If you’re a grandparent – or aunt or uncle or even parent – of a tween or teen, you are painfully aware of how much time the younger generation now spends on their smartphones, tablets and other devices.
It’s more than a casual observation that these kids aren’t far from their phones – according to a 2019 report by Common Sense Media, which is a nonprofit that promotes safe tech use for children, “teens spend an average of seven hours and 22 minutes on their phones a day, and tweens – ages 8 to 12 – are not far behind, at four hours and 44 minutes daily” (Oct. 29, 2019).
So what are the kids looking at all those hours – and possibly even more now that everyone’s pandemic homebound and on their devices for everything from school to entertainment? Prime reached out to the parents of teens and tweens to get a read on what the kids are “watching” these days.
Here’s a breakdown of what we learned about what’s on the phones of teens and tweens, and a brief description of each app or service:
Clubhouse – Clubhouse is an invitation-only audio-chat social networking app launched in 2020 by software developers Alpha Exploration Co.
Basically, it lets you listen in on live phone conversations of people who want to be heard – like celebrities and other influencers. The app is only available for iPhones (IOS) for now, and right now, you have to be invited by a current clubhouse user to join. (https://www.joinclubhouse.com/)
Discord – According to a definition in the app, “Discord is a free voice, video, and text chat app that’s used by tens of millions of people ages 13-plus to talk and hang out with their communities and friends. It’s most widely used by small and active groups of people who talk regularly. The vast majority of servers are private, invite-only spaces; there are also larger, more open communities, generally centered around specific topics such as popular games like Minecraft and Fortnite. All conversations are opt-in, so people have total control over who they interact with and what their experience on Discord is. Parental controls are available. For Mac or through a browser. (https://discord.com/).
Messenger Kids – According to an explanation on the app, Messenger Kids is a free video calling and messaging app for smartphones and tablets. Parents manage the contact list, and “kids control the fun.” Keep in touch with close friends and family with fun-filled features like filters and stickers. Released by Facebook in 2017, it’s billed as a safer alternative to Facebook Messenger and includes a parental dashboard, and videos to help parents understand how the service works. (https://messengerkids.com/)
Twitch – “Twitch is the world’s leading live streaming platform for gamers and the things we love. Watch and chat now with millions of other fans from around the world. It is popular with individuals who play video games such as Minecraft, Fortnite, Grand theft Auto 5, Valorant, Call of Duty: Warzone, and other games. There’s also a “Just chat” steam, as well as influencers who create their own channels and games. Available on TVs and devices. (https://www.twitch.tv/)
TikTok – Undeniably one of the most popular apps across all generations – did you see the Travolta’s in the Super Bowl ad? – TikTok is the Chinese-owned video-sharing app that has made short-form videos a household obsession (similar to Vine a few years ago). TikTokers use the platform to make a variety of videos from genres like dance, comedy, and education, which have duration from three seconds to one minute. (https://www.tiktok.com/)
Snapchat – Do you Snap? Some elders do! According to Wikipedia, this multimedia-messaging app, which activates your camera as soon as you log in, is one of the most popular ways for teens and young adults to communicate. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients (https://www.snapchat.com)
Instagram – Not a new app, but one that younger users prefer to Facebook. Instagram describes itself as ”A simple, fun & creative way to capture, edit & share photos, videos & messages with friends & family.” the app recently added a video messaging service similar to Snapchat. (https://www.instagram.com/)
YouTube – Another familiar app, and one that’s had a lot of acceptance across generations. What’s your favorite YouTube channel? The app is popular for sharing video, music and content that users create an upload. Hashtags help sort channels. (https://www.youtube.com).
Twitter – You’re probably familiar with this app through all the political notice it got during the last Administration, and the election, but it’s also a very popular way for teens and tweens to communicate! The microblogging and social networking service allows users to post and interact with messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like and retweet tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Users can follow their interests; see what people are talking about. (https://twitter.com).
