The use of TikTok can have disastrous consequences on young people, including the development of tics, a situation that should encourage moderation for all social media, according to Patrice Lavoie, vice-president of H + K Strategies.
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“There are ways for parents to get their kids to use the TikTok platform, or any other platform, in the healthiest way possible,” Lavoie said in an interview on Sunday at LCN. .
The social media expert pointed out that the TikTok platform is aimed at ages 13 and up. He therefore recommended that parents create an account with their children if they are under 13 years old.
“We recommend creating an account with the parent’s own email address so that the parent can have access to what the young person is watching,” he advised. “If you see that your teen is compulsively watching videos, then you need to step in and tell them to take a break. These are videos of 15 seconds or less, so it’s very easy when you are in a waiting period to compulsively watch videos. ”
Tips to protect users
According to Mr. Lavoie, TikTok has several measures to protect users, more than other platforms. Thus, if we publish a video on COVID-19, a link will be automatically added to have verified information.
“If we publish a video where there is hate speech or nudity, the video will be automatically removed by TikTok, so there is stuff like that to ensure that the use is optimal for young people”, he clarified.
“It’s an algorithm that gives you exactly what you like to watch, so if you see your kid watching a lot of stunt videos or stuff that looks dangerous, that means they’re watching a lot and in full. ‘he likes and shares that kind of content, so make sure you see what he’s looking at as content,’ he added.
Social media use has increased with the pandemic, and according to Lavoie, you need to make sure you take regular breaks to keep usage healthy.
“You have to manage yourself, and for parents who have kids, make sure what they see in their feed is content that’s good for them. There is content that can be positive, and others a little less, so you have to be alert, ”he recalled.
In addition, the vice president of H + K Strategies argued that it is up to each content creator to have the morality to know their type of subscribers well and create favorable content.
“I think it’s the responsibility of the content creators to post content that is correct for the subscribers,” he says.
“Me for example, I will publish a lot of content on self-esteem,” added Mr. Lavoie. “We know that during the pandemic, there are a lot of people who have gained weight. People feel a little less good about themselves, so I publish content that relates to the acceptance of the body, to the acceptance of the LGBTQ + community. ”