New TikTok Features for Digital Parenting

TikTok is one of the most popular apps for short-form content among young audiences. Its rise is reminiscent of YouTube’s early days, which pioneered user-generated video content going viral. However, today’s internet is far larger, bringing challenges like screen addiction and exposure to inappropriate viral content at a young age. TikTok has faced ongoing scrutiny over its algorithm pushing questionable material to young users. To address these concerns, TikTok recently introduced new parental control features. These updates aim to provide parents with better tools to guide their kids' experiences. While TikTok is taking steps toward fostering healthier digital habits, the effectiveness of these features depends on their implementation. The new tools include improved Family Pairing, a re-enabled STEM feed, Wind Down mode, and Time Away. Let’s look at how TikTok is helping teens build better screen habits.

(New ways we're supporting parents and helping teens build balanced digital habits)

Improved Family Pairing With a Major Flaw

TikTok’s updated Family Pairing feature gives parents more tools to monitor and manage their kids' experiences on the app. Parents can now link their accounts to their kids' profiles, allowing them to see who their child follows, who follows them, and which accounts their child blocks. Additional controls enable parents to set their kid’s account to private, restrict comments, and manage direct messages. The goal is to foster open conversations between parents and kids about social media use. While this is a step in the right direction, there’s a major flaw, kids can unlink their accounts from parental supervision. If they do, parents receive a notification, and the settings lock for 48 hours. While TikTok encourages parents to use this as an opportunity for discussion, allowing kids to opt out of safety features is counterproductive. Hopefully, TikTok will refine this approach to better align with its goal of guiding young users. On the other hand, TikTok is also working to promote more positive content for young minds.

STEM Feed: A Step Toward Educational Content

TikTok has re-enabled its STEM feed by default for young users, aiming to promote educational content focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. With third-party fact-checking partners ensuring quality, this feed offers an opportunity to inspire young minds through informative content. While the initiative is valuable, the impact might be limited since the STEM feed exists separately from the main content feed. A more effective approach could be integrating educational content directly into the main feed, just as TikTok pushes viral entertainment. This would create a more balanced content experience, helping educational material reach young users naturally.

Wind Down Mode Encourages Better Screen Habits

Wind Down is TikTok’s latest effort to encourage healthier digital habits. For users under 16, TikTok will interrupt their feed if they’re active past 10 PM, triggering a full-screen takeover that plays calming music to promote relaxation. This feature is reminiscent of Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK), a mid-2000s online game for kids that shut down at 10 PM to encourage healthy screen habits. TikTok claims that young users in test regions opted to keep Wind Down enabled, which is promising. Future updates will include meditation exercises to improve sleep quality. If widely adopted, this feature could help reinforce better digital habits through subtle repetition.

Time Away: Reinforcing Digital Balance

Social media isn’t the unfiltered, anything-goes space it once was. It’s now more regulated than ever—whether for better or worse. With a constant flood of content, it’s more important than ever to guide the next generation through their digital journeys. As the parents who built the foundation of social media, we have the experience to teach our kids healthier screen habits and better tech balance. Quvo is here to educate, entertain, and empower families with customizable parental controls, seamlessly paired with the JEXtream FX20.