A surprising number of “iPad kids,” or Generation Alpha 7- to 9-year-olds, are using X (formerly Twitter), according to a report on kids' app usage in the U.S. released Monday by parental control software maker Qustodio. The company found that more than 30 percent of kids in this group have an X account, and 44 percent already have their own tablet to access apps and games.
X doesn't seem to have much content that would attract younger users — the platform tends to feature politics and breaking news, and has had its fair share of misinformation under Elon Musk's rule — as well as Musk's own political views, including praise for Trump. But Qustodio speculates that X's integration with Google Search, which allows X posts to appear directly in search results, may be helping to draw this younger demographic.
Qustodio told TechCrunch that it believes kids' use of X is primarily driven by curiosity.
The report predicts that many kids discovered X when they Googled something they were interested in and saw a post on X linking to a search result that featured a discussion on that topic. Meanwhile, parents often consider X an “old” app and therefore may not be tempted to block or restrict it as they do with other social media apps like TikTok and Snapchat. Unfortunately, parental ignorance can expose kids to inappropriate content. The report notes that X can expose these young kids to hate speech, pornography and disinformation, pointing to reports that 13% of X's posts are adult content.
Qustodio's data is particularly interesting because it comes from an analysis of kids' actual app usage, rather than surveys. The company runs a parental control software service that gives a bird's-eye view of which apps and games kids use regularly, which ones parents are most likely to block, and which apps are popular among which age groups.
In its latest report, based on anonymous usage data from nearly 180,000 homes with children, the company found that access to social media starts at a very early age: 31% of 7-9 year olds use X, 28% use Reddit, and 26% use Facebook.
Image credit: Qustodio
“In theory, kids as young as 7-9 years old are accessing apps like X and Reddit because parents don't know much about them or are less likely to block them because they're not that 'popular.' Both platforms can expose kids to explicit content like hate speech, pornography and misinformation,” Yasmin London, global online safety expert at Qustodio's parent company Qoria, said in a statement detailing the report's findings.
Additionally, the report found that 42% of U.S. children have their own smartphone by the age of 10. And 40% of children between the ages of 10 and 40% start using the TikTok app for an average of 121 minutes per day, which equates to about 240 videos, assuming an average video length of 30 seconds.
Among 10-12 year olds, Roblox and YouTube were the most popular apps, used by 62% and 59% of kids respectively, but usage of X rose to 41% among this age group, followed by Reddit at 39% and Facebook at 36%.
Image credit: Qustodio
As kids reach their teenage years, Roblox usage begins to decline, dropping to 52% among 13-15 year olds, while Spotify (66%), YouTube (62%) and Amazon Shopping (56%) are the three most popular apps. TikTok is used by 47% of this group, spending an average of 127 minutes a day on it.
Snapchat is also growing in popularity, with 38% of teens spending an average of 94 minutes a day on the app. Social apps like X and Reddit are also popular with this group, with 44% of users using each, followed by Facebook at 42%.
Image credit: Qustodio
For young Gen Zers ages 16-18, the top three apps remain Spotify (69%), YouTube (60%) and Amazon (52%). Additionally, 42% spend an average of 108 minutes a day on TikTok, followed by 72 minutes a day on Instagram. Discord and Snapchat are also the most popular communication apps, used by 40% and 39% of this group, respectively. X and Reddit are also used by 40% of these teens, but Facebook now comes out on top at 43%, just ahead of TikTok.
Of course, this data comes from parental control software manufacturers, so in the real world, these percentages could be even higher as parents aren't using app blocking or screen time software to control app usage. Plus, as Qustodio noted, the high usage of platforms like X, Reddit, and Facebook could indicate that parents aren't as concerned about blocking these apps as they are with others.
Image credit: Qustodio
We reached out to Company X for comment, but the company no longer has a PR team reporting to Musk.