![]() At such a young age, it’s doubtful that children will be able to fully comprehend the mature and complex terms we often see used on social media. TikTok specifically has a rather young audience with 32.5% of its user base being between the ages of 10-19 years old. ![]() The gravity of this issue is often lost in 15-second videos describing one sentence or specific action as gaslighting. Psychological gaslighting is manipulation over extended periods of time that can make someone question their reality. That’s not what gaslighting is.” It is important to recognise the distinction between gaslighting in the more colloquial sense, and gaslighting from a psychological standpoint. Highlighting some of the problems with the misuse of the word, Robin Stern – the co-founder of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence – said “Gaslighting is often used in an accusatory way when somebody may just be insistent on something, or somebody may be trying to influence you. With its rise in popularity, “gaslighting” is now used as a more colloquial term steering dangerously away from its original meaning. Notably, the word “gaslight” was widely used throughout Harvey Weinstein’s infamous abuse case to describe his tactics of distorting the reality of the women he preyed on. This rise in popularity could be attributed to several events, including the release of books such as Paula Hawkins’ 2015 novel Girl on the Train, where the protagonist’s husband takes advantage of her blackouts to convince her of events that never happened. Incidentally, the winner was “toxic”, another widely used word for describing faults or troubles within a relationship. The phrase has been popularised in the past decade however, being awarded runner-up for Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year in 2018. “Gaslighting” has been a term used by professionals for decades. However, does using these terms excessively mean that these issues become trivialised? Does their meaning get lost in translation? On one hand, it is amazing to see knowledge around abusive behaviour being shared online, and accessing this knowledge on social media platforms can be less intimidating than visiting a GP or a counsellor. The use of psychological terminology is becoming increasingly common on social media platforms, with videos discussing abuse and gaslighting garnering billions of views on TikTok. Rebecca writes about how TikTok’s use of language could affect us in the long run.Ī TikTok content creator with absolutely no qualifications has told you you’re being gaslighted, so naturally, it must be true.
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