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For the average college student, political content on TikTok doesn’t just inform, it raises heart rates.
That constant sense of do-or-die politics isn’t random. Chris Baxter, a professor who teaches American government classes, said students often arrive frustrated and sometimes hesitant to talk about the current state of politics.
“When everybody says that everything is urgent and breaking news, it’s very difficult to decipher what is truly important,” he said.
In other words, if everything is a fire alarm, then nothing is, and influencers become the boy who cried wolf too many times.
TikTok’s algorithm may play a role. Platforms thrive on engagement—clicks, comments and shares—and what drives engagement is often emotion.
“Social media creators understand that,” Baxter said. “They have an incentive to increase the drama.”
That intensity can shape how students engage, or don’t. Baxter distinguished between being politically aware and politically engaged. Awareness means consuming information; engagement means acting on it, whether that means protesting, contacting representatives, attending events, or having real conversations—something he said people have become increasingly worse at. But when political content feels overwhelming or confusing, taking action becomes harder.
“For most folks, that is the more likely response—to be turned off rather than mobilized,” Baxter said.
He said many students express frustration about mixed messages in the media and uncertainty about what is true.
“There is a frustration,” he said. “A frustration with not being able to tell the truth from what is false.”
That uncertainty can lead to self-censorship. Students may hesitate to speak up, not because they don’t care, but because they are unsure or worried about backlash from peers if their opinion is seen as too controversial. This is a pain in the sense that everything dealing with Tik Tok is do or die politics.
So I asked a question to students : Does social media make politics feel like a moral test — where staying silent or disagreeing makes you a “bad” person?
“It doesn’t make me feel like a bad person if i disagree because if something is wrong then something is wrong and people should be held accountable and it’s hard to be held accountable if you’re not face to face with someone,” said UT Martin student Camille Owens.
Political content can feel exhausting. Outrage often travels faster than nuance or truth, and students recognize the algorithm rewards what people keep watching.
“The algorithms are trying to promote a product,” Baxter said. “It just puts a greater burden on us to be better consumers.”
For a generation living on their phones and getting news in 25-second bursts, that burden matters. When everyone claims to be the most important thing you’ll see today, figuring out what is true—and what deserves attention—can start to feel like a full-time job.
