- The app is an outlet for self-expression and creativity, but safety remains a concern
By Grace Wickremasinghe
There’s no denying that social media is entertaining, and TikTok particularly takes centre stage, especially among young users. The app has existed for years; I remember using it to make a video to win tickets to a Jason Derulo concert in Colombo in 2017. However, in 2020, the TikTok app gained a colossal audience, and is here to stay, so it seems. As of now, TikTok has established a presence in the Sri Lankan market with a growing user base of over 500,000 daily users.
What does TikTok offer?
TikTok offers a “For You” page, which is essentially a home page suggesting users and creators’ content that would be of interest to them. How the algorithm works is that the new users pick areas of interests, from categories such as cooking, pets, music, medicine, law, psychology, fashion, and dancing. Over time, different trends, challenges, and songs go viral and influence users to hop on the bandwagon or even create a new trend themselves. This creates a pathway for self-expression, creativity, and networking for young and old users alike.
A TikTok clip on average ranges from about 30-90 seconds, with entertaining, informative exchanges. The live feature during lockdown created a large community on TikTok among the youth. All TikTok users aren’t creators, meaning they don’t all create content and post actively seeking engagement. In fact, a majority of them follow creators and create private content for personal use on occasion.
An ongoing debate on social media by concerned parents is whether time spent online is futile. Most active users of TikTok may vouch for the fact that it is both entertaining and informative. However, it cannot be ignored that social media can be a distraction or even an addiction. I personally believe whatever we have around us, whether it’s social media, friends, money, or food, influences us in many ways.
The influence such factors have is undisputed; however, whether that influence is negative or positive is up to each individual user, rather than a fault of a specific product or app. I, myself, use social media for both work and pleasure, thereby my commitments to certain apps may differ to a person who only uses it for work or only socialisation. Time management is vital and there are mechanisms in our own smartphones that limit our use or send us reminders upon timed intervals. That being said, when the demographic is a younger, more impressionable audience, such acts of self-restraint may not be fair or even realistic.
Young users
Another major concern with social media is the fact that there is so much vulnerability in cyberspace, for young and naive users. In this regard, parents and trusted adults have a major role to play as guardians. In my opinion, banning young adults from social media isn’t going to do any good. In fact, it would be counter-intuitive, encouraging them to rebel and be secretive of their usage of social media. If correctly used and monitored, social media use can be a great learning and creative tool for its users.
This powerful tool of advertisement can be creatively monetised by young users, with minimal resources. It’s an empowering platform for the youth and retired alike. The community of TikTok doesn’t discriminate. Though it’s mostly popular among the Gen Z community, we see older users using it to promote their legal or medical practice, and sometimes even retired grandmothers telling jokes and sharing life advice.
Prioritising safety
While the community itself is mostly accepting and supportive, as in any social media or segment of society, it’s not without its trolls and predators. Social media can be a playground for most predators to prey on unsuspecting young users. This reality is a definite factor that creators of the TikTok app themselves have thought about. Due to this, the TikTok app has made safety its biggest priority.
TikTok has a history of engaging with media to educate users about its safety policies and community guidelines on safety initiatives. The app also actively pushes for transparency to ensure TikTok remains a safe space for all users. TikTok includes safety features such as Family Pairing and Guardian Guide. This aims to reaffirm anxious parents of their young users’ safety, both online and off the app. Family Pairing on TikTok allows parents and teens to customise their safety settings based on individual needs. A parent can link their TikTok account to their teen’s, and set controls including daily screen time. This decides how long your teen can spend on TikTok each day, setting your teen’s screen-time limit directly from your own account, and if your teen has multiple devices, the set time limit will apply to each device individually.
Restricted Mode is another way, restricting your teen’s exposure to content that may not be age-appropriate or suitable for them, whether your teen can search for content, people, hashtags, or sounds.
Other features
Discoverability and privacy are another safety feature, and perhaps the most important one. You decide whether your teen’s account is private (your teen decides who can see their content) or public (anyone can view their content), and whether your teen’s account can be recommended to others. This also includes who can comment on or like their videos.
Moreover, parents can restrict who can send direct messages to their teen or turn off direct messaging completely. It’s important to note that Direct Messaging on TikTok is only available to registered account holders aged 16 and older, and is automatically turned off for registered accounts between the ages of 13 and 15.
The answer to ensure minors’ safety is not to shun them from social media, which to be fairly honest, isn’t very effective. Rather, create a healthier relationship between the minors and social media through careful guidance and education on safety tools available. Young users now are far smarter than we give them credit for – all they need is to be informed and encouraged without feeling misunderstood or policed.
(Grace Wickremasinghe is a seasoned researcher, content creator and writer with a background in law, psychology, women and gender studies, as well as forensic science and medicine)
