What children have been looking for in the last year

A recent study by Kaspersky Safe Kids revealed the most popular searches among children. They found that SSundee, Aphmau and KreekCraft maintained their positions as the most popular gaming bloggers among children worldwide. In addition, the latest meme trend was found to be Gegagedigedagedago. Unexpectedly, BTS lost their place at the top as the most loved music group, while BABYMONSTER took the lead. In the animation sector, "My Story Animated" secured the top spot as the most searched animation among children. Interestingly, Subliminal, a horror game, has captured the attention of children worldwide even before its official release.

The Kaspersky report "Raising the smartphone generation" revealed that 87% of parents worldwide believe that they are primarily responsible for regulating their children's digital behaviour. To help parents effectively manage their children's online engagement, Kaspersky conducts an annual review of children's online interests. The analysis is based on anonymous data search queries, which are voluntarily provided by Kaspersky Safe Kids users. This year we analysed the query data for both mobile (Android) and desktop (Windows) platforms.

Overall, the list of the most popular Android apps includes YouTube (28%), TikTok, WhatsApp (each with 15%) and Instagram (only 9%). The situation is different on devices with Windows operating systems, where children spend most of their time on Google Chrome (36%), Microsoft Edge (13%) and Microsoft Office (10%). The picture is similar for Greek users, with YouTube (25.67%) emerging as the most popular Android app, followed by Tiktok (18.80%) and Instagram (18.01%). Similarly, Google Chrome (35.21%) is the most popular application for Windows operating system, with Microsoft Edge (11.63%) and Firefox (10%) in second and third place respectively.

As the most popular app, YouTube reflects the key trends and interests of today's children. This year, gaming influencers garnered the largest share of search requests, reaching 21%. The bloggers with the most searches were SSundee, Aphmau and CreekCraft. As for non-gaming influencers, MrBeast, SSSniperWolf and Sidemen remain the absolute leaders.

Another topic that interests kids is sports, with football, soccer and NBA being the top choices. The high level of interest in this topic was evident in both YouTube and Google searches.
Memes are usually a major part of the interests of children worldwide. This time the most notable was "Gegagedigedagedago" - Roblox Male Face's meme of Rednex's song "Cotton Eye Joe", which was misinterpreted.

In terms of music preferences (17%), notable trends among the kids include BABYMONSTER's SHEESH and JoJo Siwa's Karma - as well as remixes by Nightcore. The artists with the most searches were K-pop group BLACKPINK and pop icon Taylor Swift. Phonk remains the most popular genre of music among kids. Surprisingly, BTS recently experienced a drop in popularity and trails behind Olivia Rodrigo and even Kanye West's video "$, Ye, Ty Dolla $ign - CARNIVAL ft. Playboi Carti & Rich The Kid in terms of number of searches.

Among movies (16%), kids mostly searched for cartoons, TV shows and series. The animations with the highest demand were My Story Animated, '1 second of animated movies and Harzbin Hotel. In terms of series, the most requested requests were for Dhar Mann Studios, Queen of Tears and Avatar the Last Airbender from the Netflix version.

An interesting upcoming game is Subliminal. Based on the concept of "the Backrooms," it's a real-time horror puzzle game with ray tracing. Although it hasn't been released yet, information about it has already been eagerly sought out by kids.

• To ensure that children have a positive online experience, Kaspersky recommends that parents:
• Participate in your children's online activities from an early age so that this is the established norm and then you can guide them on online safety methods.
• Consider downloading digital parenting apps and discuss this with your child to explain how these apps work and why they need them to stay safe online.
• Make discussions about cyber safety more enjoyable and interesting by discussing the topic with your child through games and other fun formats.
• Spend more time communicating with your children about online safety measures. Try to pay attention to your own habits. Do you use your smartphone when you eat or chat? See if there are patterns of your children that mimic your habits. Do they react differently when you put your phone away?
• Ask your child not to agree to privacy settings on their own and ask for help from you. Adults should get into the habit of reading all privacy setting agreements.