“Providing a portrait of a generation born with social media [et] who shouldn’t even have the right to register. » This is the objective of the heaven agency by publishing, on Thursday 5 October, the results of the BornSocial study on the digital uses of under 13s.
Carried out in collaboration with the Génération Numérique association, this annual survey explores “the behaviors of these invisible users”, we learn from a press release, through analysis of their uses of platforms or their interactions with brands. The study is based, in particular, on the responses to an online questionnaire distributed to the IDM Families panel (200 respondents). Let’s take stock.
Children under 13 believe they use their smartphones sensibly
Gear peaks at age 11
First lesson from the study: Like last year, most of the kids interviewed had smartphones when they entered middle school. In fact, the gearing rate peaks at 77% at age 11, and 50% of respondents get their first phone at the intersection of CM2 and 6th grade.
Time tracking applications, a tool known to children under 13
While 55% of the children interviewed are aware of applications that allow them to measure the time spent on their smartphone (+10 points compared to 2022), only 27% of those interviewed believe they use their device excessively. “Awareness on the topic is decreasing” cut paradise. At the same time, and quite logically, the Parisian agency reports that 46% of children under 13 want to spend more time on the phone (+14 points compared to 2022).
The smartphone, a monitoring tool for parents
Furthermore, from the results of the survey it emerges that giving a smartphone as a gift is not entirely disinterested: 55% of those interviewed indicate that parents geolocate it via their phone. “A slightly growing figure”according to the Parisian agency, since 34% of respondents were monitored in 2020.
Children under 13 are gradually abandoning social networks
With a declining presence on Snapchat and TikTok, BeReal is gaining ground
This is one of the main lessons of the study: “Usage of the vast majority of platforms is declining. » In fact, TikTok and Snapchat, although remaining the most used social platforms by under 13s, are used regularly by only 35% and 23.5% of those interviewed respectively. Worse, they are ahead of the messaging application WhatsApp (43%), which is also less popular than last year (-5 points). Among the youngest, only BeReal gains ground, moving from 15th to 8th place. YouTube also manages to maintain its first position (see featured image). 60.5% of children under 13 believe they use it regularly.
Decrease in the use of platforms
But how to explain it? According to the study, children under 13 turn more to other channels to communicate with their loved ones. As proof, only 24% of those interviewed turn to social networks to spend time online with their friends (-6 points), while 61% prefer messaging applications (WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.) and 48% opt for video games (Fortnite, Animal Crossing, Apex Legends, etc.).
Consequence: children under 13 use, on average, 2.1 platforms in 2023 (-0.8 points compared to 2022). Furthermore, the study tells us that the accounts of the vast majority of respondents (81%) are private, and interactions are limited to the circle of close friends. In fact, 81% of children surveyed have fewer than 50 contacts on their primary app.
Children under 13 refuse targeted advertising…
According to the study, advertising and sponsored content are perfectly identified by young people. They are even poorly perceived by the latter: 54% of under 13s believe that there are too many advertisements on social media (+6 points compared to 2022), while 25% note an excess of sponsored content. Furthermore, the vast majority (83%) of under 13s do not follow any brand on the platforms.
…and gradually discover tools based on artificial intelligence
For the first time, the BornSocial study examines younger people’s interest in AI-based tools. Therefore, if 39% of respondents know ChatGPT, “only 5% say they have already used it”, heaven teaches us. The situation is essentially the same for MyAI, known by almost one in 4 children. However, despite its lower awareness, Snapchat’s virtual assistant was used by 13% of those interviewed.
