Tech / Technology

How to block people on TikTok: A step-by-step guide

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Here’s a step-by-step guide to how to block people on TikTok.
How to block people on TikTok

TikTok sometimes feels like a lawless land full of multi-layered discourse, trends, and unruly comment sections. And there are times when you need to set boundaries for your peace of mind. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to block another user on TikTok. Here’s how:

Total Time

  • 3 minutes
What You Need

  • iPhone and the TikTok app

Step 1:
Open the TikTok account you want to block

Unfortunately, you do have to navitage to the TikTok account that you want to block. For this example, I’m using TikTok’s official account. 

How to block people on TikTok


Credit: Screenshot / TikTok

Step 2:
Click the share button

It seems a bit counterintuitive, but the next step to blocking someone on TikTok is to click the share button in the top right corner of their profile

How to block people on TikTok


Credit: Screenshot / TikTok

Step 3:
Select Block

When you choose the share button, a popup will allow you to choose someone to share it with directly on the app. I have those blocked out here, but, trust me, they’re there. Beneath that, you’ll have the options for sharing the page outside of the app, by copying the link, sending it in a text message, or on another social media platform. Below that, you have four options: report, block, send message, and QR code. Click Block.

How to block people on TikTok


Credit: Screenshot / TikTok

Step 4:
Select Block again

Once you select block, a popup will appear that reads: “Block [insert account]? They will not be able to send you messages, see your posts, or find your profile. This doesn’t included extended scenarios like multi-host livestreams, duets posted by others, or group chats you both participate in. They will not be notified that you blocked them.” Below this message, you have the option to click “cancel,” or “Block.” Choose “Block.”

How to block people on TikTok


Credit: Screenshot / tikTok

There you go! You’ve blocked an account on TikTok. To unblock them, navigate to their profile and click “unblock.” You can’t miss it: It’s in the center of the page in bright red.

Happy blocking!

SEE ALSO:

How to download TikTok videos

Tech / Technology

Wordle today: The answer and hints for November 9

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Here’s the answer for “Wordle” #873 on November 9, as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.
Woman plays Wordle on her smartphone from the living room of her home

You’re nearly there! Just two Wordles between you and that sweet, sweet weekend. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.

If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for Nov. 9’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the Wordle answer for Nov. 8.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

Why are there two different Wordle answers some days?

Though usually Wordle will only accept one correct solution per day, occasionally it has rebelled against the norm and deem two different answers acceptable. This is due to changes the New York Times made to Wordle after it acquired the puzzle game.

The Times has since added its own updated word list, so this should happen even less frequently than before. To avoid any confusion, it’s a good idea to refresh your browser before getting stuck into a new puzzle.

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

You might get two types of this when you’re zoning out to Bake Off (or ceramics videos on YouTube).

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

Not today!

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter G.

SEE ALSO:

Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL.

What’s the answer to Wordle today?

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to Wordle #873 is…

GLAZE.

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

Tech / Technology

How to follow and unfollow someone on TikTok

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Check out these easy steps to follow and unfollow someone on TikTok.

New to TikTok and want to learn how to follow your new fave TikTokers? We’ve got you covered.

Following a user on TikTok is very straightforward and makes it so their videos will show up on your “Following” page. Following a user will also help curate your “For You” page.

If you’re sick of a creator’s content, don’t worry you can just as easily unfollow them.

Follow the steps below to learn how follow and unfollow people on TikTok.

How to follow someone on TikTok

Total Time

  • 1 min
What You Need

  • Smartphone
  • TikTok app

Step 1:

Open TikTok.

Step 2:

Navigate to the profile of the user you want to follow. If they are on your “For You” page, tap their username or the icon with their avatar along with a “+” symbol to access their profile. To search for a profile, tap the magnifying glass on the bottom left and search the user you want to follow.

Step 3:

Tap “follow.”

Mashable's TikTok profile page with the "Follow" button highlighted.

Tap the pink rectangle to follow a user on TikTok.
Credit: screenshot: tiktok

When you are following someone a message option will come up on their profile and there will be an icon of a person with a check mark.

How to unfollow someone on TikTok

Total Time

  • 1 min
What You Need

  • Smartphone
  • TikTok app

Step 1:

Open TikTok.

Step 2:

Navigate to the profile of the user you want to unfollow. If they are on your “For You” page, tap their username to access their profile. To search for a profile, tap the magnifying glass icon on the bottom left and search the user you want to unfollow.

Step 3:

Tap the person icon with the check mark to unfollow the user.

Mashable's TikTok profile page with the person icon highlighted.

Don’t unfollow us!
Credit: screenshot: tikTok

Now that you’ve mastered the art of following and unfollowing TikTok users, want to learn how to download a TikTok?

Or maybe you want to know how to find a specific user on TikTok?

Tech / Technology

Best dating apps and sites in November 2023

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Find love (or something more casual) this month with this selection of top dating apps, including March, eharmony, and EliteSingles.
Woman looking at laptop

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

Dating is a competitive game, and you should do everything you can to give yourself a chance of success. Looking your best and smelling fresh is a good place to start, but nothing shortens your odds of success like signing up to a dating site.

