Modern children are given digital devices at a young age and begin navigating cyberspace at an early age – they explore the world, make friends, play games, and learn. On the occasion of International Children’s Day, a new Kaspersky Safe Kids study published on Kaspersky Daily reveals children’s digital interests and preferences. Over the last few months, the three most popular Android apps among children in the UAE were YouTube (37.8%), Chrome (14.2%), and WhatsApp (11.6%). On Windows, the most popular apps were Google Chrome (54,4%), Microsoft Edge (15,7%), and Zoom (7,8%).
The new study covers the period from May 2022 to April 2023 and is based on anonymized data – search queries, apps most often used, and websites most visited. The data was voluntarily provided by Kaspersky Safe Kids users. Analyzing the data helped to understand children’s interests throughout the year.
Globally on YouTube children most often searched for channels and bloggers that create entertainment content (for example, challenges or lifestyle clips; these amounted to 19% of all queries). Cartoons, TV shows and anime (17%) were the second most popular topic. The third place went to music videos (15.7%). Game bloggers accounted for 15,5% of the searches, and other game content for 10%.
MrBeast and SSSniperWolf were the trendiest globally among bloggers and channels.
Among cartoons, kids most frequently searched for Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir season 5, and MSA previously My Story Animated. Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, and One Piece became the leaders in the number of anime inquiries. And the most beloved films among children were Super Mario Bros. Movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat.
Baby Shark was the most often searched for song among children. In terms of musical preferences, Korean pop groups BLACKPINK and BTS, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, and the rap genre in general were the leaders.
Aphmau, Dream, and Technoblade were the top trending search queries for gaming bloggers. Children’s favorite games besides Roblox and Minecraft were Brawl Stars, Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and Stumble Guys.
Other popular trends include queries related to Gacha Life. This includes videos from the game, TikTok, mini-movies and more.
In terms of memes, ‘beluga,”skibidi bop,’ ‘gigachad,’ and ‘countryhumans’ were the most popular among children over the last year. ASMR videos, which consist of simulating sensory content such as whispering, crisp sounds, and slow movements that cause a person to relax, were also very popular, with the terms ‘Asmr eating’ and ‘Asmr makeup’ being the most searched for.
“Last year was rich in terms of events that appealed to children. In addition to the Evergreen themes that are consistently popular with kids, there were many “seasonal” stories connected to the new animation movie releases. At the same time, all these trends are equally important and interesting for children, which means that parents can also join in and take a closer look at current trends to build more trusting relationships with their own kids. In this, a reliable parental assistant solution can be of great help. In addition to keeping children safe online, it can inform the parents of what the children’s interests are,” comments Anna Larkina, web content analysis expert at Kaspersky.
To ensure children have a positive online experience, Kaspersky gives the following recommendations to parents:
