Youth Internet Monitor 2025: Increase in Use of WhatsApp, Instagram and Co.

The five most frequently used networks have not changed, but their ranking has. Meanwhile, ChatGPT has established itself as a significant source of information, as can be seen from the Youth Internet Monitor 2025 of the EU initiative Saferinternet.at, which was published on Wednesday.

Youth Internet Monitor 2025: WhatsApp Remains Number One Among Young People

405 children and teenagers aged eleven to seventeen were surveyed. WhatsApp has successfully defended its first place among the most popular internet platforms of Austrian youth (total use: 87 percent, of which 82 percent daily). In second place is YouTube (80/47), followed by Snapchat (74/89) and Instagram (73/78) as well as TikTok (72/87). New to the ranking is the platform Microsoft Teams, which is used by at least 35 percent of the youth, thus making it to sixth place. The platform has - especially due to the Corona pandemic - also made its way into everyday school life. "The ability to send pictures for one-time viewing and new communication possibilities via channels and communities have probably increased the popularity of WhatsApp again," concluded Barbara Buchegger, educational director of Saferinternet.at.

Three Quarters of Respondents Use Chatbots According to Youth Internet Monitor 2025

The platform Discord, originating from the gaming sector, has declined. Used by a third of Austrian youth in 2024, it has seen a decrease of six percentage points (total use: 26 percent). The gaming platform Roblox, on the other hand, was able to increase by five percentage points compared to the previous year (total use: 24 percent). The survey on the topic of chatbots showed that three quarters of the surveyed youth (75 percent) have used AI chatbots like ChatGPT at least once. There are significant differences in the use of AI chatbots between the age group of eleven to fourteen-year-olds (67 percent) and that of fifteen to seventeen-year-olds (84). ChatGPT is most frequently used directly on the OpenAI platform (92 percent), followed by the Snapchat chatbot MyAI (45). Only twelve percent of respondents use the AI chatbot from Microsoft via the Bing search engine.

(APA/Red)

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