Like other social networks, the Chinese platform announced upcoming changes after it was accused of harming teens’ mental health.
Social networks are engaged in a constant battle to prove as quickly as possible how they intend to protect young people. tik tok is the latest. The Chinese platform has just announced that it is working on several tools to maintain the mental health of teens. “Certain types of videos can sometimes inadvertently create a negative personal experience for some users.”, said TikTok in a communication. The social network thus indicates that it is looking for ways to diversify the types of content that can be best recommended. “in sequence” From your personalized feed.
In other words, the platform is not against watching a video only on the topic of order or sadness, but it sees its users viewing a series of similar content on this type of themes as problematic. TikTok does not provide further details about the means it seeks to develop to circumvent this issue.
Ban content with negative effects
The social network is also developing a feature that should allow users to block videos associated with certain words or hashtags in their personal feed. The goal is to give them more options to customize their experience according to their preferences and comfort. Finally, TikTok says it’s looking to see if its algorithm recommends very limited types of content. ” not on purpose “ to the user. These types of videos, about loneliness or losing weight for example, don’t break the rules of the platform, but they could potentially have a negative impact on a person if they make up most of what they do. See the custom feed.
The TikTok algorithm is one of the reasons why the social network has become so popular. Although the operation of the latter remains a mystery, it is gradually being revealed. Recently, An internal company document revealed that the referral system has been improved to encourage users to stay on the platform for as long as possible. The document was also shared by an employee who claims to be disturbed by the app’s promotion of sad content that could cause self-harm.
This revelation comes at a time when TikTok, another social network accused of harming the mental health of young people. Since the disclosure of Facebook files, platforms such as snap chat where Instagram Many communicate about the development of new tools or functions aimed at protecting children, with a particular focus on parental control.