A new Kaspersky Safe Kids study revealed the most-viewed children’s interests between March and May 2022, which include, among others, Oscars Awards, “Backrooms” Game, and the newly released single and video of K-pop star PSY in collaboration with BTS’ Suga titled “That That.”

According to Kaspersky data, children have been closely following all these events, which have influenced their interests. The cybersecurity solutions firm analyzed anonymized data voluntarily provided by Kaspersky Safe Kids users, such as search queries, the most popular Android applications, and website categories requested.

During the first quarter, Kaspersky found that children were interested in the software, audio, and video (43.6%); internet communication (17.2%); and e-commerce (16.1%) web categories. The most popular apps on Android included YouTube (31.6%), TikTok (19%) and WhatsApp (18.3%). For Windows programs, in first place with a huge lead, was Google Chrome (44.7%); Microsoft’s browser, Microsoft Edge, managed to get 12.6%; and in third place was messaging platform, Discord, with a share of 9.8%.

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As for popular events, Will Smith’s infamous Oscars’ slap globally captured kids’ attention and was widely discussed throughout the spring. Hollywood celebrities Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s divorce trial, and speculation about the “Spiderman” celebrity couple, Zendaya and Tom Holland, were trending pop-culture topics.

Kaspersky was surprised to see that children also frequently searched for UwU, which is an emoticon depicting a cute face.

Gaming

The data showed that “The Backrooms” game has become popular among children in recent months. It is a creepypasta (referring to horror-related content on the internet) that puts the player in an endless maze of randomly generated office rooms. It includes several levels that gamers must explore. The game “Among US” has been trending downwards for the past few months, with kids losing almost all interest in it.

Music is also one of the most popular categories on YouTube. Among the top leaders was a new music video, “That That,” by PSY, produced with and featuring BTS star, SUGA. Another popular newcomer was “We Don’t Talk About Bruno (From “Encanto”).”

Many of children’s YouTube requests were devoted to the channel, “My Story Animated.” This channel animates stories, claimed to be real, sent to them by teenagers. For movies, the leaders were “The Bad Guys,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” “Rock Dog 2,” and “Heartstopper.”

To ensure children have a positive online experience, Kaspersky recommends that as a parent:

• Involve yourself in your children’s online activities from an early age, so that this is the established norm, and you can then mentor them on online safety practices
• Consider downloading parental control apps and discussing this topic with your child to explain how such apps work and why they’re needed to stay safe online
• Make talks about cybersecurity more enjoyable and interesting by discussing it with your child through games and other entertaining formats
• Spend more time communicating with your kids about online safety measures. Try paying attention to your own habits. Do you use your smartphone when eating or chatting? See if there are any patterns of your kids mimicking your habits? Do they react in a different way when you put your phone away?
• Ask your child not to agree to any privacy settings on their own and to ask for help from you instead. Adults should get into the habit of reading all privacy agreements.