The TikTok application continues to accumulate users despite the controversies and each time it attracts a younger audience. Children are starting to play with mobile devices earlier and earlier and it is often the parents themselves who give them to them to entertain themselves. And to entertain a child, few things are more useful on a phone than TikTok.
But there is a negative part, and that is that the algorithm does not always show appropriate content according to what age, and that is what the app has been working on in recent months, and it has already released an update so that parents do not have to to worry
Now TikTok offers the ‘Family Synchronization’ tool so that fathers and mothers can control both the times of use of the social network by minors, as well as improve the safety of minors by restricting access to certain content.
It is a filtering system that allows parents the possibility of linking their account to that of their children to enable content and privacy settings, and also allows filtering videos with keywords or hashtags.
These keywords added by parents will add a kind of custom layer on top of the content level system, thus preventing videos with more “mature” or “complex” themes from reaching the 13-17 audience.
TikTok has issued a statement explaining that “to adapt this feature to ‘Family Pairing’, we engaged with experts, including the ‘Family Online Safety Institute’, on how to strike a balance between allowing families to choose the best experience for their needs and while also ensuring that we respect the rights of young people to participate in the online world. Therefore, by default, teens can see keywords that have been added by adults.”
So, to establish ‘Family Synchronization’, the father or mother will have to open the privacy settings and synchronize their account with that of the minor.
To avoid excessive use, there is the ‘Digital Detoxification’ tool on TikTok that allows us to be aware of how much time we dedicate to it, but it is also a good tool for concerned parents in case a minor is using the network social.
Digital Detox has three options: Screen time management, restricted mode, and family synchronization if you are a minor and use parental control. All three are intended for use by adults or parents and guardians, but you can manage screen time yourself without needing to disconnect. Or you can turn to parental control tools and apps if you still need more control.
The app also announces that it plans to launch a ‘Global Youth Council’ in late 2023 to “hear the experiences of those who directly use our platform and be better positioned to make changes to create the safest possible experience for our community.”
