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| Tik Tok takes care of teenage mental health |
TikTok has announced that it is offering new ways to educate its users about the negative effects of social media on mental health.
As part of these changes, the platform is introducing a “well-being guide” in its Security Center, which is a concise introductory book on eating disorders and expands search interventions and screens that enable searches to potentially trigger searches.
The new Wellness Guidelines were developed in collaboration with the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Crisis Text Line, Live For Tomorrow, Samaritans in Singapore and Samaritans in the UK.
The new "Health Guide" provides more targeted advice to users of the platform and encourages users to think about how it affects them to share their mental health stories on each platform, wherever they are.
The platform wants users to think about why they want to share their experience, wonder if they are willing to present their stories to a wider audience, wonder if sharing is harmful to them, and wonder if they are willing to share their experiences to hear other people's stories.
The platform also provides an overview of the effects of eating disorders in the "Topics" section of the Safety Center, which was developed in collaboration with the American Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
Tik Tok takes care of teenage mental health
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) used to work with social media platforms. It recently partnered with Pinterest to block ads that promote weight loss.
When users search for words or phrases like suicide, the platform directs users to local resources. But the platform is now also sharing content from creators who aim to help those in need.
The platform stated that it selected this content after consulting with independent experts. Also, if someone types in a search term that may be annoying, the content gets blurry. Users must register to view search results.
When TikTok revealed these changes, the Instagram competitor came under closer scrutiny. This was after the Wall Street Journal leaked documents revealing Facebook's research into harm to girls on Instagram.
Similar to Tik Tok, more than 40% of Instagram users are 22 years old or younger. In the United States, 22 million teens log on to Instagram every day.
"A lot of people wonder if social media is good or bad for people," Instagram said in a blog post. Research on this topic is mixed. Both are good.
Like TikTok, Instagram also offers anti-harassment tools, health guidelines, and disclaimers for sensitive content.