Social networking: research among kids
The Future Foundation’s Richard Nicholls on highlights from Future Foundation’s 2012 wave of kids research from their nVision service.
In total 78% of children belong to a social networking site – up slightly from 75% in our 2011 research. Facebook penetration was the highest at 49% (statistically identical to last year’s 50%). Moshi Monsters gained from 22% to 25%, moving into second place at the expense of Club Penguin.
Social networking penetration is higher among girls and older kids. 94% of girls aged 12-15 belong to at least one social networking site; 88% of boys aged 12-15; 71% of girls aged 7-11; 56% of boys aged 7-11.
At present, 80% of 12-15 years olds use Facebook. The social networking site has become embedded in the older children’s lives, with over 70% in this age group claiming to login most days of the week. 17% of children aged under 12 claim to be a member of Facebook despite the site’s over-13 policy.
Sharing links via social media is becoming even more popular among older kids. 69% of 12-15 year olds now share links on a social networking site (up from 63% last year). And the majority (64%) usually do click on the links their friends share.
A significant minority of this age group also engage with brands via social media with 41% agreeing that “I keep up with a brand, product or company via a social networking site (e.g. by becoming a ‘follower’ or ‘liking’ it on Facebook)”. This is slightly more popular among girls (44%).
At Future Foundation we often refer to the trend of ‘smart networking’ – individuals becoming more conscious of their online footprint, more aware of the potential dangers thereof and savvier about how to manage their online identity and presence. This trend is also very strong among kids. 73% of boys and 85% of girls aged 12-15 have utilised restrictions to limit who can view their profile page.
Among the overwhelming majority of 12-15 year olds who are on Facebook, 75% log on daily and 37% several times a day. This rises to 83% and 44% among girls aged 12-15. Only 8% log on less than once a week.
However, some of this engagement is silent. A lower proportion of kids (31%) in this age group update their status daily, only one in nine (11%) several times a day and just over a third (34%) update their status less than once a week.
Facebook is proving an important platform for 12-15 year olds to both document their leisure time as well as to fill it. This is the trend we call ‘performative leisure’ which we have documented as being especially prominent among young adults – real-time broadcasts of leisure lives and status updates are seen as a route to social capital. It is also popular among kids. Half of Facebook users in the 12-15 age group state that they upload photos at least once a week, rising to 59% of girls.
In the context of all this sharing of links and uploading of photos, it is worth noting that the average number of friends children have on Facebook has risen. Facebook users under 16 have an average of 205 friends, up from 176 in 2011. Girls have an average of 226 friends against 184 for boys, though this gap has narrowed.
Fieldwork for this survey was conducted online during July 2012 among a sample of 1,018 7-15 year olds.