If 31% of 2nd graders actually use X, I’ll eat my hat

But there was one statistic that made my head spin: 31% of 7- to 9-year-olds use the X (Twitter) app.

I’m sorry, but… I can’t believe there’s any way in any possible universe that’s true.

According to Pew, which is a reliable source of survey data, using sound methodology, as of 2023, only 22% of the adults in the US they said they used X and only 20% of 13-17 year olds said the same. (Pew does not track social media usage for children under 13.)

Don’t just get it from Pew. X CEO Linda Yaccarino, while testifying before Congress last winter with other social media CEOs, said that less than 1 percent of X users in the US were between 13 and 18 years old. (X, like most platforms, doesn’t allow users under 13, though obviously some kids sneak in.)

But let’s also think about it practically. Do you know any second graders? I happen to live with one. He thinks Elon Musk is really cool because if you’re 7 years old and you’ve seen a Cybertruck, you’d think it was extremely cool. However, he and his colleagues have no interest or awareness of the concept of X or Twitter. I know many children from 7 to 9 years old; I’ve never heard of any of them using X.

Qustodio’s report says that for this age group, Roblox is the most popular app, followed by YouTube. That sounds about right.

What about X?

Parents might be the ones actually using X – and Amazon Shopping

I turned to Qustodio to ask how to interpret this bizarre number.

Emily Lawrenson, Qustodio’s content and communications manager, told me that “it’s not that kids are actively posting on X; simply that 31% of that age group used the app in 2023. We’d be inclined to credit this out of sheer curiosity. at this age”.

I asked if this could be because a child was using a device they shared with an adult.

“We considered using the profile rather than the device itself to avoid this, as the profiles on Qustodio are individual to each child,” said Lawrenson.

“It is important to note that access does not equal engagement; rather, it can include opening the app and running it. Also important to note is the ease with which X can be accessed; a simple online search that children do. regularly about a certain topic of interest can give an X result, which, once clicked, can cause the child to download the app and see the app,” Lawrenson said.

But the X app doesn’t let you see tweets if you’re not signed in, so it’s actually not that easy to accidentally browse. It’s also rated 17+ on the App Store and Google Play, which means if a parent has set age limits for app downloads, it wouldn’t be easy for a child to simply get it.

I have a theory: Many parents probably set up their kids’ iPads using their own adult iCloud account, because iPads don’t let you switch between multiple user accounts, and creating a whole new iCloud account for a kid is a lot . more work. (I recommend doing it though, as it’s worth the hassle!)

Apple’s parental controls are solid, but require creating a new iCloud account (and creating a new email address for it), adding it as a child under a family plan, and then fiddling with settings on both the parent’s devices, as well as those of the child. It’s quite possible that some parents would rather use a third-party solution like Qustodio than deal with Apple’s slightly confusing settings.

In these cases, a parent might occasionally use the iPad and add things like X, even though the Qustodio profile would be for the child.

Another indication that this might be the case is that Qustodio found that Amazon’s shopping app was used by 41% of 7- to 9-year-olds, even though, like X, it was only used for a few minutes per day, on average.

Device sharing might explain why these adult apps are even available for kids.

So why does this matter?

Technology companies often publish reports of survey results or data analysis like this. It is a good way to get advertising and understand user behavior. I get PR pitches like this all the time and sometimes they are enlightening and interesting! A company that monitors children’s screen time would probably have some very interesting information and data about an issue that is currently a huge conversation. (TechCrunch weighed in on this report on Qustodio and wrote about it.)

But when a company writes these reports with its own data and methodology, you have to be a little skeptical. Qustodio wants to sell screen time monitoring software to parents – it would be in the company’s best interest to raise the potential dangers of screen time. And yes, the idea of ​​almost a third of 7 to 9 year olds being on X is very scary!

I don’t think Qustodio just made up some fake numbers. But I think there might be more to the story of what’s going on behind this data.

It also shows that when it comes to screen time and kids, there’s a lot we don’t know.