Better Internet for Kids

The 6 most popular social networks in 2024 

1.    WhatsApp (76 per cent, -20per cent from 2023)
(2023: 96 per cent; 2022: 96 per cent; 2021: 98 per cent; 2020: 91 per cent; 2019: 83 per cent; 2018: 85 per cent; 2017: 93 per cent; 2016: 94 per cent).
2.    Instagram  (71 per cent, -4 per cent from 2023)
(2023: 75 per cent; 2022: 84 per cent; 2021: 84 per cent;  2020: 76 per cent ; 2019: 71 per cent; 2018: 63 per cent;  2017: 68 per cent; 2016: 55 per cent).
3.    YouTube | 70 per cent,-24 per cent from 2023)
(2023: 94 per cent; 2022: 95 per cent; 2021: 93 per cent; 2020: 91 per cent; 2019: 78 per cent; 2018: 81 per cent; 2017: 90 per cent; 2016: 87 per cent)
4.    TikTok | 65 per cent (-3 per cent from 2023)
(2023: 68 per cent; 2022: 70 per cent; 2021: 57 per cent; 2020: 42 per cent; 2019: 19 per cent; 2018: 17 per cent;  2017: 26 per cent)
5.    Snapchat | 61 per cent (-8 per cent from 2023)
(2023: 69 per cent; 2022: 70 per cent; 2021: 75 per cent; 2020: 62 per cent; 2019: 52 per cent;  2018: 59 per cent;  2017: 65 per cent;  2016: 52 per cent)
6.    Pinterest | 42 per cent (+3 per cent from 2023)
(2023: 39 per cent; 2022: 42 per cent; 2021: 39 per cent; 2020: 40 per cent)

Heavy losses for WhatsApp and YouTube

The most popular internet platform among young Austrians this year is once again WhatsApp (total use: 76 per cent, of which 77 per cent daily), closely followed by Instagram (total use: 71 per cent, of which 68 per cent daily) and YouTube (total use: 70 per cent, of which 51 per cent daily). However, WhatsApp  saw a steep decline in popularity, with a drop of 20 percentage points, while YouTube suffered a drop of 24 percentage points.
Due to the large number of platforms with sometimes similar functions, established social networks are becoming increasingly less relevant for 11-17-year-olds. Communication between young people has long been taking place via channels other than WhatsApp. YouTube is also becoming less and less relevant, especially among younger people, as all major networks now rely on video integration. The increasing use of established platforms by parents and grandparents may also be playing a role. To differentiate themselves from older generations, young people are increasingly moving away from large platforms and turning to newer ones where they can still feel undisturbed.
TikTok came fourth in this year's Youth Internet Monitor: the video app (total use: 65 per cent, of which 72 per cent daily) overtook  the photo-sharing app Snapchat (total 61 per cent, of which 72 per cent daily) in popularity for the first time. However, the two networks remain close in the ranking. Snapchat suffered the third-biggest loss year-on-year, with a fall of 8 percentage points from 2023. The digital pinboard Pinterest remains among the top six most used platforms with a total usage of 42 per cent. BeReal continued to grow this year and is now in 8th place with the largest increase of 13 percentage points (total usage: 31 per cent). X (formerly Twitter) also grew by six percentage points (total usage: 24 per cent). Telegram is back in the top 14 this year with 18 per cent total usage.

Large gender differences in social media use persist

As the Youth Internet Monitor 2024 shows, there are still large differences in social media use between genders. For the first time, WhatsApp is significantly more popular among the female target group (89 per cent) than among young men (65 per cent). The platforms Pinterest (girls: 53 per cent, boys: 31 per cent), Snapchat (girls: 72 per cent, boys: 52 per cent), Instagram (girls: 79 per cent, boys: 63 per cent) and YouTube (girls: 76 per cent, boys: 65 per cent) are also more popular with young female users.
In contrast, the gaming platforms Discord (girls: 13 per cent, boys: 48 per cent) and Twitch (girls: 7 per cent, boys: 39 per cent) continue to be used significantly more by boys. X (girls: 11 per cent, boys: 35 per cent) and the messenger services Telegram (girls: 10 per cent, boys: 25 per cent) and Signal (girls: 11 per cent, boys: 26 per cent) are also more popular among young men. Roblox, instead, shows the opposite trend. The online gaming platform was recently used equally by both sexes but is now more popular among boys (28 per cent) than girls (10 per cent).
Generative chatbots: ChatGPT is regularly used by young people 
The Youth Internet Monitor also looked at the use of generative chatbots, specifically ChatGPT. It was found that 71per cent of the young people interviewed had used this tool at least once, especially young males (78 per cent). It is noticeable that there is no difference between the age groups of 11–14-year-olds (70 per cent) and 15–17-year-olds (71 per cent). ChatGPT is mainly accessed directly on the OpenAI platform (81 per cent), followed by the Snapchat chatbot My AI (28 per cent). Only 8 per cent use ChatGPT via Microsoft's Bing search engine. In this context, there are also gender differences, especially concerning the My AI chatbot, which is mainly used by young women (41 per cent, boys: 19 per cent).

About the survey 

The online survey was carried out on a representative sample by the Institute for Youth Culture Research for the Youth Internet Monitor 2024. In December 2023, 400 young people between the ages of 11 and 17 were asked about their use of social networks.
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2024" PNG, PDF
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2023" PNG, PDF
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2022" PNG, PDF
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2021" PNG, PDF
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2020" PNG, PDF
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2019" PNG
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2018" PNG
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2017" PNG
•    Infographic "Youth Internet Monitor 2016" PNG
 

Find out more about the work of the Austrian Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services – or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.