No surprise that YouTube introduced Shorts. A recent study on children's online habits reveals that kids aged 4 to 18 spent an average of 112 minutes daily on TikTok’s short video platform in 2023, slightly up from 107 minutes in the previous year. While YouTube continues to be the leading streaming app for this age group, children devoted 60% more time to TikTok last year. This data comes from a comprehensive study on youth digital media usage, which also looked into children's interactions with emerging technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Conducted by Qustodio, a developer of parental control software, the study analyzed the digital behaviors of over 400,000 families and schools globally. Its annual report provides insights into how children use technology across mobile and desktop devices, with in-depth analysis covering specific countries, including the U.S., U.K., Spain, Australia, and France. Notably, this dataset reflects real-world technology usage by kids, rather than responses from a survey panel. However, it's important to note that the data may not fully encompass all children's digital behaviors since it is drawn from households and schools utilizing Qustodio's software.
Despite this limitation, the extensive dataset highlights significant trends in how children—both younger and older—are engaging with technology. For the first time this year, the report also explored children's use of new technologies, particularly AI.
Due to the phased launch of ChatGPT—debuting on iOS in May and on Android in July—Qustodio focused on usage from OpenAI’s website. The findings indicated that nearly 20% of kids accessed the site in 2023, making it the 18th most-visited site that year. In the U.S., 18.7% of youth visited, placing it 32nd overall, while Australia reported the highest adoption rate at 24%.
On the streaming front, children increased their viewing time on streaming platforms by 27% compared to last year. However, rising subscription prices may have influenced viewing habits. The study found that kids watched Netflix 4% less, Disney+ 23% less, and Hulu 12% less in 2023. Conversely, YouTube and its child-friendly counterpart, YouTube Kids, thrived with YouTube Kids’ watch time climbing by 14% globally, averaging 96 minutes per day—the highest since Qustodio began collecting data in 2019. YouTube, too, saw an increase—up to 70 minutes from 67 minutes last year.
Despite Netflix's price hikes and tighter password policies in 2023, it remained the second-most popular streaming service among kids, with 40% usage. YouTube topped the chart at 63%, while Disney+ came in third at 20%. Notably, Netflix was the only subscription service to experience a rise in popularity, contrasting with declines in usage for Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Twitch, which fell from 11% to just 8% among kids. Nevertheless, those who stayed on Twitch increased their viewing hours, consuming 16% more content at an average of 22 minutes per day.
Amid growing concerns from parents and legislators regarding the negative effects of social media, children’s use of these platforms remained robust in 2023. TikTok was the most favored app globally, utilized by 44% of kids, followed closely by Facebook at 38%.
Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, also saw a surge in youth engagement, with 38% of the younger demographic using the platform in 2023—an increase from 30% in 2022. However, parental concerns about the platform contributed to its position as the third most-blocked service globally, following TikTok and Instagram.
Other popular social apps included Reddit, Instagram, and Pinterest, each tracking around 32%, 32%, and 31% usage rates, respectively. In the U.S., the order varied; TikTok led followed by X, Reddit, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Despite spending significantly more time on TikTok, kids averaged 112 minutes per day on the platform compared to just 63 minutes for Instagram, 19 for Facebook, 16 for Pinterest, 10 for X, and 9 for Reddit.
In the realm of messaging apps, Meta's WhatsApp dominated with a 37% usage rate among kids, surpassing Snapchat (35%), Discord (31%), Messages (28%), Skype (21%), and Google Duo (13%). Nonetheless, Snapchat was the leading app for time spent, averaging 74 minutes per day—far ahead of Discord, which averaged 27 minutes. If classified among social apps, Snapchat would rank as the No. 3 app based on time spent.
Among gaming applications, Roblox was the favorite, engaging 48% of kids for an average of 130 minutes daily, followed by titles like Minecraft, Among Us, Clash Royale, Stumble Guys, and Magic Tiles 3.
Additionally, kids continued to utilize educational apps, especially those provided by schools, such as Google Classroom. Popular learning tools included Duolingo, Photomath, Kahoot!, Quizlet, Simply Piano, and Brainly.
Beyond market trends, the full report also addresses how parents can manage and monitor their children’s technology use, emphasizing the importance of staying proactive. Looking ahead, Qustodio warns parents that AI tool usage is projected to grow nearly 40% annually from 2023 to 2030, although a mere 6% of younger kids (ages 10 to 13) reported being active users.
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