TikTok offers an option to use TikTok less. But will his community really take it over?
You may be spending too much time on TikTok and you’re probably struggling to admit it to yourself. We can guess why. The application is a world apart, with its own codes and gimmicks. It can be fascinating to discover a trend on TikTok and feel like you’re falling into a bottomless pit, scrolling from one video to the next.
Applications are well aware that the battle today is played on the attention of Internet users: they must spend time on their own and not with a competing solution. But applications also know well that they are under fire from critics for creating interfaces that do not encourage people to drop out.
But rather than fundamentally modifying the design of their platform, the apps rather propose to introduce tools to remind the Internet user that he has already been browsing aimlessly for a while, by clicking on a photo after another, on one video after another. That’s what Instagram does. This is what TikTok offers today.
TikTok offers you to take breaks after a certain time
Thus, TikTok announces the deployment of a tool used to control the time spent during the same session, with incentives to take breaks. A dashboard is announced, with display of the daily time spent on the app, the number of openings and a view of the use during the day and at night. Weekly notifications can also be activated.
In the case of minors aged 13 to 17, the messages will be triggered when TikTok is used for more than 1h40 (100 minutes) in a single day, which is already a significant duration for a single application. He will then be reminded the ability to access our Screen Time Limiter the next time they open the app. ยป
More generally, indicates TikTok, during uninterrupted use, and as soon as the pre-defined screen limit is reached, a message is displayed on its screen and reminds you of the need to take a break. Notifications can be triggered after 40, 60, 90 or 120 minutes. When the limit is reached, you must enter your password to continue using the app.
TikTok’s approach is preferable to the absence of any measure, but it is very limited: the measure is inactive by default and it is doubtful that members of the social network will rush to activate it. In addition, notifications can be bypassed if one refuses to submit to them. As for the guides that TikTok writes, one wonders if the community has ever heard of them.
The principle is however not new on TikTok either: for several years now, an automatic video message is triggered after a certain time of use of the app. We then see a personality known to the platform (Laury Aucalme for example) raising awareness of screen time.
That said, to improve the situation, perhaps something other than band-aids is needed, which only tackles the problem on the surface.