Thursday 14 November 2019

What Parents Of Teenagers Need To Know About TikTok

Disclosure: This is an advertorial post in partnership with TikTok, however, all words and opinions are my own. 

 Have you heard of the popular app TikTok? As a parent to a 17-year-old, I certainly have as my teenage daughter has been a fan for a while. However, I thought it was an app where you made music videos - but I was wrong. TikTok is much more than that and I have to admit since downloading the app, I am now a fan myself.

TikTok app logo


What is TikTok? 



So what is TikTok? The app is for people aged 13+ and is free to download for Android and iOS. If parents want, they can actually block the app in the app store.

TikTok describes itself as 

TikTok is a global destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to capture and present the world's creativity, knowledge, and precious moments, directly from the mobile phone. TikTok enables everyone to be a creator and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos.

TikTok is a bit like YouTube, Instagram Stories and memes all rolled into one. It is a fun app full of really short and often very funny videos that other TikTok users (including a few celebrities) have created, often set to music. The videos will make you laugh, watch on in amazement  and relate to them.

Creating an account

 Once you download the app, you can easily set up an account through an email address or using other social media channels to sign in. You can immediately start to create your own videos by either filming directly from the app or uploading a video you have already made - 15 seconds is the recommended length. There are additional features that you can add to your video including songs, special filters and effects, and you can even control the speed of your video. Once your video is done, it's ready to share! My teenage daughter has her account totally private so only a few of her friends can see her videos.

screeshot of hashtag challenges on the TikTok app

Hashtag challenges

One thing that I enjoyed was the hashtag challenges which you can find on the 'Discover' section of the app. The Hashtag challenge allows users to be creative. My personal favourites include #petsoftiktok and #noodledance. The noddle dance is created using the filters available on the app which help users unleash their creative side. There are lots of other filters available such as changing the colour of your eyes, animal filters and the raindrop filter. 

Safety

As a parent, I have to say that I have been impressed with the safety and privacy features available on the app. One thing my 17-year-old showed me was that you can control who can interact with you on the platform with comment and message controls or choosing to keep your account private. You can even prevent other users from downloading your videos and set screen time limits to prevent spending too long on the app. 

TikTok takes its users safety very seriously and they have a safety centre with lots of useful information and videos. They have anti-bullying policies and it is easy to block and report inappropriate content. I have been using the app for a couple of weeks now and haven't come across anything that I would deem inappropriate. As someone who uses social media a lot for blogging and personal use, I honestly think TikTok is probably the most safety-conscious social media platform I have come across, which is reassuring for us parents. 

What I think as a parent


As a parent in today's modern world, I do worry about the online world, I think that's natural in this day and age. However, at 17 I have to let my eldest daughter have some freedom and with apps such as TikTok, I don't have any worries as she knew all about the safety features. She already has her account set to private so people can not message her. After exploring the app myself, it's safety conscious and has measures in place to keep users safe and able to enjoy TikTok. 

 I now spend a bit too much time on the app as I keep discovering great content, I think I need to activate the 'Digital Wellbeing' mode within the app to restrict my daily usage time as I could spend hours watching videos from the likes of @MagicSingh, @Daxon, @stevenmckell and @itzshauni

TikTok screen shot

Steven Mckell is also part of new safety videos that TikTok have launched. Using real creators they have produced a series of videos to show how to stay safe on the app. The videos show how to block users, control who can duet with you, report inappropriate content to appeal to the younger generation.

What do you think of TikTok? I would love to know in the comments below. 





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17 comments

  1. I quite like TikTok. There is a lot of creativity which go into some of the videos. I much prefer it to other social media accounts for teens.

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    1. There really is so much creativity in some of the videos, such a fun app x

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  2. Ah my three love TikTok! There have been some scare stories in the media but as long as you are careful, I think it is a brilliant way for teens to get creative!

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  3. I’ve been hearing great things about TikTok so really helpful to read your review. The hashtag challenges sound fun and reassuring that they have safety features.

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  4. I am glad to see TikTok take safety so seriously! It has risen in popularity so quickly, it worried me a little just how easy it was for kids to access.

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  5. This is such a useful post - I think it's really important for parents to understand the social media their kids are using....

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  6. YES!! What a fab app. In this day and age you need things like this to keep kids safe and sound xx

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  7. I think I must live in a cave. I don't even know what this is.

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  8. I have it downloaded and have an account - but haven’t really got into it yet. With a 13 yr old I thought I’d get ahead and know what social media she’d want to be on ... so far she’s fine with YouTube and WhatsApp

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  9. My daughter and lots of her friends use TikTok and they have made some extremely impressive videos on there!

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  10. I've seen so much of this on Instagram! It looks like a really fun app but great to know more especially if our kids are using it!

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  11. I've watched a few videos from TikTok and they have been so. funny! Glad of it's safety feature x

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  12. I only heard of this, this week! My girls aren't old enough yet, but I do worry about when they are on things like this.

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  13. I hadn't heard of Tik Tok before. My eldest is only 9, so social media isn't an issue for us yet.

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  14. What a lovely app. So useful when you have teenagers.

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  15. I have TikTok but struggle to do anything with it, I think I’m too old and boring haha

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  16. I have seen it float about but I too thought it was only for music so I did not bother with it, I need to check it out.

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