Context · Social Media
TikTok's For You page is not random, it is a precise reflection of what keeps your child watching, and the algorithm gets very good at this very fast.
How it actually works
TikTok tracks how long you pause, whether you replay, and what you skip, and it builds a detailed model of what keeps each user engaged from every single interaction.
What your child experiences
The content might be funny or emotional or appearance-focused, whatever they respond to most, and TikTok optimizes for time on platform, not wellbeing.
What to watch for
Saying they cannot stop, mood changes after extended use, and content getting more intense over time, and that is the algorithm doing what it was designed to do.