TikTok has been one of the most downloaded apps on Apple and Android app stores for months. Compared to other social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, TikTok is all about short video entertainment and content.
Recently, TikTok has been a popular app for children and teens, making adults concerned about its parental controls.
TikTok users
TikTok, with over 800 million active users worldwide, is the No. 1 entertainment app and is still becoming more popular with children and teens. Approximately 70% of teens today use TikTok, and based on a recent Pew Research Center Survey, it has been the top social media app for younger kids as well, with 30% of children between the ages of 9 and 11 using the said app.
Meaning to say TikTok is huge, and it is only getting bigger as time goes by.
Concerns over TikTok
With these being said, adults are concerned about the parental controls that this app has, not to mention the guide for parents like them, as well as the amount of time that their children spend on the app.
This is all in making sure that their children are safe and being taken care of even while using this new and popular social media app.
Parental controls
When it comes to parental controls and guide for parents, they are mostly concerned about the age-inappropriate language or content that their children will see on the app.
For example, most of the dances and videos on TikTok feature songs with explicit lyrics, not to mention that many of those dances are not what parents would like to see their children are doing.
Aside from this, the app also is designed with an endless scroll as its core feature, making users watch videos mindlessly for hours.
On the good side, TikTok designed some features for anyone to limit content.
Controls that parents can do
To help concerned adults, here are some ways parental controls and guides for parents to ensure that their children are safe while using this app.
- Limit their screen time
- Limit the content that they will be watching by turning on the Restricted Mode on the said app that will limit mature content for viewers and users.
- Make sure that your children's accounts are set in private. In this way, only approved people become followers and can see your child's content.
For parental controls and guides for parents, make sure to follow these steps.
- Go to their Me page.
- Go to settings.
- Click digital wellbeing
- Screen time management
- Set a time limit
- Enable restricted mode
Another for parental controls and guide for parents is by pairing advanced options.
- Make your account
- Link accounts. Go to your Settings and scroll down until you reach the Family Pairing. This step will need your child to go to the Family Pairing setting and scan a QR code that will show up.
- Set desired controls. Now, you can set the same screen time and restricted mode settings, as well as new options for privacy settings.