If you have a teen or tween, you have likely heard of Tik Tok, which is actually an app called Music.ly reinvented. If you are a teacher, check out my Music.ly post (about possible applications in the classroom which are relevant for Tik Tok) which I wrote when it was first popular a few years ago.
I first learned about Tik Tok’s popularity when my daughter would have her friends over and spend HOURS rehearsing and recording dance numbers. I have to say I loved it! She would often complain about how some of her friends just hang out on their phones when they come over, and this hanging out on the phone is entirely different.
Like any social media site, there is potential for awesome as well as potential for danger and so the platform in and of itself is not EVIL. Over the past few months I have been talking to parents, and 9 and 10 year olds have discovered the app and are pressuring their parents to get it.
Here are a few things to note:
- The default is set to public unless you change it to private. The image below shows you where to find the Privacy and Safety settings. You will note that you have full control over who sees the content you create, who can send you messages, whether you want to filter comments, etc…
2. No matter what your choices are above, you must, as a parent continue to stay involved. Your kids may want to switch to public because they want to get more likes. This is an important conversation as well. You can use “think aloud strategy” with comments like:
“What cool video have you seen in Tik Tok lately?”
“I heard Tik Tok has really inappropriate stuff. Have you seen anything that makes you uncomfortable?”
“It really bothers me that TikTok has a filter I can turn on called, “Beauty mode”. It reminds me not to compare my real self to the filtered selves of others.
It is important that you don’t lie about your child’s age when you sign up. Adult mentoring is extremely important. In fact, Wang (2018) says, “parental involvement has greater direct influence on online risk than parental restriction”. You can say, The age for the platform is 13 for a reason. We can create this and learn about it together.
3. There is a Digital Well being tab which allows you to manage screen time and access “Restricted Mode”. A set it and forget it mindset will not work here. The password is valid for 30 days and then needs to be reset.
4. There is terrible content for your kids to see and creative and wholesome content as well. Many songs may also have explicit content as they are songs you would hear on the radio. Some of the hashtags, again like on any social media platform may have inappropriate content to which you may not want your child to be exposed. There is a REPORT tab which is important to know about and will let the company know of inappropriate content. There are also trending hashtags on the home page which may include challenges. Currently there is a #danceforchange
I have included 2 videos which were set to public which I downloaded. (Think about that for a moment and go back to my first point).
5. Learn about the tool. I had a Music.ly account years ago, and jumped back into TikTok to see what had changed. I don’t know what questions to ask, if I am not familiar with the tool. My go-to strategy is always to ask my daughter(s) how a tool works. They get excited (and sometimes exasperated) to share their expertise with me. Here is my 1 minute attempt to create a TikTok (which is NOT shared publicly so I can’t believe I am sharing it here). Too tired for dance moves–that will be my next one!
As a parent, of course I worry about my daughters seeing inappropriate content, but they can see that anywhere. Rather than panic, I try to stay involved and focus on fostering a positive relationship with them, have courageous conversations about how media is constructed, and keep lines of communication open. I think this can be applied to any app or platform.
In my Library I have been using TikTok for book talks and #IReadCanadian day! There is so much potential to use this app in the classroom and is another example of meeting kids where they are.
Check out these safety video tutorials for Tik Tok here.
Common Sense Media is a great resource for advice about stuff like this. Check out their TikTok post here.
Reference
Wang, X., & Xing, W. (2018). Exploring the influence of parental involvement and socioeconomic status on teen digital citizenship: A path modeling approach.Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(1), 186-199.