Children live-streaming from age of four

 Live-streaming is nearly as popular among nursery-age children as teenagers, research suggests.

Internet Matters, which educates parents about their children’s online behaviour, found that nearly as many four- and five-year-olds live-stream content as 14- to 16-year-olds.

Among the youngest children, 13 per cent use live-streaming apps to post content online, compared with 17 per cent of teenagers.

Almost one in three children aged between six and 10 post live content “sometimes”, the survey found. The research, which involved interviewing 2,000 parents, found that older teenagers were less likely to livestream as they were more imageconscious and busy with other things.

Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist who works with Internet Matters, said: “Instead of exploring a passion to become a singer or dancer by putting on a performance for the family, kids can log on to different platforms and feel as though they have a ready-made audience.”