unsure of the tool’s value. Managing social media and screen usage is just
a part of good sleep hygiene. TikTok has begun testing a feature that
reminds users to go to sleep, according to TechCrunch.The news comes as social media usage has continued to grab headlines.
Research published by Statista estimates that by 2027, the world will have
5.85 billion global social media users.Whether these reminders set by users
actually help you get better sleep is up for debate.
Dr. Camilo Ruiz (DO), a sleep specialist in South Florida, is
pessimistic.“The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and you have a
situation where the inherent platform is the problem, leading to the sleep
disruption, Putting a warning sign right before you continue and hit OK or
Cancel, I think is probably going to do very little to deter people from
not using the platform for a period of time,” Ruiz said.
Other experts such as Daniel Rifkin, MD, MPH, who founded telehealth
platform Ognomy as well as being a clinical assistant professor at the
University of Buffalo, said that these tools do have a possibility of being
useful. They can help highlight to users how important sleep can be at a
time.
“It’s raising awareness,” Rifkin said. “For so long, we neglected sleep as
a health concern, despite the fact we spend a third of our lives doing it…I
think times have changed, and literature has changed. So we’re seeing just
loads of really good literature on sleep and the importance of sleep, and
social media, like everything, is helping to spread that word.
