TikTok Updates its Safety Features to Promote the Digital Wellbeing of its Community

TikTok today announced a number of steps to help support its community’s digital well-being as they create and discover on TikTok.

The short video platform announced it is launching two new practical tools to make it easier for its community to feel in control of their TikTok experience.

Jordan Furlong, Product Manager, Digital Well-being for TikTok said, “We already offer daily screen time limits, which help people decide how much time they’d like to spend on our app each day. In the coming weeks, we’re introducing a tool to let people control how much time they spend on TikTok in a single sitting by enabling regular screen time breaks. These prompts will remind people to take a break after a certain amount of uninterrupted screen time, which they can set as they choose.”

The company also said that its new screen time dashboard will also give its community data about how much time they are spending on TikTok, with summaries of their daily time spent on the app, the number of times they opened the app, and a breakdown of daytime and night-time usage. People can also opt for weekly notifications to review their dashboard.

To support its community in thinking about its digital habits, TikTok has also published a new guide – How can I reflect on my digital well-being with my family and friends? – on its Safety Center. The guide encourages members of the TikTok community to reflect more holistically about how they spend their time online – whether on TikTok or elsewhere – and how it makes them feel as they set the boundaries that best suit them.

“We’ll also be introducing weekly digital well-being prompts for younger members of our community. When someone aged between 13 and 17 has used the app for more than 100 minutes in a single day, we will remind them of our screen time limit tool the next time they open the app.

“We hope these new digital well-being tools continue to support our community in fostering a positive relationship with TikTok. We will continue to invest in protecting the well-being of people so that our community can feel in control of their TikTok experience and empowered to express their creativity, make meaningful connections and enjoy culture-defining entertainment,” Furlong added.

Speaking further on digital wellbeing, TikTok’s expert advisors had a few comments to make.

Carolyn Bunting MBE, CEO, Internet Matters said, “The research showed that younger users would welcome the introduction of built-in features and settings that prompt them to both think critically about the time that they are spending online, but also encourage them to use settings to actively manage the time they spent on the app. It is important that they feel in control of their online experiences and are helped to make considered choices. We look forward to TikTok developing further features that will put children’s wellbeing at the heart of their design choices.”

Dr. Nina Vasan and Dr. Sara Johansen, advisors from Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation at Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry said, “A sense of agency is a key aspect of wellbeing in digital spaces. People need tools that empower them to use social media intentionally and to be mindful about how, when, and why they use these platforms. Features that provide people with insight into screentime, and allow them to flexibly customize their online experiences to emphasize quality over quantity, can help provide this sense of agency and support mindfulness.”