PETALING JAYA, Aug 23 — Researchers call them the “iPad kids.” Having been exposed to a digital tablet screen nearly from birth, children who are now between 7 and 9 years old are finding their way onto social media, despite restrictions implemented by companies and national authorities. In fact, 31% of preteens in the US use the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, while just 26% play Minecraft.
A new report reminds us that a report by Common Sense back in 2020 found that 75% of American children have access to a tablet, and almost half, 44%, even own one. The widespread rollout of this device also means that very young children are exposed to social media, even at an age where this is normally forbidden, ie, under 13.
Even if it's not one of their main activities, according to a report by Qustodio*, 31% of 7-9 year-olds regularly use Twitter, renamed X since Elon Musk's takeover. The controversial social network is ahead of Reddit (28%), Minecraft (26%) and Facebook (26%).
Although the social network TikTok is not mentioned for this 7-9 demographic, the popularity of X popularity among younger users remains surprising, given the highly political content of Elon Musk's social network. Researchers believe that integrating tweets into Google searches has helped to attract a larger audience to the platform, reports TechCrunch. By performing searches in the search engine, the most curious are more easily redirected to X, which can also sometimes prove dangerous.
According to the report, inappropriate content accounts for 13% of what is found on the social network: “The theory is that kids as young as 7-9 years of age are gaining access to apps like X and Reddit as parents either don’t know much about them or don’t think to block them because they aren’t as ‘popular’ – even though both platforms could expose kids to explicit content like hate speech, porn and disinformation,” said Yasmin London, global online safety expert for Qoria, Qustodio's parent company, in a statement.
However, 7-9 year-olds don't spend much time on X, averaging just 9 minutes a day, compared with 36 minutes on Disney+, 20 minutes on Facebook and up to 49 minutes on Minecraft. Far ahead of the pack, Roblox, the online video game platform, attracts over 55% of the "iPad kids," who spend an average of 137 minutes a day there. YouTube, meanwhile, is used by 53% of this young demographic, who spend 103 minutes on it every day, and Netflix by 39%, who devote 59 minutes of their time to it every day.
*This report is based on the anonymous use of apps and online tools, provided by around 180,000 families with children aged 7-18 in the USA. It reveals their app habits and AI usage on mobile and desktop devices, from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, ranking apps by popularity (percentage of users) and time spent (average minutes per day). — ETX
