TikTok will now show its STEM stream to adults, not just teens

TikTok announced Wednesday that it will make its STEM feed available to all users in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland by default. Previously, the feed was only enabled by default for users under 18.

The social network says this extension will make it easier for users to find educational content on the app.

Although the feed is enabled by default for all users in these countries, you can disable the feed by going to the app settings and navigating to the “Content Preferences” section.

TikTok initially launched the STEM stream in response to criticism from lawmakers and rights groups who say TikTok is harmful to teens and uses addictive design practices to keep users engaged for as long as possible.

The company used the launch of the STEM stream to counter claims that TikTok is harmful to young users. TikTok CEO Shou Chew touted the stream while testifying at two separate US Congressional hearings, one in March 2023 and one in January 2024.

Given that TikTok has been criticized for being harmful to your mental health whether you’re a teenager or not, the company could look to counter those kinds of claims by expanding the STEM stream to adults as well.

The company says the STEM stream provides a space for co-learning, inspiration and enrichment. By displaying STEM content to users by default, TikTok seeks to present itself as a place for learning, not just doom scrolling.

TikTok claims that since the launch of the STEM stream, the app has seen an 18% increase in STEM-related content and videos from the stream have reached 200 million views. The company plans to expand local language support for the stream in the future.