Why I Don't Install TikTok On My Phone

I challenge you:

Go to the kitchen. Open a bag of potato chips. Your favourite flavor.

Pick 1 chip and eat it.

Close the bag. Put it back in the cabinet. Leave the kitchen.

Unless you're from outer space, belong to the Justice League, or posses some kind of extraordinary mental strength, chances are that you can't eat just 1 chip.

Opening any social media app on your phone is like opening a bag of potato chips.

Let me share my experience with you.

Not with TikTok, but with Instagram.

I have Instagram installed on my phone.

Since I have an account and have provided some basic information, Instagram's algorithm has likely made some assumptions.

"What content is most likely to hook this guy to the screen...?"

I suspect that statistically, males in their forties must be interested in posts inspired by the "Fast & Furious" movie saga.

When I open the app, my screen is flooded with eye-catching posts and videos showing luxury cars, hot girls, and spectacular fights.

If I don't close the app immediately and start scrolling down, I'm trapped. It's just like trying to eat only 1 chip. It's impossible.

After 5 minutes of doomscrolling, I tell myself: "Enough of this time waste".

Then I check my watch, shake my head in disbelief, and check it again.

Half an hour is gone. I thought it was just 5 minutes. But it wasn't.

That's the superpower of Instagram's algorithm.

TikTok is like Instagram on steroids.

Twice as evil.

I've seen people literally glued to their phones, relentlessly swiping non-stop. They binge-watch one video after another with no end in sight.

When they finally manage to take their eyes off the screen, it's as if they're waking up from a dream.

As if they're wondering: "Where am I? What just happened?"

That's why I refuse to install TikTok on my phone.

I know that sometimes I could just watch a few videos, have a few laughs, and then close the app.

But it's the same as trying to eat 1 chip.

Willpower is weak.

Financial modeling has nothing to do with binge-watching TikTok.

Well, not quite. Both have something in common. If you're like me, you can spend hours building a model without even noticing. The difference is that you're not getting hooked by an algorithm that shows kittens, but in a flow state of productivity.

Hey, I know. Call me a nerd. Everyone has their own quirks.

But if you need a financial model built, you'd probably prefer the nerd to do it.

Financial modelling services.

P.S. The flow state was defined by a psychologist with an unpronounceable name: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

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