Even TikTok agrees that tweens and teens are spending too much time on TikTok, and now, somewhat surprisingly, the popular social media platform is taking some steps to address the problem.
The company announced on A blog post on Wednesday (opens in a new tab) A new effort to help young people manage their time on TikTok on some of the best smartphones, though it’s up to members of the platform to tell the truth about their age.
Soon, TikTok will set a 60-minute usage limit for all users under the age of 18. Hints are more of advice, though, as teens can extend their use by simply entering a passcode. For those who do so and break the 100-minute barrier (who hasn’t?), TikTok will soon be encouraging them to set their own screen time limits for the app.
Rules for use by those under 13 will be stricter. Once the 60-minute limit is reached, the parent or guardian will have to enter a passcode to restore access. The announcement doesn’t say anything about how TikTok verifies the age of its users.
TikTok combined these new restrictions with a series of screen time management tools, adding them to its Family Pairs parent management feature. They include a screen time dashboard and the ability to silence notifications. The latter should help prevent TikTok call notifications from pulling teens back to the platform.
The moves come just two days before the U.S. celebration National Unplug Day (opens in a new tab)an unofficial gadget and social media holiday that encourages people of all ages to put down their gadgets and screens and relearn pre-digital skills like hobbies, screen-free bedtimes and face-to-face social interactions.
Whether you believe in unplugging or not, there’s no disputing the current alarming screen time trends, especially among teens and teens.
a growing problem
Screen time for teens has grown over the years and has almost exploded during the pandemic. Common Sense Media’s 2021 Survey Media usage has reportedly surged by 17% between 2019 and 2021.A recent study compared children’s daily TikTok is used 80 minutes a day. That’s a lot of short videos.
Parents and some overstimulated teens might welcome some screentime structure, but it’s also worth noting that TikTok’s motivations may not be entirely altruistic.The company is facing intense scrutiny from U.S. government officials, many of whom Calls for a complete ban on TikTokHowever, this concern has nothing to do with excessive screen time, but rather TikTok’s relationship with the Chinese government.
TikTok is still owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, and many people are concerned that the Chinese government has unfettered access to TikTok data and therefore all of our activity on the platform. However, TikTok has been moving all of its U.S. data to Oracle servers in California.The company claims no one in the Chinese government Has access to US TikTok data.
Regardless of who is viewing the data, if TikTok’s screen time management efforts are successful, it may soon reduce the amount of data available for perusal.