TikTok Adds a new Feature to Help Users Manage Their Screen Time
TikTok, a video streaming platform, has added new features to assist users to control their screen time, including a new and easily available in-app dashboard tool that shows users the social app’s usage statistics.
This isn’t the first time the social media platform has attempted to boost its members’ digital well-being by assisting them with limitations.
TikTok introduced a screen time restriction feature in 2019 that allows users to set time limits for how much time they spend on the app. They launched the Family Safety Mode in 2020, which lets parents manage their teen’s TikTok feed.
TikTok was voted the third largest social network in the world in 2019 with over one billion active users. In 2021, it was the most downloaded app of all time, as well as the sixth most popular app, and the only one that was not owned by Meta.
As a result, they’re on a mission to govern and promote their ever-growing community’s digital well-being.
TikTok’s popularity is rising.
The epidemic has shown that the world is capable of adapting to the digital age. It’s almost as if the world existed within our smartphones, as our daily lives are more centered on swipes and taps, which could be a result of social media platforms’ influence.
Despite the abundance of social media platforms accessible, some of these apps, such as TikTok, shockingly exceed expectations and go viral, resulting in massive growth.
Since then, many people have been excessively addicted to TikTok, which has practically detracted from other forms of pleasure such as watching TV/news, reading, and even streaming videos. TikTok has been available since 2016, but its popularity skyrocketed in 2018 as a result of the pandemic.
According to a Statista poll published in April 2021, 6% of TikTok users spend more than 10 hours per week on the platform, while 11% spend 5 to 6 hours per week.
Many others, on the other hand, have described the app as addictive and distracting, while others have dismissed it as a waste of time. As a result, the social media platform, which is recognized for being forward-thinking when it comes to inventing new features or tools for its users, has created a community guideline targeted at boosting digital well-being.
Tik Tok is getting new features.
The goal of this new tool is to provide consumers more choice over how and when they use the app. It will also allow them to take screen time breaks, allowing them to control how much time they spend on the app in a single sitting.
The social app is also launching a new screen time dashboard for user data. This will show them how much time they spend on TikTok, as well as a detailed breakdown of their daily time spent on the app, including the number of times they visited it. This dashboard can be viewed weekly or monthly, depending on the preferences of the clients.
The social media site also intends to introduce a function that will allow younger users to establish a daily screen time limit of 100 minutes.
This could be owing to claims made last year against TikTok and its competitors, such as Snapchat, regarding the applications’ influence on young people who are slowly acquiring control of social media platforms.
Furthermore, US Senate lawmakers sponsored a bill this year that would expand research on social media addiction and create a safety net, particularly for younger users.
This could be TikTok’s approach of supporting the law by encouraging its users to be more conscious of how they spend their time online and to think about it more holistically. The social media network anticipates that these new capabilities will assist users in creating suitable personal boundaries and limits while keeping their digital identities.