TikTok's new feature is great news for parents, not so much for kids

TikTok has become a global sensation in the shortest time and already amassed over 800 million monthly active users. To give a perspective, the video-sharing app had only 300 million in January last year, which marks an impressive growth. As concerns over the app's addition arise, parents can be thankful for a new feature that will address those worries in the best way possible.

ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is rolling out a new feature to the popular short-form video-creating app that allows parents to control TikTok consumption by kids and teens. The new feature, dubbed Family Mode, is rolling out in the UK, but other markets can soon expect its arrival in the weeks to come.

"As part of our commitment to safety, the wellbeing of our users is incredibly important to us. We want people to have fun on TikTok, but it's also important for our community to look after their wellbeing which means having a healthy relationship with online apps and services," Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety, EMEA at TikTok, said in a statement.

TikTok Family Mode: How it works?

TikTok Family Mode, just like any parental control, works to limit the use of an app beyond the set limit. In this case, parents will be able to set limits on how much time their kids spend on TikTok on a daily basis. The new feature will also allow parents to limit or disable the direct messages on the app and also control the kind of content shown on the app in this new mode.

TikTok's Family Mode works by linking a parent's TikTok account to the child's TikTok account. Now, TikTok's user base is already growing at a rapid pace and now it will get concerned parents onboard with the new feature.

TikTok's scary challenge

If you've watched TikTok videos, you'd know to what ends users are willing to go to make their video unique. From doing dangerous stunts to changing appearances, TikTok users are seen doing it all. But of late, a new trend has started, which is rather disturbing.

TikTok's shocking "skull breaker challenge is trending on the app, where a group of three people participate and make one of the participant fall by pulling the leg when jumped in the air. This could lead to serious injury if the head impacts the ground at fall.

A lot of teens are seen doing such videos and getting thousands of views. This trend is one good example why a parental mode for TikTok is much needed.