TikTok adds digital well-being features to help teens manage screen time and limit doomscrolling

TikTok is adding new tools intended to encourage healthier use of the social media app, including rewards for staying within daily screen time limits and avoiding late-night scrolling.

The company said the changes are aimed in particular at teenagers, who, according to a 2022 study, make up more than 50 per cent of its audience, “so they can safely express their creativity, connect with friends, and learn on our platform”.

Users can earn badges by avoiding the app at night, using the meditation tool during that time, keeping within their daily screen time limit, checking their weekly usage, and encouraging others to take part.

TikTok said the design of these rewards draws on academic research, which suggests that overly strict controls can feel “punitive” and may be less effective for teenagers.

The update replaces the app’s previous screen time controls and introduces wellbeing features such as journaling prompts, a simple sound generator, and breathing exercises.

TikTok already offers a meditation tool that is switched on automatically for teens at 10 pm, alongside 50 preset safety and privacy measures that automatically turn on for teen users.

The company also cites survey data indicating that TikTok users are more likely than non-users to be interested in meditation and mindfulness.

Links to the new tools will appear when people reach their daily limit or when the nighttime break period is active. TikTok is promoting the features through creators on the platform.

According to the company, early testing showed people returned to the new wellbeing hub more often than they visited the previous screen time menu, with the journalling tool proving the most popular.

Over the past year, TikTok has also added further parental controls, including an option for guardians to pause a teen’s access to the app.

The company said it plans to contribute 100,000 USD (€86,000) next year to a research fund focused on digital safety.

Policymakers and health experts have long called for warning labels and age limits for social media platforms as well as bans on mobile phones in schools, amid concerns over how excessive screen time could harm young people’s mental health.