The problem with this tactic is that there are just so many dating sites out there to consider, each with a different set of features that will suit some people better than others. It’s difficult to know which site is best for you, and you could easily spend hours researching all of the sites on offer without a definitive answer.

SEE ALSO:

Best hookup apps and dating sites to find casual sex with no strings attached

We know that you don’t have time for all of that, so we’ve set out to make things a little easier for you.

What are the benefits of using dating apps?

By subscribing to a dating site, you’re shortening your odds of finding a connection. It’s as simple as that.

Dating sites and apps let you get your information out there to a massive network of like-minded individuals, and provide the opportunity to test out a potential relationship on an app before actually meeting in real life.

Subscribing to dating apps and sites is also a way less intimidating way of meeting someone compared to a face-to-face situation. If you find the idea of meeting people slightly terrifying, these apps can help you face your fears from the comfort of your own home.

Is online dating worth the hassle?

Sentiments aside, we have some hard data to back our reasoning for Why Online Dating Is Worthwhile™: Statista predicted that the online dating audience will grow to 53.3 million by 2025, compared to 44.2 million users in 2020. A study from Stanford released in 2019 asserted that online dating is officially the most common way for couples to meet, rounding out at nearly 40 percent of couples having first met online.

This pre-pandemic prediction came before the COVID-era dating app sign-ups surge. Though people are eager to get back to doing as many things IRL as possible now, dating apps are still a great place to find someone, whether you want a relationship or are just looking to get nasty.

And yes, though there are algorithms that dictate what profiles pop up on your screen, we firmly believe that the stars aligning still comes into play. After all, the person who signs up on the app and is looking for love at exactly the same time you are is up to fate and the universe, proving that online dating romance is very much alive and well.

Because it’s not 2007 anymore, the need for mobile-friendly online dating isn’t just a millennial thing — people over 40 don’t have time to sit around at their home desktops, either. Dating sites that are older than most members of Gen Z (like Match and eharmony) have been forced to give serious attention to their smartphone counterparts if they don’t want to be outgrown.

However, that statistical promise still requires patience and a game plan, the game plan is choosing the dating app with features that best fit your lifestyle — and the lifestyle of the type of person you’re looking for. Are you looking for an app strictly for sex or an app more serious than Tinder but less serious than eharmony? Or maybe, you’d just really love to find an app where queer women aren’t relentlessly sexualized by creeps and pestered by unicorn hunters.

Should you use free dating apps?

The good news is that there are a lot of free dating sites and apps out there, and the likes of Tinder and Hinge are good examples of free apps with massive networks of users.

The bad news is that a lot of free apps simply don’t cut it. You get what you pay for with dating sites and apps, and for the best experience with the greatest possibility of finding exactly what you’re looking for, you are going to have to cough up the cash.

You can still find something worth your time with a free app, but if you’re looking for compatibility tests, chat rooms, videos, and a greater level of control, we recommend upgrading. Paid sites provide access to premium features that give you the best chance of finding something special.

What is the best dating site?

We’re sorry to break it to you like this, but there isn’t a single dating site that is better than the rest. Instead, there are a lot of sites and apps with similar features and packages, and the best option for you really comes down to your own set of preferences.

To make the decision process a whole lot easier for everyone, we have lined up a selection of the most popular sites in the dating game, including leading sites like EliteSingles, Match, and Eharmony. All you need to do is pick a favourite from the bunch.

These are the best dating sites in 2023.

Tech / Technology

TikTok Creator Fund to end in December

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TikTok is shutting down its $1 billion Creator Fund.
A TikTok logo seen displayed on a smartphone with USD (United States dollar) currency in the background.

TikTok is shutting down its Creator Fund.

This is devastating news for anyone who makes money off the app, which includes most social media creators. According to research from Epidemic Sound, 30 percent of creators said TikTok is the top platform for generating income, followed by YouTube (25.8 percent), Facebook (16.5 percent), Twitter (13.1 percent), and, at the bottom of the list with just 7.1 percent, Instagram.

SEE ALSO:

TikTok announces a new way to pay its creators

The app will formally shut down the fund — which pays creators with at least 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 views on their videos in the last 30 days — on Dec. 16, according to a Monday report from Fortune. The news isn’t entirely surprising: When TikTok first launched the Creator Fund in 2020, it said it would only be paying creators for three years.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement to TIME that the company is committed to creating “the best experience possible on TikTok and provide a robust ecosystem of monetization offerings to creators.”

“Part of our efforts and ongoing commitment to provide requires us to evolve products and apply resources elsewhere to support creators best and explore new offerings,” the spokesperson told TIME. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Mashable.

TikTok’s creativity fund is still around through its Creativity Program, though. It pays approved creators who make videos longer than a minute. But unlike the Creator Fund, where you make money off all your videos, the Creativity Program only lets you make money on those longer-form videos.

Looks like TikTok just took its next step into long-form content.