Baby Shark, ASMR videos and beluga: children's viewing trends over the past year

A new Kaspersky Safe Kids study has revealed the most viewed children’s interests between May 2022 and April 2023. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and MSA previously My Story Animated became the most popular cartoons watched online. The “Baby Shark” song was the most searched term among kids on YouTube, while the trendiest gaming bloggers were Aphmau, Dream and Technoblade.

Modern children receive devices in their hands from a young age and begin navigating cyberspace early. There they can explore the world, make friends, play games and learn. Kaspersky examined children's online queries to understand what excited and interested them over the past year. The new analysis is based on anonymized data – search queries, the most popular Android applications and website categories requested – voluntarily provided by Kaspersky Safe Kids users.

Globally, the most popular apps on Android from May 2022 to April 2023 included YouTube (33%), TikTok (18%) and WhatsApp (18%). Roblox took fourth place (7%). On Windows, the most popular apps were Google Chrome (46%), Microsoft Edge (13%) and kids' favorite communication app, Discord (10%).

During the same period, the most popular apps on Android for Filipino users of Kaspersky's Safe Kids included YouTube (26.50%), TikTok (18.45%) and Messenger (14.85%). Roblox took fourth place (11.40%). On Windows, the most popular apps were Google Chrome (43.44%), Microsoft Office (10.65%) and Microsoft Edge (10.47%).

As for YouTube, children worldwide most often searched for channels and bloggers that shoot entertainment content— challenges or lifestyle (19%) channels, for example. Cartoons, TV shows and anime (17%) were the next most popular topics. The third place was occupied by musical performers (15.7%). Game bloggers accounted for 15.5% of the searches and game content for 10%.

MrBeast and SSSniperWolf were the trendiest among bloggers and channels.

Among cartoons (46%), 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 (16%). And the most beloved films among children were Super Mario Bros. Movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat.

“Baby Shark” was the most requested song among kids. In terms of musical preferences, Korean pop groups BLACKPINK and BTS, the rap genre, and Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny became the leaders.

Aphmau, Dream, and Technoblade were the top trending inquiries for gaming bloggers by number of requests during the reporting period. 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 were also very popular, with “Asmr eating” and “asmr makeup” being the most searched sounds.

Beluga Cat

“Last year was rich in terms of events that appealed to children's audiences. In addition to the Evergreen themes that are consistently popular with kids, there were a large number of "seasonal" stories connected to the new animation movie releases. At the same time, all these trends are equally important and interesting to 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 an excellent help, which, in addition to keeping children safe of children on the network, can display what they are interested in”. comments Anna Larkina, web content analysis expert at Kaspersky.

To ensure children have a positive online experience, Kaspersky recommends that as a parent you:

• Involve yourself in your children’s online activities from an early age, so that this is the established norm, and you can then mentor them on online safety practices
• Consider downloading parental control apps and discussing this topic with your child to explain how such apps work and why they’re needed to stay safe online
• Make conversations about cybersecurity more enjoyable and interesting by discussing the topic with your child through games and other entertaining formats
• Spend more time communicating with your kids about online safety measures. Try paying attention to your own habits. Do you use your smartphone when eating or chatting? See if there are any patterns of your kids mimicking your habits? Do they react in a different way when you put your phone away?
• 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.