In its latest Playground Buzz report of UK kids ages seven to 16, market research agency Childwise has revealed that Snapchat has surpassed YouTube as the most popular website/app among children.
The result is significant, given the fact that YouTube has reigned supreme for the last two years in the agency’s research reports, which are released in the spring, summer and fall seasons each year. Another recent report of under-12s from Canadian market research firm Ipsos and DHX Media also cited that YouTube was the most-loved brand among kids across North America and the UK, and the most popular source of streamed content.
But with the new Childwise report, a shift may be imminent as kids’ behaviors around and usage of social media and video-sharing sites evolves.
The study speculates that because almost all children use YouTube, with half using it daily (Childwise Monitor Report), it has perhaps become over-familiar and a less exciting place to visit.
From a sample base of more than 1,000 children who were asked about their favorite brands, the Childwise report also affirmed that the increasingly popular user-generated kids gaming site Roblox is beating long-running platform Minecraft in the favorite website/app category. Roblox moved to number five, while Minecraft fell to its lowest spot ever at number eight.
SVOD giant Netflix is also gaining ground and returned to the number seven spot since its last appearance in the spring/summer 2015 report.
As for the most talked about brands in the playground, Xbox reclaimed the top spot after it last held the position throughout 2015.
Interestingly, the Pokémon brand was number three, despite few recent mentions by kids surveyed of the Pokémon Go augmented reality game.
Rounding out the results, Spongebob Squarepants, which Nickelodeon just renewed for a 12th season, topped the list of favorite children’s TV programs. It was followed by Pretty Little Liars, The Walking Dead, The Simpsons, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Match of the Day, The Flash, Hollyoaks, Teen Wolf and Family Guy.