YouTube, Roblox and Baby Shark: Kaspersky presents study results on children’s digital preferences in Saudi Arabia

Modern children get digital devices at a young age and begin navigating the cyberspace early – they explore the world, make friends, play games and learn. On International Children’s Day, a new Kaspersky Safe Kids study published on Kaspersky Daily reveals children’s digital interests & preferences. Over the last months, the three most popular apps on Android among children in Saudi Arabia were YouTube (37,9%), Roblox (14,2%) and TikTok (10,5%). On Windows, the most popular apps were Google Chrome (47,1%), Microsoft Edge (17,9%) and Microsoft Office (8,9%). 

The new study covers the period from May 2022 to April 2023 and isbased on anonymized data – search queries, apps most often used, and websites most visited. The data was voluntarily provided by Kaspersky Safe Kids users. Analyzing the data helped to understand children’s interests throughout the year. 

Globally on YouTube children most often searched for channels and bloggers that create entertainment content (for example, challenges or lifestyle clips; these amounted to 19% of all queries). Cartoons, TV shows and anime (17%) were the second most popular topic. The third place went to music videos (15.7%). Game bloggers accounted for 15,5% of the searches, and other game content for 10%.

MrBeast and SSSniperWolf were the trendiest globally among bloggers and channels.

Among cartoons, kids most frequently searched for Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir season 5, and MSA previously My Story Animated. Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, and One Piece became the leaders in the number of anime inquiries. And the most beloved films among children were Super Mario Bros. Movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat.

Baby Shark was the most often searched for song among children. In terms of musical preferences, Korean pop groups BLACKPINK and BTS, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, and the rap genre in general were the leaders.

Aphmau, Dream, and Technoblade were the top trending search queries for gaming bloggers. Children’s favorite games besides Roblox and Minecraft were Brawl Stars, Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and Stumble Guys.

Other popular trends include queries related to Gacha Life. This includes videos from the game, TikTok, mini-movies and more.

As for memes, over the last year ‘beluga’, ‘skibidi bop’, ‘gigachad’, and ‘countryhumans’ were the most popular among children. ASMR videos – those consisting of simulating sensory content such as whispering, crisp sounds, slow movements, that cause the person to relax – were also very popular, with ‘Asmr eating’ and ‘asmr makeup’ being the most searched for.

Beluga cat

“Last year was rich in terms of events that appealed to children. In addition to the Evergreen themes that are consistently popular with kids, there were many "seasonal" stories connected to the new animation movie releases. At the same time, all these trends are equally important and interesting for children, which means that parents can also join in and take a closer look at current trends to build more trusting relationships with their own kids. In this, a reliable parental assistant solution can be of great help. In addition to keeping children safe online, it can inform the parents of what the children’s interests are,” comments Anna Larkina, web content analysis expert at Kaspersky.

To ensure children have a positive online experience, Kaspersky gives the following recommendations to parents: 

• Involve yourself in your children’s online activities from an early age so that you can then mentor them on online safety practices.
• Consider using parental control apps and discussing this topic with your child to explain how such apps work. Specifically, the Kaspersky Safe Kids solution is available within the Kaspersky Premium subscription. 
• Make conversations about cybersecurity more effective & engaging by discussing the topic with your child through games and other entertaining formats. 
• Spend more time communicating with your kids about online safety measures. 
• Ask your child not to agree to any privacy settings on their own and to ask for help from you instead. Adults should get into the habit of reading all privacy agreements.