TikTok is launching a suite of «anti-mind-scrolling» tools and even giving out badges to those who limit their time on their feed. The platform says it is «trying to combat social media addiction» through an affirmation journal, background sounds, and screen time control missions.
TikTok is launching a suite of «anti-mind-scrolling» tools and even giving out badges to those who limit their time on their feed. The platform says it is «trying to combat social media addiction» through an affirmation journal, background sounds, and screen time control missions.
According to TechCrunch, citing a company update, TikTok is revamping the digital wellbeing section of the app and adding several new modules: an affirmation journal with over 120 positive prompts, a background noise generator (rain, ocean, other calming sounds), and simple breathing exercises. This screen will also feature videos from creators explaining how to limit time on social media, use parenting tools, and customize the algorithm for you.
TikTok places a special emphasis on gamification. Users are offered «missions» for which they can receive digital awards: not opening the app at night, setting a daily limit and sticking to it, using new meditation tools, regularly viewing reports on their own screen time, or inviting friends to join this challenge. This system is especially relied on when working with teenagers.
The company says that before launching, they studied scientific papers on digital well-being and concluded that too strict restrictions can have the opposite effect. Therefore, TikTok does not block the feed «top down», but rather pushes the user to «press the brakes» themselves and for this they also receive bonuses in the form of badges.
The new tools won’t just appear in the settings. If a person is actively using the app at night or is hitting their daily limit, TikTok will show a prominent link to the digital well-being section. According to tests, the updated screen was visited more often than the previous time management menu in the app, and the affirmation journal was the most popular tool.
The context is also telling: Amid heightened regulatory pressure and a wave of «shadow» investigations into the impact of social media on the psyche of teenagers, major platforms are trying to show concern for their users. In the past month, Meta, YouTube, OpenAI, and Discord have also announced new safety features for young audiences. TikTok, which for years has been associated with endless scrolling, is now trying to turn some of that habit into a controlled mode — even if the path to it is through another screen within the same app.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how TikTok has begun a gradual rollout of new tools for private communication. In the coming weeks, users will be able to send voice messages up to 60 seconds long, as well as share images and videos in messages.
