How parents are catching up with their kids in the digital playground

• Parents overtake children in uploading photos, videos and music
• ‘Death of the desktop computer’ as six out of 10 parents turn to smartphones to go online
• Rise in older generations on Instagram and Snapchat as they close the gap in understanding latest tech

 The poll shows how, in the space of nine months, parents have started to play digital catch-up and are becoming more in tune with the online worlds of their children.
 
Encouragingly, mums and dads now know more about the social media networks, apps and the technology their children are using daily – allowing them to be more aware of how to keep them safer online. Meanwhile, the way parents are accessing and using the Internet is switching, as they make ground on the younger generation.
 
The research comes from the second wave of the Internet Matters Pace of Change Report, carried out by Childwise, which monitors the evolving online habits, behaviours and internet use of children versus parents.
 
It reveals:

• Parents are no longer far behind in terms of smartphone usage. While the majority of children aged between eight and 16 used a smartphone as their main device to go online (61%), parents using a smartphone had risen from 53% to 59%.
• More parents are now turning to the internet to help with their children’s homework. (48% up from 40%).
• The amount of parents watching video clips has gone up from 42% to 55% (compared to 61% of children).
• The amount uploading photos, videos and music has overtaken children – going from 29% to 38%.
• Those using the internet for listening to music has increased from 40% to 50%.

It also showed how parents were getting to grips with the social media networks their children are most likely to be on, with more taking to Snapchat and Instagram. The level of understanding of those apps had also escalated.
 
Carolyn Bunting, General Manager of Internet Matters, said:  “Internet Matters has always campaigned for parents to play an active role in the digital lives of their children and it is encouraging to see that the gulf between parents and their children is beginning to close when it comes to knowledge about internet usage, and social media platforms.
 
“Having an understanding of the apps and websites they use is key to helping them explore the web in safety and benefit from everything it has to offer.
 
“However, there is still a lot of work to do. We would encourage all parents to keep talking to their children about what they do online and have conversations about some of the potential risks they may encounter.”
 
Although parents now know more about different apps (an increasing amount were using Skype and Google+), their most popular social media platform remained as Facebook followed by WhatsApp, now used by 42% of parents compared to 34% nine months ago.
 
In comparison, Snapchat overtook Facebook to become children’s top social media site, with Instagram in second place and Facebook dropping to third.
 
And while both parents and children showed signs of embracing the latest technology and finding new, more convenient ways to use the internet, one casualty from the pace of change was clear to see.
 
RIP the humble desktop computer - now only used by 36% of parents and 25% of children.
 
 
 
About Internet Matters
Internet Matters (internetmatters.org) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which aims to help parents keep their children safe online. It was founded by the UK’s four major broadband providers; BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media, with the BBC and Google joining as partners in 2016.
 
Pace of Change Report (Wave 2)
 
Background
 
The second wave of the Internet Matters’ Pace of Change survey was carried out in May 2016, following the first wave in September 2015.  For Wave 2, a cross section of 1,000 parents and 1,000 children aged between 8-16 were surveyed.
 
Results

• 53% of parents befriended their children on social media – (up from 52%).
• 59% of parents normally used a smartphone to go online (up from 53%). Kids: 61%.
• 60% of parents used a tablet to go online (up from 52%). Kids: 52%.
• 23% used a games console to access the internet (up from 18%)  Kids: 31%.
• 36% of parents used a desktop computer to go online (down from 38%) Kids: 25%.
• 20% of parents accessed the internet through the television, or smart TV (up from 13%). Kids: 22%.
•  66% used a laptop to go online (unchanged). Kids: 48%.
• More parents are now turning to the internet to help with their children’s homework. (48% up from 40%).
• The amount of parents watching video clips went up from 42% to 55%. Kids: 61%.
• 38% of parents used the internet to upload videos (up from 29%). Kids: 29%.
• Parents using the internet for listening to music increased from 40 to 50%. Kids: 62%.
• 16% of parents normally used Snapchat (up from 14%). Kids: 58%.
• 26% of parents used Instagram (up from 19%). Kids: 54%.
• 42% of parents used WhatsApp (up from 34%). Kids: 35%.
• Parents who said they knew either a little bit, quite a bit or a lot about Snapchat went from 58% to 68%. Those who knew about Instagram went from 71% to 79%.
• Parents who knew more about “riskier” apps such as Ask.fm (26 to 32%); Kik (21% to 25%) and Periscope (16 to 23%).

Top 10 social media sites: Parents v Kids
(Answering the question: Which of these websites or apps do you normally use?

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