RESEARCH BY APP CATEGORY
Social
media
What we found
2023 was a tumultuous year for social media companies. Between TikTok testifying in US congress, child safety lawsuits being presented in the US against both Meta and ByteDance, the UK’s new Online Safety Act, and parental consent legislature for social media in France, the giants are up against some serious social and governmental change – primarily aimed at the youngest in society.
Despite this, social media apps remain just as appealing as they ever were among children and teens, maintaining similar popularity levels year over year, or in some cases, growing to new levels. Twitter’s change to X, in another rollercoaster year for the company, seemingly proved no press is bad press, with more children using X in 2023 than in 2022 (38% vs. 30%). And while TikTok neither gained nor lost popularity, hours spent on the infamous social app increased for yet another year: kids spent 5% extra time on TikTok in 2023, scrolling their FYP for an incredible 112 minutes per day on average.
THE MOST POPULAR SOCIAL
MEDIA APPS IN 2023
To nobody’s surprise, TikTok was crowned the most popular social app globally and in almost all countries, save Australia, where it tied neck-and-neck with news headliner X for 1st place. 44% of children worldwide used TikTok, and even more so in Europe: 1 in 2 children in France and the UK were fans of the eternal scroll, while Spanish children were its biggest users – 61% of under-18s in Spain use TikTok, securing its place as the go-to social network for young people across the country.
Meta’s social offerings didn’t fare quite so well across 2023: Facebook still remained relatively popular, perhaps as a means to message friends and family, just like 73% of adults use it to do. While Facebook secured 2nd place globally among the most popular apps, this wasn’t reflected in any of the countries we analyzed in our report: Facebook was 3rd most popular in France, Australia, and the UK, falling to 4th place in the US and Spain.
Instagram, on the other hand, proved popular in France and Spain, coming in strong at 2nd place. As many as 1 in 2 Spanish children used Instagram (52% of kids), with this number dropping to 42% in France, and even further behind when it came to other regions of the world. Globally, Instagram only just took 5th place, with 32% of children around the world using the app to share photos, videos, and stories with their follower base.
I use social media to share things with people I know, chat, and meet up, especially with kids who aren’t in my class. I don’t like that strangers contact me, and there are too many photos and videos on social media.
– Boy, 13
– Boy, 13
Social media apps by popularity & time spent
– Girl, 12
– Girl, 12
HOW MUCH TIME DID CHILDREN SPEND ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2023?
Social media use across top spot contenders Facebook, Pinterest, X, and Reddit paled in comparison to time spent on attention-grabbing rivals TikTok and Instagram. Since the introduction of reels in 2020, the time kids spend on Instagram has increased year over year, rising 40% in the last year alone from 45 mins/day to 63 mins/day. Forever the champions of social media, Spanish children were the frontrunners of Instagram use, clocking up an average of 71 minutes a day on the platform in 2023 and setting a new time record for the country’s youngest users.
TikTok, however, was the runaway winner globally, and in each and every country featured in our research. Children worldwide spent 112 minutes on TikTok per day, while in the US, this rose to two hours on TikTok daily (120 mins/day) – that’s over 180 40-second videos a day, or over 240 30-second pieces of content to scroll through, with no end in sight. It’s across the pond, however, where TikTok usage was the highest among younger users: kids in the UK spent 127 minutes on the app daily, almost 100% more time than they spent on YouTube in the same year.
Despite enjoying higher popularity levels among younger users across the year, X didn’t deliver when it came to keeping kids engaged on the platform. Globally, children spent an average of 10 minutes per day on X, dropping to just 8 in both the UK and France.
Children spent a similar amount of time on discussion platform Reddit, scrolling their favorite communities for just 9 minutes per day on average worldwide. The only country not featuring Reddit in their most popular apps was Spain, where the much-hyped BeReal stood in to take its place. Following heavy publicity as a more “authentic” social media platform, Spanish children were quick to jump on the bandwagon, but still only racked up an average of 9 minutes checking friends’ daily shots of “real” life.
– Girl, 11
– Girl, 11
I like sharing things I’ve done, talking to friends who are far away, and looking at photos. But there are people who go on social media to do bad things, and they publish things like fights, as if it’s funny.
