After one-year hiatus, London TikToker with 18M likes is back online sharing takeaways

Michelle Both · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 28, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 20 minutes ago

A Tik Toker based successful London, Ont., who chose to log disconnected the app for a full year has conscionable reemerged with lessons to share. 

Jacob Anstey, also known arsenic Bungalow Jonathan, amassed astir 18 cardinal likes connected TikTok for his satirical deadpan songs astir anything from raising rent to seasonal depression, sock tans and Italian sub sandwiches.

"I didn't recognize however atrocious that unit was to support posting until I took that clip disconnected and felt however it was to beryllium without that anxiety," helium said. 

Anstey's videos typically diagnostic him holding a microphone singing successful a monotone dependable astir relatable life struggles oregon tiny pleasures. The contented took disconnected and helium gained much than 390,000 followers connected TikTok and much than 160,000 followers connected Instagram.

But arsenic his followers grew, much anxiousness began gathering up wrong him, helium said, and helium started feeling burnt out. 

One month turned into one year

It was aft helium picked up a publication called The Artist's Way by Julia Camera, helium decided to uninstall TikTok. It's a workbook designed to unblock your creativity, helium said, encouraging you to instrumentality breaks from media.

Instead of scrolling aimlessly oregon making videos, Anstey chose to bash much wellness activities similar regular journaling, meditation and therapy, helium said. 

"I deliberation erstwhile you enactment your telephone down, and you enactment yourself retired there, and you permission your location and walk clip with your friends and family, you recognize similar however bare societal media tin marque you feel, and however afloat those different things to marque you feel."

It took him months to unlearn a batch of antagonistic habits and clear his head, Anstey said. Eventually, helium got backmost into penning songs again, but helium said this clip it was different. The songs weren't satirical, comic oregon shocking anymore, helium said, but much honorable and existent to who helium is. 

Logging backmost successful a twelvemonth later

However, erstwhile helium logged into TikTok again recently and began posting again, Anstey said helium felt the anxiousness and the addiction creep backmost in.

"I truly person to gully boundaries with myself and not get trapped successful that again," helium said. "It inactive takes enactment to benignant of crook disconnected the trap, truthful to speak, and defy scrolling truthful much."

Social media usage whitethorn travel with dopamine hits, but determination tin besides beryllium anxiety, said Kaitlynn Mendes, a sociology prof astatine Western University and Canada Research Chair successful Inequality and Gender.

Striving to beryllium a societal media contented creator is an aggravated amount of labour, she said, and the algorithm isn't affable unless you're producing content.

"I deliberation that it's really mode much clip consuming than astir radical think," she said. "You're benignant of astatine the mercy of different people. You're besides astatine the mercy of tech companies and the algorithms and they're ever changing the algorithms."

While societal media besides has lots of benefits, specified arsenic being a amusive and originative output, we request to marque definite we're paying attraction to however we feel portion utilizing it, Mendes said. 

"I americium a truly large instrumentality of boundaries. I deliberation that everything successful moderation is truly important," she said. "Taking a interruption from screens, instead of turning to them when you're bored, is simply a bully mode to capable that clip without different things like making connections successful your assemblage and engaging with antithetic sorts of hobbies."

Instead of mindless scrolling, Anstey is present trying to capable his clip with much originative things, helium said. 

He has an medium coming retired successful August called Bungalow Heaven, and each of the songs are astir the travel he's been on, more susceptible and honorable than he's written before, helium said. 

Anstey's besides taking a spell astatine performing his archetypal solo concerts live connected May 9th astatine Paradigm Spirits astatine 100 Kellogg Lane successful London and June 14 astatine The Yeti Cafe in Kitchener.