• TikTok has announced some new features as part of its Family Pairing controls for parents.
• One of the new features is called Time Away, and allows parents to set specific times TikTok can be accessed by children.
• Most of the features are designed for children aged 13 to 17 on the app.

There has been a lot of discourse surrounding social media and its impact on young users, which has prompted parents to want more control over the type of content their children access, as well as who they can interact with.

It is part of the reason why TikTok launched its Family Paring controls five years ago, and this week it announced some new features to give parents further tools to leverage. “We’re enhancing Family Pairing by launching a way for parents to block their teens from being on TikTok during times that they control,” explained the wildly popular app in a blog post.

One of the key additions is called Time Away (pictured in header), which essentially allows parents to set specific times that their children are able to access the app. Time Away also allows parents to set a recurring schedule. Added to this is the ability for teens to request extra time, but the ultimate decision lies with parents.

The other feature being added to the mix, and the more useful one in our opinion, is the ability to see who their teens are following on TikTok, as well as who is following them, and which accounts have been blocked.

“With increased visibility into their teen’s network, parents will be better equipped to have ongoing conversations and help their teens develop the digital literacy skills they need,” the app added regarding the introduction of this feature.

TikTok also detailed an upcoming feature that will give teens the ability to alert parents on content that may violate the platform’s terms of service.

“We also hear that parents want to know more about the content their teens engage with on our app. In response, in the coming months, when a teen reports a video they think may be against TikTok’s rules, they can choose to alert a parent, caregiver, or other trusted adult at the same time, even if they aren’t using Family Pairing,” it continued.

Lastly, the other notable feature being added is called Wind Down. Here TikTok will implement this feature for any user under the age of 16 using the app after 22:00 in a bid to create more “balanced” social media habits.

“At launch, this is a full-screen takeover with calming music to help teens relax and be mindful of the time. If a teen decides to spend additional time on TikTok after the first reminder, we show a second, harder to dismiss, full-screen prompt. As before, we deliberately do not send push notifications to teens at night, which cannot be changed,” it concluded.

The final element mentioned by TikTok is the rollout of its STEM tab to more than 100 countries, and the content there has already been enjoyed by millions of teens. In South Africa, this tab was made available last month. You can read more about it by clicking on the story embedded below.