• For several years, many studies have warned of the negative impact of screens on sleep, especially among young people.

  • The Chinese giant, TikTok, is currently testing a feature to tell its users to go to bed.

  • For Stéphanie Laporte, founder of the Otta agency and program director in digital communication at Inseec, "there is necessarily a little communication from TikTok, but at the very least, they offer a solution"

"Five more minutes of TikTok and I'm going to bed."

Two hours later, your eyes reddened by the light from your smartphone, you are still scrolling.

And like every morning, when your alarm clock will ring at seven o'clock, you will get up painfully, swearing that you will not be caught again.

However, studies on the negative impact of screens on sleep, particularly that of young people, are not lacking.

For several years, specialists have been warning about sleep disorders, difficulty concentrating or even the deterioration of memory in the event of repeated use of screens at night.

So TikTok decided to tackle this public health problem - and in the process, to heal its reputation.

The Chinese giant is currently working on a tool to push evening users to go to sleep.

According to information confirmed by the specialized site TechCrunch, this feature, called "sleep reminders", will allow users of the social network to indicate their bedtime directly on the application and receive an alert when going to sleep.

From that time, TikTok will suspend notifications for seven hours.

Less melatonin, less sleep

Because ideally, according to Armelle Rancillac, Inserm researcher in neuroscience at the College de France, screens should be stopped one hour before going to bed.

“We are talking about a digital curfew”.

And for good reason, increased use of screens in the evening disrupts falling asleep: "The blue light produced by screens inhibits the synthesis of melatonin, the sleep hormone", warns the specialist.

And even if you have activated the night lighting on your phone or your computer, you still have the sound: "If the sound volume is too high, there is an overactivation of the sensory systems, it is not conducive letting go,” continues Armelle Rancillac.

To understand how screens can affect sleep, you first need to understand how it works.

Small milestone.

“The sleep cycles last 1h30.

Between each cycle, there is a micro-awakening, it's physiological, but it only lasts a few seconds.

On average, to have quality sleep, it takes five cycles for adults, or 7.5 hours of sleep, and six cycles for children, the equivalent of nine hours,” explains the researcher.

The important thing, she insists, is not to disrupt these cycles: "If ever there is a stimulus, like the sound of a notification or the light of an alert on a phone, it can disrupt the micro-awakening and therefore the next cycle”.

Lack of concentration and memory

Especially since the first phases of sleep, that is to say those at the beginning of the night, also called slow sleep, are essential.

“That's when we work on memory.

We review what we have learned or seen during the day, we sort and consolidate.

It is also one of the main functions of sleep,” explains Armelle Rancillac.

And with poor sleep also come concentration problems: “TikTok is very short content that follows one another.

We switch from one video to another, so our brain is very reactive.

But precisely, it can also cause problems to concentrate on longer periods, at work for adults or in class for young people, ”warns the specialist.

And in children and adolescents, sleep has another feature.

It is while sleeping that the body produces growth hormone: "If ever sleep is unstructured, we can disrupt the release of this hormone," she warns.

To be sure to put the odds on her side to slip into the arms of Morpheus, the scientist advises deactivating notifications or putting yourself in airplane mode.

“They are starting to take the measure of the problem”

And if TikTok made this decision, it is in particular because the application realized the number of connections at night, particularly among adolescents and pre-adolescents, explains Stéphanie Laporte, founder of the Otta agency and director of program in digital communication at Inseec: "All social networks have access to connection statistics at night, they are beginning to take the measure of the problem", she believes.

Because the problem is far from just TikTok.

Other Web giants have already looked into it.

Apple and Google, for example, have added "sleep" modes to mute notifications temporarily or at certain times, such as at night.

Whether on Iphone or Android, you can also program a screen time for one or more applications or a maximum schedule in the evening.

"It's a public health issue, it's not unique to TikTok.

Platforms all have a responsibility in managing screen time,” she adds.

Communication effect or real approach?

Even if Stéphanie Laporte does not exclude a strategy to restore their image, she considers that it is “a first step and a progress”.

“It's almost a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach.

There is necessarily a little communication, but at the very least, they offer a solution, ”she believes.

“You also have to be aware that they are not going to sit on their own business and shut down the application at night,” she concedes.

If the platforms must put in place "these safeguards", they cannot "replace parental education", continues Stéphanie Laporte, before continuing: "Besides, let's not be moralizing with the children, it is the same problem for adults.

They have to empower themselves, lead by example”.

For now, the option is currently in the test phase and only available to some users.

No launch date has yet been announced.

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