Teens live for social media

Born and raised with screens, digital activities occupy an important place in the daily lives of Generation Alpha children. So much so that 54% of parents say their Gen Alpha child spends up to four hours a day on social media, a level similar to Gen Z’s younger members, according to a Morning Consult survey.

According to the Morning Consult research, 65% of older Gen Alpha children, aged 8-10 years, spend up to four hours a day on social media, compared to 56% of young members of Gen Z, 13-17 year olds. However, 41% of 13-17 year olds spend more than four hours on social networks every day.

Social media is an integral part of the lives of even the youngest North American children, with 24% of under-fours spending over an hour a day on social platforms and 22% going on such sites for less than an hour a day on, (compared to 5-7 year olds, 34% of whom spend an hour or more on these sites and 17% of whom spend less than an hour a day).

The study findings show that video streaming has become the norm for Alpha kids. Around half of parents of Gen Alpha children say their youngest child watches content on a video streaming platform at least once a day, compared to 40% for reading books and 37% for playing video games. The most popular video streaming platforms include YouTube, Disney+ and Netflix. However, these digital activities represent only a minority of Gen Alpha children’s interests. Some 36% of parents say their Gen Alpha children want to spend time indoors having screen time, compared to 55% for outdoor activities.

“Though social media doesn’t make the top three [activities] for the entire Gen Alpha group, it rises in importance for Alphas ages 8-10, right behind streaming video and playing video games,” says Morning Consult. –