Getting relationship advice from TikTok isn’t always such a great idea. (Pekic/Getty Images)
- With social media at the centre of many lives, it’s no surprise that people also use it to fix their private lives.
- A recent study revealed that 1 in 4 people turn to TikTok for serious relationship advice.
- Of those, 47% admitted that taking TikTok dating advice resulted in the demise of their relationships.
With the social media age upon us, it’s unsurprising that we have turned to these online spaces for relationship advice.
While it used to be that we turned to friends or a tub of ice cream and a glass of wine for solace, we are now consuming hundreds if not thousands of videos of people sharing what they all claim to be top-tier relationship advice.
From explanations on star sign love matches to tips on keeping a distant lover attracted, TikTok has it all for love and romance advice.
Flirtini recently surveyed 2 000 people on their use of social media when seeking dating advice and found that 47% used their favourite apps to seek romantic advice.
The poll showed 1 in 4 explicitly turned to TikTok for their fix of dating tips, while 27% shared that they trust dating advice from “TikTok experts” depending on their qualifications or how many followers and likes they have.
This, Flirtini shares, has had a negative impact on relationships, with 47% of the survey’s participants revealing that their relationships hit the rocks after they took advice from TikTok love gurus.
Anastasiya Pochotna, a dating expert at Flirtini, has warned social media users to take TikTok dating advice with a pinch of salt.
She shares:
Social media is the new go-to for dating advice because it offers short, digestible snippets of information on just about any topic. Chances are, you will find a so-called expert willing to tell you what you want to hear.
The issue is ensuring the dating advice they offer is correct. With 46% of people admitting their relationships have worsened after following advice from TikTok, many so-called experts may be more focused on profit than genuinely helping others.”
Pochotna added that, more often than not, the advice shared by experts on TikTok rarely considers the nuances of individual relationships and is usually tailored for the masses.
“I encourage singletons to absorb relationship advice from multiple sources and consider the individuality of their situation.”
Despite this, 1 in 3 believe that overall, TikTok advice positively influenced their love life, while for more than half, the effect was neutral.
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