TikTok imposes a screen time limit.
Here’s an initiative that will please parents of teenagers: TikTok will impose a time limit on its users under 18, according to Forbes. The axe will fall after 60 minutes of daily use.
Don’t pop the champagne just yet: users will be able to enter a code to continue scrolling through the fast-paced short videos on the platform. The idea, however, is to force them to take action to continue using the app, rather than being absorbed by it.
This new default setting will be introduced gradually over the coming weeks. The decision was made in a context where the intensive use of TikTok raises concerns about its impact on young people, as was the case for all those that preceded it, such as Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram.
The initiative is interesting, but its effectiveness is likely to be limited, according to Andrée-Anne Légaré, a professor in addiction services at the University of Sherbrooke. “The responsibility belongs to the user, and teenagers don’t necessarily have a good perspective on their use,” she notes. Moreover, those who have exhausted their daily hour of use will still be able to satisfy their content needs on other platforms, such as Instagram or YouTube, which can be just as problematic in terms of use, the expert reminds us.
TikTok is currently one of the most popular applications, if not the most popular, among teenagers.
