In the U.S alone there are 300 million active users on Tik Tok. Tik Tok has climbed it’s way up to the 4th most popular social media platform worldwide. In a short period of time the app has gained at least 800 million users globally. As of September 20, 2021 the Chinese Version of Tik Tok also called Douyin has set new limitations for its users. Douyin and Tik Tok are both owned by the Beijing- based ByteDance company and Douyin is partially owned by the Chinese government. Due to the Chinese government’s harsh cut down on the time children and teens spend online Doujin reacted to this by creating a “ teenage mode”. 

What is “Teenage Mode”?

The Chinese version of Tik Tok is enforcing new guidelines for teenagers and their time spent on the app. They have proposed the idea of a “ teenage mode” where kids under the age of 14 will be limited to 40 minuets a day on Tik Tok. Not only is Douyin limiting the time you are spending on Tik Tok but also when you are allowed to go on it. The “quiet hours” on the Chinese version are 10pm-6am, he stated in a conference. The company is urging parents to sign their kids up under their real names and enabling the teenage mode manually. 

Douyin Shifting Contents Focus:

Unlike the regular Tik Tok feed where the computer generated algorithm feeds you things you are interested in, the Doyin side is planning on modifying the feed they are providing users with. Specifically, there will be popular science experiments, exhibitions in museums and galleries, beautiful scenery now will be visible on users for you pages. Their goal is to use technology as a teaching tool for younger kids and these are the first steps of many towards that goal. 

Overall, there are more changes to come to the Chinese version of Tik Tok in the next few months before the end of the year. As more changes occur, officials predict there will be an uprise of conflict between the Chinese government and their citizens.