The Most Reliable Parental Control App
FamiSafe lets parents control screen time, track real-time location and detect inappropriate content on kids' devices.
With billions of users online every day, TikTok has become the most popular social media platform for teenagers and kids. In 2021, 63% of Americans between the age of 12 and 17 used TikTok weekly. Statistics show that female teens make up 16.4% of TikTok active users in the US. As kids continue to spend all their time on this site, parents wonder if it is safe. There are privacy issues and software glitches that could lead to data breaches. Keep reading this article to find out if your teens on TikTok is something you should worry about and how you can keep your teens safe as they use this social network.
Part 1: Possible Reasons that Teenagers Love TikTok
TikTok is a leading social media platform globally. Many people are beginning to have concerns about its effect on teens' mental health and general safety. However, there have been arguments about how its benefits users. This section covers possible reasons that teenagers love TikTok.
1. Low Threshold to Become Famous
TikTok is a famous social network because it provides users with great potential for making new friends or forming new connections. Therefore, this platform has billions of users and is excellent for inclusiveness. Many teens on TikTok aren't just making videos for friends on TikTok; they're trying to get likes and followers. There's a low threshold to become famous, and it is becoming a motivation for teens to try risky things to achieve that fame.
2. Chances to Earn an Allowance
In 2020, TikTok created the $1 billion creator fund to attract users. This has encouraged many teenagers to spend time on the platform in the hopes of earning money. Several TikTok creator houses today intend to earn a living using TikTok. There's a chance that your teen created a teenager TikTok account for precisely that reason.
3. Enables Teens to Show Their Talents
There's a lot of talent behind creating videos for TikTok. Several teens on TikTok use the platform for self-expression and creativity. Different challenges allow users to show off their acting talent, dancing talent, singing talent, and much more. Your child could also kickstart a modeling career using TikTok.
Part 2: How Does TikTok Work?
TikTok is social network users utilize in sharing user-generated videos. This platform's users can create and upload their videos while interacting with other users' accounts. These videos could be of people lip-synching to popular songs or movie scenes. It could also be dance videos, comedies, and many more. TikTok groups their videos by hashtag; this includes challenges, memes, new events, and many more. Although many kids are on TikTok, most don't post themselves but instead use the app to watch content creators.
Using the app to go viral is one of the leading purposes on TikTok, and it is pretty easy to do that. Users can choose to participate in challenges or duet with other TikTok content creators. It is a method of expressing yourself, and TikTok users have successfully built a community around their passion. If you want to duet with someone else, both of you would have to follow each other and then create a split-screen together. Most people go viral by utilizing the right hashtag. TikTok also works by showing you videos similar to previous searches to keep you engaged. There are many special effects you can add to videos to make them even more unique for users. Challenges frequently pop up on TikTok to prompt teens TikTok to try trending topics.
Part 3: What Should Parents Know About TikTok?
Despite some of the benefits that TikTok offers users, there are still some potential risks teens on TikTok face. TikTok comes with safety issues for your teens as it is easy for predators to target them on the platform. In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission fined TikTok for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Teens TikTok doesn't offer many safety features as teenagers' videos on TikTok can be viewed by many. This is just one of the potential risks of the platform; some of them include:
Easy to Encounter Inappropriate Content
TikTok is broken into two feed sections; 'For You' and 'Following.' For You is an algorithmically generated stream of videos, while 'Following' are videos of the people you choose to follow. The 'For You' feed can be pretty problematic. Teens on TikTok could encounter overtly sexual or dangerous TikTok challenges they could want to recreate. You can still encounter sexual or violent content on this public feed, even with private accounts.
Watch this video to explore the dangers of teens’ toxic friends.
Cyber-Bullying
Another potential risk of TikTok is cyberbullying, which puts a teen's mental health at risk. Once your teen posts a video, it opens them up to comment from anyone. There are common causes of racist and discriminatory comments on videos that could affect your teen's mental health. Some people even create multiple accounts to target accounts they don't like. Sometimes, this cyber-bullying could encourage self-harm in your teens. Trolling is common on TikTok as 2022 statistics from Security.org show that kids on TikTok are the third-highest victims of cyber-bullying at 64%.
It Encourages Anxiety in Teens
These reactions to content creations could either build up your teen's artistic impulses or cause anxiety in them. Teens on TikTok could easily get sucked into the pressure to create more content, resulting in anxiety if they're not getting popular.
Part 4: Monitor Teens' TikTok Activity Remotely—Wondershare FamiSafe
A downside of these in-built settings that TikTok offers is that teens on TikTok could find a way around the settings. This doesn't leave much room for safety or ways parents can shield their children from sexual predators, cyberbullying, and more. However, you can use parental tools like Wondershare Famisafe to provide teens on TikTok with a safer environment. Wondershare Famisafe provides parents with peace of mind and an easier way to ensure healthy digital habits amongst teens on TikTok.
Below are the steps to set up Wondershare FamiSafe on your and your teen’s smartphone.
Step 1: Install the App
First, you have to install Wondershare Famisafe on your device and that of your teen. This app supports iOS, Kindle Fire OS, Windows, Android, and Mac. You can get the app straight from their site. However, another option is the Google Play Store or the App Store.
Step 2: Register on the Platform
The next crucial step would be to register on the platform. When registering on your device, ensure you choose ‘parent’ as your identity. This action will cause the app to generate a pairing code you can use to link to your teen’s device.
On your teen’s device, select ‘pair with code’ and enter the code from your device. This will automatically link your device with theirs.
Step 3: Set Controls
Finally, you can start setting controls. This part is where you decide what you would like to control and keep an eye on.
There are varying ways you can keep tabs on your teen using the Wondershare FamiSafe App. Some of its features include:
- Activity Report: Famisafe allows you to monitor the daily activities of your teens on TikTok. It will provide you with information about what your child looks for online. You can monitor beyond TikTok to their browsing activity and also app usage.
- App Blocker: Apart from insight, you can also regulate TikTok usage for your teens. You can approve or block apps you find unsuitable on the platform.
- Screen Time: Wondershare Famisafe also allows you to regulate screen time for your teens on TikTok. It will provide you with valuable details of how much time your teens spend on the internet and various apps daily, weekly, or monthly.
- Real-Time Location: This parental control tool also allows you to track your kid's location in real-time. You don't have to call them to stay posted.
- Web Filter: Wondershare Famisafe also allows you to restrict your teen's access to some dangerous sites on the internet. It provides you with notifications when they try to visit these sites. You can filter based on different categories like drugs, religion, adult content, crime, games, and more.
Conclusion
Teens on TikTok are a cause of worry for most parents. While it comes with many benefits like self-expression and the development of talents, it also has some downsides. To help you protect your teens on TikTok from inappropriate comments, cyber-bullying, mental health issues, and more, this article explains the different settings you can utilize to keep your kids safe on the platform.
Wondershare FamiSafe - The Most Reliable Parental Control App
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Location Tracking & Geo-fencing
App Blocker & Web Filtering
Screen Time Control
Smart Parental Control Setting
Block In-app Purchase