashtags that
• 21:59
  describes you perfectly. While this may lend to increased
• 22:03
  credibility for the TikTok creator, Dorian knows that there
• 22:06
  is a significant difference between quote describing you and
• 22:09
  your present state from all this data, as in data that the Tick
• 22:12
  Tock algorithm has, and telling you the future.
• 22:15
  Although this may seem obvious to some, it isn't to others,
• 22:18
  especially those who may be suffering from a preexisting
• 22:21
  mental illness or younger TikTok 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 that can be
• 22:48
  really beautiful, but it could also be dangerous.
• 22:51
  And the impact of Tik Tok's spiritual intent 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,
• 23:17
  personalized approach can be very convincing and sometimes
• 23:20
  threatening to 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 that, 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. Zed, but they found a new home
• 24:05
  on 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
• 24:14
  tick tocks 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
• 24:26
  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 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
• 24:52
  that we have considerable amount of control over our lives and
• 24:55
  experiences. In a time when so much feels
• 24:58
  uncertain and out of control, it makes sense that Gen.
• 25:00
  Z would be drawn to a belief system which empowers them with
• 25:04
  more autonomy over their lives. Gen.
• 25:06
  Z is a profoundly stressed generation.
• 25:10
  According to the American Psychological Association quote
• 25:13
  Gen. Z, adults and younger
• 25:15
  millennials are completely overwhelmed by stress, reporting
• 25:19
  significantly higher stress levels than older generations.
• 25:23
  Considering Gen. Z's political consciousness,
• 25:25
  it's no surprise that much of this distress stems from
• 25:28
  societal level problems like climate change, sexual
• 25:31
  harassment, and domestic violence.
• 25:33
  However, there are also individual level stressors, like
• 25:36
  the cost of living and housing crisis around the world, that
• 25:39
  contribute to this feeling of distress.
• 25:42
  As Gen. Z searches for stability while
• 25:44
  simultaneously distancing itself from organized religion, it's
• 25:47
  understandable why New Age spirituality has found a home
• 25:51
  online. It offers a way to build
• 25:53
  communities and find comfort in something, quote UN quote
• 25:56
  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 allows me to
• 26:07
  have many of the benefits that organized religion offers, such
• 26:10
  as connection, life purpose, and moral guidelines, while avoiding
• 26:14
  the parts of religion that may contradict with my personal
• 26:17
  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,
• 27:11
  all in the name of engagement. Infinite 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.