TikTok And Snapchat Rank Most Popular With Teens, Young Users

A new report published on the digital habits of teens and children in key markets, including the U.S., reveals TikTok and Snapchat are most popular with this demographic.

Social VR gaming apps like Roblox, and usage of OpenAI’s text and image generation tools – like the ubiquitous ChatGPT – are also among the most popular ways kids are spending their time online.

The report by digital wellbeing provider Qustodio, titled “Born connected: The rise of the AI generation”, uses data gathered from over 400,000 families on the digital habits of young people aged 4 to 18 years old.

The results focus on online app habits on mobile devices and desktop devices, assessing global use as well as localised findings from the U.S., U.K., France, Spain, and Australia.

Young users are spending an average of 2 hours per day on Roblox, which offers an indication that demand for VR and augmented reality features within apps will continue to grow.

Users on Roblox interact through digital avatars in 3D environments, so its popularity highlights the trend of usage of metaverse-based apps becoming increasingly more common.

The younger demographic surveyed is also spending close to 2 hours per day on TikTok, with the platform more popular among this group than Instagram or Facebook.

A surprising takeaway is Pinterest ranking as the 6th most popular app globally, and Reddit standing in 4th place.

Almost 20% of young users surveyed accessed the OpenAI website last year, making this another trend to watch as more apps start to include AI-based features.

It also highlights the need for developers to consider safety risks and safeguards for the younger demographic spending time on social apps.

You can read the full report by Qustodio here.