How to use TikTok Family Pairing feature

TikTok suggests a feature called Family Pairing (also known as Family Sync) that allows you to restrict your teens' access to TikTok. If you want to know how to enable it, you are at the right place.

Launched in April 2020, Family Pairing has increasingly gained resources to ensure the safety and protection of teenage social network use. Below, you can review the main actions and features that parents can take when choosing to use family sync.

What is screen time management?

This feature allows parents to impose a time limit per day so that their children can stay at TikTok for a selected time period, preventing the use of the social network from taking up space that should be dedicated to studies or other activities. The options are 40, 60, 90 or 120 minutes per day.

How do direct messages work?

Perhaps TikTok's most important parental control feature. You can block teenagers from receiving direct messages or prevent certain profiles from sending messages to them. In addition, TikTok already has a very restrictive policy that blocks images and videos and deactivates direct messages for children under 16.

How to use search?

This option allows you to block the search bar on the Search Tab. With this, the user will not be able to search for users, hashtags or do any other search at all. The user can still view content on the Find tab and follow new users that appear for him.

How does the restricted mode and profile work?

With the activation of the restricted mode, content that is considered by TikTok to be inappropriate for minors will not appear among the suggestions in the For You Feed of the teen’s profile. The restricted profile prevents anyone from finding the account and viewing the teenager's publications.

How to activate TikTok Family Pairing?

• First of all, the parent must open a TikTok account, since the resources are only activated by linking the accounts.

• Select Me.

• Tab the three dots.

• Scroll down and select Family Pairing. If the option doesn’t show, then select Digital Wellbeing and then Family Pairing.

• A description page of the feature will now open. Select Continue.

• After, you will get a message ”Who is using this TikTok account?. Select Parent, then Next.

• A QR Code will appear.

• Go to your children’s phone and follow the same steps, but this time select Teen when asked “Who is using this TikTok account?”.

• Scan the QR code to synchronize devices.

You can now customize the settings of your teen’s TikTok.

Does it really help?

Even though Family Pairing is a great initiative, it isn’t flawless. TikTok has an algorithm that suggests similar videos to the videos you have previously watched, especially to the videos you have watched for the longest. It seems that Family Pairing does restrict the inappropriate content but not all of it. Communicating with your teen about the videos they are exposed to on the app is undoubtedly the best way to protect them.