TikTok, a global short-form platform that has been criticized for failing to sufficiently protect users from harmful content, is expanding its educational content feed. This is interpreted as a move for TikTok to go beyond a simple entertainment platform and become a place for education.
TikTok’s STEM feed began to be applied to American teenagers in March last year. / Provided by TikTok
According to IT media Tech Crunch on the 23rd (local time), TikTok announced that it would apply the STEM feed to all users in the US, UK, and Ireland. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and the STEM feed contains fun and informative videos related to each topic.
TikTok’s STEM feed was first introduced to American youth in March last year. Afterwards, TikTok expanded its scope of application to the UK and Ireland in April of this year. Meanwhile, the STEM feed was automatically displayed to users under 18 along with TikTok’s algorithm-based recommendation page and following feed, called “For You.”
TikTok’s decision to start introducing a STEM feed was influenced by pressure from governments around the world that TikTok content was harmful to the mental health of young people. Recently, 13 state governments in the U.S. and Washington filed a lawsuit in each state court asking TikTok to impose fines and punitive damages, saying, “TikTok’s algorithm is designed to make it easy for children to become addicted, harming their mental health.” I almost did it.
TikTok is emphasizing that its content can be educational by introducing a STEM feed. At a U.S. Congressional hearing earlier this year, TikTok CEO Chu Sows mentioned the STEM feed as one of TikTok’s efforts to provide educationally valuable content to users.
The STEM feed was also effective. According to TikTok, after the launch of the STEM feed, STEM-related content within the TikTok platform increased by 18%, and the number of video views within the feed reached 200 million. Even in the United States, where the STEM feed was first introduced last year, a third of teenage users were found to have visited the STEM feed every week.
TikTok is collaborating with Common Sense Networks, an organization that promotes children’s media safety, and Poynter, a journalism education nonprofit, for high-quality content in its STEM feed. Common Sense Networks evaluates whether the published content is suitable for the STEM feed, and Poynter evaluates the reliability of the information in the content.
With this age expansion, adult TikTok users in the US, UK, and Ireland can now select whether to apply the STEM feed in the ‘Content Preferences’ category within the application (app) settings. TikTok plans to increase the number of supported languages to expand the application of the STEM feed, which is currently only available in some countries.
TikTok previously introduced the STEM feed in the U.S. and said, “We designed the STEM feed for people who want to learn more about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” and added, “It will help aspiring scientists conduct experiments or help aspiring programmers learn how to code.” “STEM Feed provides a space for users to learn together, get inspired, and expand their knowledge.”
