TikTok has added some new tools to help users track and manage the time they spend on the app, with ‘Break Reminders’ to limit the endless scrolling on various Feeds and pages. There’s also a new dashboard for monitoring screen time. It may not sound like any major was added, but these new quality of life upgrades could mean a more overall pleasant experience on the app.
TikTok Break Time
TikTok will also be implementing compulsory reminders for younger users after a certain amount of time in the app has passed. The first item on the list is ‘Scheduled Breaks’ – as it suggests, Scheduled Breaks is an option that prompts users to implement break reminders in 10, 20, or 30-minute intervals to avoid spending too much time in the app. Users will also be able to set manual break reminders, which, at the least, will help ensure that you maintain even the faintest hint of awareness about the amount of time you spend swiping through clips.
Meanwhile, the new screen time summary serves a similar purpose by showing you exactly how much time you’ve spent browsing and wasting away on memes and trending videos. This is probably an element that not a lot of TikTok users would want to check out, given the compulsive nature of its algorithms, but perhaps users must also learn to confront charts at some stage to realize just how much these short clips can actually take from the time.
This does seem to be the main limiter here. In order for these tools to be effective, people need to use them, which is where this comes in:
“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.”
Of course, this doesn’t make people implement limits or reminders, but it does go a little further in prompting users about their activity, which could help reduce addiction and related issues. To add, TikTok’s also launching a new digital well-being guide that underlines the potential harms of overuse. The updates come amid rising concerns about the negative impacts of online interaction, particularly among younger users. Cue example of the Facebook Files Expose by the Wall Street Journal.
The Wrap
In some ways, TikTok may be working to get ahead of this next shift, which has become a blogger focus in the wake of the pandemic, forcing many youngsters to spend more time online. Enhance screen time tracking and reminder tools provide good, manual solutions to address possible concerns regarding over-reliance and unhealthy time spent on TikTok. While TikTok may be enjoyable and, for the most part, good, too much of a good thing can still be detrimental.
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