Children under 18 years of age spend 67 minutes a day on social networks and have a preference for TikTok

The time of use of the social networks by minors has increased by almost 6 percent globally and Spain is the country that registers the highest figure, since these users use them an average of 67 minutes a day and show a predilection for TikTok.

It is one of the conclusions reached in a recent report prepared by Qustodio, in which it analyzes the trends and digital use during 2024 by minors between the ages of 4 and 18 in Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. , United States and Australia.

The study ‘The digital dilemma: Childhood at a crossroads’ was carried out using data from more than 400,000 families and after carrying out 2,000 surveys. It focuses on five categories: video platforms, social networks, video game applications, education ‘apps’ and communication services.

In general terms, the writing points out that the youngest people spent an average of 4 hours a day connected to screens outside the classrooms, that is, in their leisure time. This means that the trends have not changed since the same time as the previous year.

Regarding the time of use by categories, Qustodio has indicated that during the past year, online video applications increased their use time among minors globally by almost 2 percent compared to the previous year, going from 57 to 58 minutes a day.

However, the data related to Spain indicate that in this country the time of use remains the same as in 2023, that is, 39 minutes per day. And it also coincides that the favorite platform of the youngest members of the house, both nationally and globally, continues to be YouTube, to which minors dedicate an average of 44 minutes a day.

Amazon Prime Video, for its part, is the only platform that has seen its usage time increase by 3 percent, up to 34 minutes a day. As for Netflix and Disney+, the study determines that their usage time has decreased, going from 38 to 34 minutes per day and from 34 to 30 minutes per day, respectively. Movistar+ and Twitch, finally, maintain their usage time at 26 and 22 minutes a day.

TikTok remains the favorite social network

In the category of social networks, Qustodio has pointed out that they continue to be the favorite pastime of minors in Spain and that their use has grown by 6 percent globally in 2024, to go from 52 minutes a day recorded in 2023 to 55. minutes daily this year.

TikTok, for its part, continues to be the social network in which minors spent the most time, both globally and nationally, increasing its global usage time from 112 to 120 minutes a day in 2023 and from 94 to 103 minutes newspapers in Spain.

Instagram, for its part, has experienced growth in consumption time, up to almost 23 percent, so that children currently spent more than 87 minutes a day on it in 2024, compared to the 71 minutes a day recorded in the report. former.

Another classification in the Qustodio report concerns video games, which increased their presence in homes and, therefore, their use time increased in all countries, from 35 to 37 minutes a day. Likewise, Roblox continues to be the most acclaimed title and has increased its global usage time by 7 percent compared to 2023 – from 130 to 139 minutes per day – although in Spain that time has decreased to 105 minutes per day.

It is followed by Brawl Starws, with which minors play 31 minutes a day on average, as well as FIFA Mobile (20 minutes a day). To complete the ranking, Stumble Guys (which reduces its usage time from 25 to 17 minutes per day compared to 2023), and Clash Royale (16 minutes per day in 2024, compared to 21 in the previous report) are positioned.

Less usage time for educational apps

Although less, minors also spend time using educational applications in their free time, which have maintained their records compared to 2023, since on average 6 minutes are used daily. In Spain, however, they have decreased by 20 percent compared to 2023, going from 6 to 5 minutes a day.

The educational tool that most interests children between 4 and 18 years old is Smartick, which they use on average 23 minutes a day. Others that interest them the most are Kahoot! (10 minutes), Knowunity (9 minutes), Duolingo (7 minutes) and Photomath (5 minutes).

Children and adolescents also dedicate their time to communication platforms and, if globally the registered use is 37 minutes per day, in Spain it falls to 23 minutes per day, although it has grown by 9.5 percent compared to 2023. So much so that it is the country where this figure has increased the most.

Snapchat continues to be the most used communication app, with 24 minutes of use per day, very close to WhatsApp, to which one minute less is dedicated daily. Discord (19 minutes), Skype (9 minutes) and Telegram (7 minutes) are other communication services that stand out in this section.

Finally, Qustodio has pointed out that the use of technology by minors represents a growing concern for parents due to the high risks it entails, with exposure to adult content being what worries 73 percent of parents the most.

Technology addiction is another source of concern for 83 percent of parents, who say they agree or strongly agree that their children spend more time using devices than they would like. For this reason, 76 percent of adults put away children’s terminals during specific times of the day, such as bedtime, to encourage responsible use of technology.

Despite this, the average age at which minors receive their first mobile phone is 12 years old, which coincides with the beginning of secondary education. However, only 22 percent of fathers and mothers consider that it is a good age to take this step and, in reality, it is an issue on which there is little consensus among families. This is because one in ten believes that they should not have a smartphone until they are 16 years old.