For mental health .. “Tik Tok” will add a bold feature

In a highly praised move, the “Tik Tok” application announced that it will add a new feature aimed at reducing the amount of time spent by users.

While sites and applications work in various ways, to keep the user as long as possible on their pages, because increasing the period of use means more advertisers, Tik Tok announced that it would fight this phenomenon.

The “Tik Tok” application has spread greatly in the past years, and the shape of the application and the way of browsing in it stimulates the user to keep for long hours, crowding the largest applications such as Instagram and Snapchat.

And the “Tik Tok” application announced the addition of a new feature that helps users reduce the time they spend daily browsing its platform.

The organizers of the application explained that the new feature, which will be available during the next few weeks, will help users control the time they spend browsing the application, by sending notifications and warnings if they spend a long time using the platform.

If you don’t want to spend more than 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 minutes on Tik Tok at a time, you can ask the app to tell you when you’ve spent that time.

In addition to installing “Tik Tok” a new control panel for screen time, which allows you to know exactly how long you spend on the application each week, where through the new control panel you can divide your time by day and night, which is useful if you are looking to reduce screen time before sleep.

And you can ask TikTok to review your dashboard every week, so it doesn’t become another chore that’s easy to forget.
Regarding the launch of “Tik Tok” this feature, social media expert Muhammad Al-Harthy says that this step came in response to the criticism of all social media by mental health experts around the world, and in line with similar steps taken by other technology companies in the same vein, such as Instagram to gain the trust of users.

And the social media expert explains to Sky News Arabia: “The feature came in response to the experts’ warning that spending more time on social media on screens is linked to a series of mental health problems.”

The expert refers to an analysis conducted by Global Web Index, a research institution in London, of data from 45 of the world’s largest countries in “internet markets” in 2019, which concluded that the time spent by users on social media platforms globally increased by about 60 percent in The average over the last seven years, with each person devoted to social media sites or apps, went from 90 minutes a day in 2012 to 143 minutes in the first three months of 2019.

According to the study, people who spend more time using social media are less happy, and that excessive use of this technology can cause problems, which in some cases may lead to depression, accidents and even death.

Earlier, the “Instagram” application had launched a similar feature, called “Take a break”, with the same goal of protecting users from excessive Internet use and helping them know the time they spend daily on its applications.

Experts at TikTok believe that the new feature will “create better awareness of positive digital habits,” and help “support the digital well-being of our community as they create and discover on our platform.”

According to a blog launched by the official website of “Tik Tok” on the Internet: “In Tik Tok we believe that our digital experiences should bring us joy, entertainment, communication and enrichment… Having a positive relationship with digital devices and applications is not only about measuring screen time, but also about Feeling in control of how we use technology, and making sure that the time we spend online contributes positively to our sense of well-being.”

In his speech to Sky News Arabia, the social media expert expects that this “important” step will increase users’ confidence in the application, and may raise its ratings among other competing applications for the public.