Thursday 3 June 2021 – 22:22
TikTok, YouTube and WhatsApp are the apps most used by young people
This was revealed by a Kaspersky study of entertainment sources
Milan, June 3 (askanews) – TikTok, YouTube and WhatsApp are the apps most used by young people. To understand the main sources of entertainment for children and youth between 2020 and 2021, Kaspersky conducted a new study analyzing anonymized data for Kaspersky Safe Kids and examining the most popular searches performed online. Among the most popular categories we find “Software, audio and video” and “e-commerce”, albeit with a slight decrease, also “Internet” and “computer games”. TikTok has reached twice the popularity of Instagram. K-POP groups with Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Travis Scott remain the undisputed idols of boys but a new trend is emerging, the funk.
2020 for kids and children was a very unusual year. Around the world, the pandemic has affected many aspects of socialization and community life, such as education, meetings with friends and family, and leisure and entertainment. To understand how children’s interests and needs have changed over the past year, Kaspersky analyzed anonymous data from Kaspersky Safe Kids users by looking at search queries, popular Android apps, and most-requested website categories.
According to the survey results, the categories of websites most popular with children were “software, audio and video” (44%), “online media” (22%) and “computer games” (14%). Among the most popular apps, YouTube leads by a large margin and continues to be the most used video streaming service among kids around the world. In second place is the WhatsApp instant messaging application, followed by the well-known social network TikTok. The top ten also includes four video games for PC: Brawl Stars, Roblox, In US, and Minecraft.
Looking at YouTube, 17% of all searches by teens and kids are for music videos. The ‘Trends’ category is also very successful with videos on ‘simple bang and beat’ and ‘ASMR’ accounting for 4% of queries. The same percentage of the video game Gacha Life that falls in the top places. However, by analyzing musical tastes, as well as K-POP groups including BTS and BLACKPINK, singers Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Travis Scott, a new musical direction, “Funk”, was identified.
In the past year, children have also used the web to learn. Specifically, there has been a growing interest in “creative” videos such as tunes and music lessons. TikTok continues to be the leading music pioneer for kids.
As for the trending videos, animes including: Lady Bug, Super Cat, Gravity Falls and Peppa Pig are confirmed to top the rankings with 50%. In second place are the TV shows with The Voice Kids that win first place in the most popular searches in English. For movies and TV series, the most popular trailers were Godzilla vs Kong, Zach Snyder’s latest Justice League, and Disney + WandaVision miniseries. Netflix also continues to grab the attention of many kids, especially for the now-famous Cobra Kai and Stranger Things.
TikTok remains the undisputed leader among children and teens, but the activities for which it is used are changing. Indeed, in addition to searching for videos and lip-sync songs, interest in educational and creative content is growing. It is, in fact, a social network capable of developing skills, just think about the fact that to create videos on TikTok it is necessary to learn the work of operators, try their hand at the role of an actor and also pay attention to the direction. All activities that lead children to develop skills that can be useful in the future and that can even become a profession.
If we look at video games, the most popular games among kids and children are the well-known Minecraft (23%), Fortnite (7%) among us (4%) to which Brawl Stars (6%) have been added and many love Roblox (4%). The latter is in the top 10 most popular children’s games in almost all the countries examined. Among all geographic regions, Kazakhstan with 26% is the most likely to visit sites dedicated to computer games, followed by the United Kingdom at 19%. The situation changes if we look at the data from India, where children rarely visited sites dedicated to video games (only 5%).
“Today’s children and youth are accustomed to using technological devices from an early age, so they are adapting to the digital environment and mastering new technologies faster. In a short time, TikTok has become one of the leading fashion makers among young adults and is still the center of their attention. However, it has not lost YouTube is its site and remains the most popular platform.This is due in part to the huge variety of videos available, which range from “let-play” documenting the playing of a video game, to lectures and educational videos.Understanding and analyzing children’s interests on the Internet is very important , which helps us pay more attention to their digital security. Knowing what kind of music children are listening to, for example, who their favorite bloggers are or what games they prefer, helps parents improve a trusting relationship with their children. For example, shooting a video will allow TikTok comes together for parents to help their children protect themselves from potential dangers online,” said Morten Lin, General Manager of Kaspersky in Italy.
To ensure that children and young people have a positive and safe online experience, Kaspersky advises parents to: Browse and learn together. Learn about the platforms where young people spend their time online and learn the best way to keep them safe.
Learn more about your children’s interests.
Explain that sensitive information should only be shared via messaging apps and only with people they know even in real life.
Download parental control apps and discuss this topic with your kids to explain how these apps work and why they need them to protect their online safety.
Spend more time talking with young people about the topic of online safety and measures to be taken. It is important to make your children understand what they should never post on the Internet and why it is not possible.
