Kaspersky recently released new Kaspersky Safe Kids research revealing the online content children around the world were most interested in during autumn 2021. For games, kids were frequently searching for Genshin Impact and Poppy Playtime. The most popular toys among kids were Barbie and Lego. In music, Coldplay surprisingly became popular among children following a collaboration with the K-Pop band BTS.
With the holiday season approaching, Kaspersky studied the anonymized search data of children in different areas (games, music and movies/cartoons) to help adults better understand their interests. The researchers also looked at the most popular Android applications and website categories, all voluntarily provided by Kaspersky Safe Kids users between September and November 2021.
Games
Gaming appeared to be the most popular topic on YouTube this fall, accounting for 28.4% of all queries.
Two newcomers hit the top game searches this year – Genshin Impact and Poppy Playtime. Minecraft came in second with 22.4%. Additionally, Minecraft’s Let’s Play series turned out to be more popular than Roblox, whose share of requests was 5.9%. Meanwhile, the leading gaming YouTube channels were MrBeast, EdisonPts and Paluten.
Music
Music-related queries ranked second in among YouTube searches with a share of 19.1%. The most popular musicians were BTS, BlackPink, Lil Nas X, Ariana Grande and Twice. The most well-known songs were CKay – Love Nwantiti, and two new tracks from one of the BlackPink members, LISA – “LALISA” and “MONEY”.
K-Pop remained popular among children. Thanks to the joint hit “My Universe” with Korean group BTS, Coldplay, which had not previously been featured, suddenly rose into the sphere of kids’ interests.
Movies and TV shows
12.1% of all requests were for films, cartoons and TV shows. Children were most frequently looking for cartoons – the share of queries was 56.4%. Most kids searched for Peppa Pig and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. The share of requests for TV shows was 35.3%. Leaders were the German show Hilf mir is the! Jung, pleite, verzweifelt and Berlin tag und nacht, Korean drama A Beauty of Revenge, and Mr. Bean. When it came to movies, children were mostly interested in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Toys and gifts
As for search queries related to toys and gifts, LEGO and Barbie were the leaders. From the educational sphere, children were most interested in the animal world and experiments in chemistry and physics.
Apps
According to the statistics, children spent the most time on YouTube, which accounted for 31.4% of the total time spent on the top 10 popular apps. WhatsApp finished second with a share of 19.2%, followed by TikTok at 18.8%.
To ensure children have a positive online experience, Kaspersky recommends that parents:
- Set clear ground rules about what children can and can’t do online and explain why they have been put in place. These will need reviewing as children get older.
- Involve themselves in children’s online activities from an early age, so it becomes the established norm.
- Surf and learn together. See where children spend their time online and explore how to best keep them safe.
- Consider downloading parental control apps and discuss the topic with their children to explain how such apps work and why they need them to stay secure online.
