Scrolling through your TikTok fyp can be quite addictive as it presents you with the most trending videos on the platform and topics that are close to your interests. This is one of the hallmarks of the ByteDance-owned app and it remains to be popular among the younger generation.
However, TikTok has decided that it will now set a 60-minute screen time limit for users under 18 and it will soon be rolled out in the coming weeks.
Limited Screen Time for Teens
TikTok announced new features in addition to the 60-minute screen time limit such as custom options, default settings for teen accounts, and more parental controls for the Family Pairing feature.
Any account owned by a user under the age of 18 will soon be automatically put to a 60-minute daily screen time limit. Although there is no widely accepted view on the "right" amount of screen time or even the effects of screen time in general, TikTok chose this limit after consulting with academic researchers from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital.
Teens will need to input a passcode to continue watching after the 60-minute time limit
The daily screen time limit will be 60 minutes for those under the age of 13 as well, and a parent or guardian will need to set or input an existing password to access an additional 30 minutes of watching time.
TikTok also encourages teenagers to set a daily screen time limit if they want to adjust the app's default screen time limit of 60 minutes and use it for more than 100 minutes per day.
This builds on a prompt they introduced last year to urge teenagers to enable screen time management. Based on their tests, this assisted in increasing the use of screen time management apps by 234%.
Additionally, the app will send a weekly inbox message containing a summary of each teen account's screen time.
Teens between the ages of 13 and 15 have their accounts set to private by default, allowing them to decide for themselves what information they share, when, and with whom.
Users must also be at least 16 years old to use direct messaging, and they must be at least 18 to organize a live event.
New Features for Family Pairing
TikTok has also added three new features for its Family Pairing. It included custom daily screen time limits, where parents can set time limits based on the day of the week and ensure that screen time is matched to school schedules, holiday breaks, and many more.
Screen time dashboard is another new feature as well, which provides summaries of time on the app, the number of times TikTok was opened, and the total time spent during the day and night.
Lastly, there will also be a mute option for parents so that they can set a schedule to turn off notifications for their kids.
Push notifications are already deactivated for accounts 13 to 15 years old starting at 9 p.m., and they are also removed for accounts 16 to 17 years old starting at 10 p.m.
"Family Pairing is an opportunity for parents and teens to collaborate on developing healthy online habits. It's not parental control, it's parental involvement and an opportunity for parents and teens to learn from each other," ConnectSafely President and CEO Larry Magid said in a press release statement.
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