In a blog post published on Tuesday, the company detailed new ways to prioritize the well-being of its users. Updates and additions coming to the app include an expanded guide on eating disorders and suicide, expanded search interventions for triggering words or phrases, and updated warning labels for sensitive content. TikTok also said it developed the well-being guides experts from organizations like the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Crisis Text Line, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), and the Butterfly Foundation. In addition, TikTok also announced in-app programming this week that will include curated content from these partner organizations to explore more issues surrounding well-being. “We’re inspired by how our community openly, honestly, and creatively shares about important issues such as mental well-being or body image, and how they lift each other up and lend help during difficult times,” TikTok wrote in its blog post. While TikTok users should benefit from these well-being updates, one of the app’s competitors, Instagram, is currently in hot water over how it’s perceived by some to harms users’ mental health. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal published this week, users repeatedly said they thought the platform was harmful to them, especially users who were teenage girls, and the company is keenly aware that it’s a problem for this group. Instagram responded to the findings by saying, “Social media isn’t inherently good or bad for people. Many find it helpful one day and problematic the next. What seems to matter most is how people use social media, and their state of mind when they use it.” However, TikTok addressing mental well-being in partnership with established organizations might set a new precedent with social media companies in how they handle users’ mental health.
