While the decision of what age to allow your children to start using TikTok is ultimately yours, Graber says requiring kids to adhere to age restrictions is a good way to start them off on the right foot on the internet. “One mom told me that her daughter claimed it was ‘just a music app,’ so she let her download it on phone, not fully understanding that it was an interactive app,” Graber says. Diana Graber, author of “Raising Humans in a Digital World” and founder of Cyber Civics/Cyberwise, has seen kids as young as second grade on the app. Now you must be 13 to create an account that allows you to create and post videos for other TikTok users to see.īut that doesn’t mean every kid follows the rules, and all it takes is making up a fake birthday to get past the restriction. TikTok has an age limitĪfter coming under fire from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and being forced to pay the government $5.7 million in fines for illegally collecting children’s information, TikTok put an age requirement in place on the app. Here are seven things experts say parents really need to know before they let their kids download the app. But the more it grows, the more parents want to know: Is TikTok a safe place for kids? The site also plays host to everyone from celebrities to political candidates to news organizations. Other people try to recreate viral dance trends.” “Some people do hot takes and give personal opinions about politics. “Kids are using TikTok to create content based on whatever strikes their fancy, from lip-syncing famous songs to creating physical stunts and jokes,” says Titania Jordan, chief parenting officer of Bark, a parental control monitoring app for iPhone. In June 2019, TikTok passed the billion-user mark, and downloads haven’t slowed down - nor has the number of American kids vying for their 15 seconds of viral fame with video uploads, and their creativity knows no bounds. Now the app’s 15-second videos are taking over the internet. when it was scooped up by yet another Chinese tech firm.īyteDance bought Musical.ly in 2017 and merged with its own app to create social media/video behemoth TikTok. Founded in Shanghai, China, the app was beginning to take fire in the U.S. The social media app started out in 2014, as Musical.ly, a social media platform where kids and adults alike could create short lip-syncing videos and share with the masses.
But what is TikTok, and where did it come from?
The social media video app has been turning ordinary kids into viral internet stars for several years now, and the momentum doesn’t seem to be stopping. TikTok videos are hard to avoid these days, especially if you’re a parent.