Tips To Encourage Teens’ Digital Well-Being

With the hustle of back-to-school season in full swing, one question is top of mind for parents: how can I help my kid stay focused, and keep informed about the digital content they’re consuming this year? We spoke to Tracy Elizabeth, TikTok‘s Head of Family Safety & Developmental Health, to dive deeper into tips, tools and tactics around teens’ digital well-being. —Noa Nichol

Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.

I’m Dr. Tracy Elizabeth, TikTok’s Head of Family Safety & Developmental Health. In my role, I oversee the Youth Safety & Wellbeing, Content Classification, Product Policy Research and Platform Fairness teams. My teams work together to ensure TikTok designs evidence-based policies that authentically attend to the safety of younger users, appropriately organize videos based on the maturity of their themes and uplift the voices and representation of marginalized or sometimes invisible populations. My educational background includes a doctorate in Adolescent Development & Media and a Master’s in Risk & Prevention, both from Harvard University, along with a Master’s in Teaching from the University of South Carolina. Before joining TikTok, I managed Netflix’s Kids & Family Metadata team and played a significant role in establishing Netflix’s Global Maturity Ratings department. My journey has taken me from being an elementary school teacher to becoming an entertainment tech enthusiast. My passion lies in developing policies that uplift the social-emotional and academic well-being of kids, teens and families. My work is especially meaningful to me because I am a former educator and a mother. I understand firsthand the challenges of raising a child in today’s media-saturated world and navigating those challenges drives my commitment to creating a safer and more positive online environment for all families. My research and experience have shown me that media are platforms for exercising creativity, exploring identity development, embracing different perspectives and bonding with peers or family.

With the hustle of back-to-school season in full swing, one question is top of mind for parents: How can I help my kid stay focused, and keep informed about the digital content they’re consuming this year? As a social media expert, what are your top tips/advice to this end? (Bullet-point style answer)

There are 3 core pieces of advice that I offer to families, and that I adopt myself as a parent:

1. Use the apps your teens use. When parents become familiar with the online experiences that interest their kids and teens, their fears are demystified and replaced with reassurance. Using these apps also provides families with chances to get to know what their teens are interested in.
2. Know the rules and use the tools. Most social media apps and definitely TikTok,offer many safety features that families can adjust to create an experience that is most comfortable for their unique teen. Parents who use these apps also tend to express confidence in the safety features.
3. Have curious conversations with your teen about media. Research shows that open-ended, curious conversations with youth about media use are great ways to learn about what is going well, or not so well, for teens in digital spaces which offers parents insight into how the teens may need additional support.

For those who don’t use it already, what does TikTok’s Family Pairing feature do? How does it work? How do parents activate it for their teens?

TikTok’s Family Pairing feature enables parents to link their own TikTok account to their teen’s account. This connection provides parents with certain control and monitoring capabilities to enhance their child’s safety while using the platform. Some key functions of Family Pairing include:

• Custom daily screen time limits: Caregivers will be able to use Family Pairing to customize the daily screen time limit for their teen – including choosing different time limits depending on the day of the week – giving families more choices to match screen time to school schedules, holiday breaks or family travel.
• Screen time dashboard: We brought our screen time dashboard to Family Pairing, which provides summaries of time on the app, the number of times TikTok was opened and a breakdown of total time spent during the day and night. From our research, we know screen time is one of the topics parents most frequently discuss with their teens and we want to support caregivers with relevant information to help them guide their teens.
• Mute notifications: Notifications help us stay connected, but there are times when it’s important to be uninterrupted. We introduced a setting that enables parents to set a schedule to mute notifications for their teens. Accounts aged 13-15 already do not receive push notifications from 9 PM and accounts aged 16-17 have push notifications disabled from 10 PM.
• Keyword Filtering: We also provide keyword filtering in Family Pairing, allowing parents to filter out videos with words or hashtags to help reduce the likelihood of their teen viewing content that may not be suitable for them to see.

To enable Family Pairing, we invite you to explore our TikTok Support page, where you can access comprehensive information and step-by-step instructions on how to activate this feature.

What are some of YOUR favourite features of the Family Pairing tool?

I appreciate the ability to control who can access my teen’s video content and participate in discussions. Adolescents often find themselves in situations where feedback and visibility can be either positive or challenging. The capacity to oversee these interactions serves as a valuable means of supporting the individuality of teens. Additionally, the “selective search” feature offered by TikTok isn’t limited to teenagers alone; it extends its benefits to all users. This feature empowers individuals to filter out content associated with specific hashtags. For instance, if you’re committed to a plant-based diet, you can limit the appearance of videos featuring #cheeseburger in your feed.

What other resources does TikTok, specifically, offer to support online safety? Where/how can these be accessed?

TikTok is committed to promoting online safety and provides various resources to support this effort:

• LIVE Safety Features: We introduced new LIVE safety features and policy updates to reinforce our commitment to protecting our users and creators. As part of this change, we updated our Community Guidelines to change the go LIVE age threshold from 16 to 18 to better support user well-being and protect our younger community.
• TikTok’s age gate: To direct people to the age-appropriate experience,we’ve designed a neutral, industry-standard age gate that requires people to fill in their complete birth date to discourage people from simply clicking a pre-populated minimum age.
• Age-appropriate experiences: We’ve designed tools and policies that promote a safe and age-appropriate experience for teens 13-17.
  • For example, accounts of users ages 13-15 are set to private by default, they cannot use Duet or Stitch and downloads of their content are disabled.
  • By default, commentsfor people under 16 are set to ‘Friends’ (followers that you follow back). People under 16 can switch between either ‘Friends’ or ‘No one.’ People who are above 16 can choose ‘Everyone,’ ‘Friends’ (followers that you follow back), or turn off comments entirely.

These resources and features demonstrate TikTok’s dedication to providing a safer online environment for users of all ages while promoting responsible and age-appropriate usage. Users can access these features and settings within the TikTok app to enhance their experience and ensure a safer online presence.

Offline, how do you suggest parents create an open dialogue with teens about digital well-being?

We aim to provide parents with resources they can use to have conversations about digital safety and decide the most comfortable experience for their family, including our Family Pairing features and our Guardian’s Guide to TikTok. Here are some suggestions to consider:

1. Recognize Individuality: Understanding your teen’s specific needs and online experiences is the first step. Tailor your approach based on their personality, interests and maturity level. The digital landscape is constantly evolving and new platforms and trends emerge regularly. This knowledge will help you have more meaningful conversations about online safety.
2. Engage in Open Conversation: Initiate open and non-judgmental discussions about their online activities. Create a safe space for them to share their experiences and concerns. Maintain a calm and supportive tone to encourage them to open up.
3. Leverage Trusted Resources: TikTok provides resources co-developed with teens and safety experts to guide parents. These resources offer insights into what teens value from trusted adults and can be invaluable in your discussions.
4. Learn from Teens Themselves: Teens get that trust has to be earned, and they expect adult oversight—especially for younger teens. Just as in the “real” world, teens feel greater autonomy is appropriate as they get older. Every family is different and the pace at which a teen moves toward independent use of technology will vary, but if your teen knows how to navigate platforms safely and they come to you when things go wrong, that’s a great foundation for trust
5. Access Resources: TikTok’s Safety Centre includes the Guardian’s Guide, which provides valuable resources and information on digital literacy and safety. To learn best practices for personal privacy, account security, and how to be a good digital citizen, visit our Youth Portal.

By embracing these suggestions and engaging in open, informed and empathetic conversations, parents can create an environment where teens feel comfortable discussing digital well-being and online safety. This proactive approach fosters trust and allows parents to play an active role in supporting their teens in the digital world.

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