– Girl, 12
– Girl, 12
*For 2023, our Communication chapter has been updated to include Snapchat. We have backdated all insights to adjust for this change, meaning averages for the previous 5 years have been updated in this report, excluding Snapchat from our Social media chapter. For previous reports, our insights include Snapchat in the averages for Social media.
It makes me annoyed when my parents supervise me because I don’t want to get off YouTube, but I have a bad sleep schedule when I don’t stop using the screen.
– Boy, 11
It makes me annoyed when my parents supervise me because I don’t want to get off YouTube, but I have a bad sleep schedule when I don’t stop using the screen.
– Boy, 11
The most blocked social
media apps in 2023
With great popularity comes great power, and parents and guardians are all too aware of the hold TikTok has over the youngest generation’s attention. The infamous app, criticized for its effects on mental health, security issues, and dangerous challenges, was the most-blocked among families for the 2nd year in a row in all regions.
Since its rebrand to X, and takeover by Elon Musk, what was once Twitter climbed up in the blocking rankings, taking 3rd place worldwide, in Spain, and in France, while rising even further up the block charts in the US, UK, and Australia to take 2nd place. Another highly publicized social media app of 2023, BeReal featured on two country’s block lists, namely in France, where the app was first conceived, and in Spain, where children happily welcomed it into their top 5 most popular social apps of the year.
I learn how to do things on social media, like crafts, or recipes. But I don’t like how everyone is fake these days, young people think there are perfect people [on social media] and it’s not like that.
-Girl, 10
I like that you can look things up in the moment, you search for it, and it’s just there in front of you. But there are harmful things on there, like people getting hurt when others come after them online.
-Boy, 11
I like that you can look things up in the moment, you search for it, and it’s just there in front of you. But there are harmful things on there, like people getting hurt when others come after them online.
-Boy, 11
What we expect for social media
In 2023, gradual rumbles of discontent with the state of social media quickly snowballed, turning into anger, cries for help, and the outright demand for change. As more and more bill proposals crop up, potentially changing laws around the world, social media companies are increasingly coming under more scrutiny to do better, particularly for younger users, whose mental health and wellbeing may be affected for years to come.
Long seen as harmless, families and governments are now pushing back against not just social media use, but the age that children are being exposed to these networks, and even the age children should be given access to a cell phone. While big companies like Meta and Bytedance have shown some willingness to collaborate, through the introduction of rather minimal parental control features, in the years to come they will need to do more to ensure the wellbeing of children and teenagers around the world. The social media experiment is coming to a close: now millions have seen its effects, social change itself is set to be the next trending topic.
What we recommend for social media
No matter the peer pressure, or the recommended age set by the platform, we recommend only allowing kids to create a social media account when they demonstrate the appropriate level of emotional maturity. While everyone in your child’s class might have a TikTok account, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily ready to, and it’s important to speak to your child about the risks and harms associated with social media before they dive in for the first time.
What’s hot and not moves fast on social media, along with challenges, trends, and influencers. From the latest social media app to the stars of the moment, there’s always something new to learn. Parents don’t have to be avid users of social media to do research into what’s popular online. Following dedicated accounts for parents on social media, staying on top of tech news, and talking to teens about what they like and dislike about their current favorite platforms is a simple way parents can stay (somewhat) ahead of the curve.
Even though it’s designed to help people stay connected, social media can be a lonely place at times. To help make social media a more positive space for everyone, children (and often adults alike) should be reminded and helped to understand that there are real people behind the profiles on social media. Encourage children to be kind in the comments they make online and when they interact with others, and wherever possible, stay positive in what they say and do on social networks.
Many parents resort to banning children completely from social media, but most tech-savvy kids will still find a way to use the apps – keeping them from social media applications in today’s world is almost an impossible task. Social media, when used correctly, can be a tool for creativity and provide opportunities for social interaction. Instead of sending children unequipped to face the risks social media poses, help them understand the differences between the real world and the social media one – and how to face the distorted online reality they’ll be faced with.
While children might be begging to use the latest social media app, it’s important that parents become more familiar with the platforms themselves before deciding whether it’s appropriate for children or young teens to use. If the green light is given, parents should be heavily involved in the initial setup process of the profile to ensure the correct privacy settings are applied (private profile, friend and family requests only, location settings off). To help establish healthier digital relationships, parents can also set time limits on social media apps, limiting scroll time on apps with bottomless content such as TikTok and Instagram.
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