Parenting the TikTok algorithm: An algorithm awareness as process approach to online risks and opportunities

Teens inhabit an algorithmically curated digital world. Thus, algorithm awareness has emerged as a critical digital skill for parents of teens to mitigate online risks and maximize online opportunities. This study explores how parents' algorithm awareness of the TikTok For You feed relates to perceived online risks and opportunities as well as parental mediation strategies. A survey of U.S. parents found that greater algorithm awareness on TikTok was associated with more negative attitudes about the TikTok algorithm via the mediator of perceived TikTok risks. Parents with negative attitudes about algorithms on TikTok were more likely to prohibit their teenager from using TikTok, but algorithm awareness and attitudes were unassociated with other parental mediation strategies. This study contributes to research on digital parenting practices, suggesting that (a) perceptions of risks, not opportunities, frame the algorithm awareness process for parents and (b) algorithm awareness may operate differently than other digital skills.

Automated summary

This study explores how parents' algorithm awareness of TikTok's algorithm relates to perceived online risks and opportunities as well as parental mediation strategies. The study found that higher algorithm awareness was associated with more negative attitudes and a higher likelihood of prohibiting teenagers from using TikTok.