Glasgow children most active on social media in UK

Glasgow has been named as the '˜kids social media capital' of the UK by a new survey.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th May 2016, 12:29 BST
Updated 4th May 2016, 13:35 BST

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

The study also revealed that 62 per cent of 11-year-olds and 69 per cent of 12-year-olds have a Facebook profile, despite there being an age minimum of 13 to sign up to the site. Picture: John DevlinThe study also revealed that 62 per cent of 11-year-olds and 69 per cent of 12-year-olds have a Facebook profile, despite there being an age minimum of 13 to sign up to the site. Picture: John Devlin
The study also revealed that 62 per cent of 11-year-olds and 69 per cent of 12-year-olds have a Facebook profile, despite there being an age minimum of 13 to sign up to the site. Picture: John Devlin

According to the study, children in Glasgow make an average of 47 posts on social media a day, more than anywhere else in the UK.

In contrast, children in Edinburgh post just 13.6 times per day - the second lowest in the UK.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Scotland’s capital city, however, was found to be the Skype central of Britain with 44 per cent of children on the video messaging platform.

1,000 children aged between 11 and 16 years-old were questioned for the survey by Internet Matters, the not-for-profit organisation which helps parents keep their children safe online, to find out how they are living their lives online.

Read More
Which Scottish party leader is the most Instagrammed?

Findings revealed that 62 per cent of 11-year-olds and 69 per cent of 12-year-olds have a Facebook profile, despite there being an age minimum of 13 to sign up to the site.

Kids as young as 11 years-old were found to have an average of 100 followers, only 40 per cent of which were “real friends”. Four out of ten kids admitted to removing the privacy settings, intended to keep them safe, to attract more followers.

While just over half always set their profiles to “private”, 8 per cent said they never did.

Of those surveyed, 67 per cent said that the number of followers or friends they had on social media was important to them.

Half of them said they would “always” or “sometimes” accept friend requests from people they had never met.

The average child was found to have 144 friends on Facebook, 125 on Instagram, 114 Twitter followers and 90 on Snapchat. Despite this, they said they only have 43 friends in real life away from social media.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The survey by Internet Matter, which helps parents keep their children safe online, reported that some children are facing pressure to be on social media by friends.

Over half of children thought they spent too long on social media, with 62 per cent of parents thinking the same.

Associate Professor Dr Emma Bond, an expert in children and mobile technologies at University Campus Suffolk, said: “Childhood is a time when friendship is really important.”

DOWNLOAD THE SCOTSMAN APP ON ITUNES OR GOOGLE PLAY

Related topics:GlasgowScotlandFacebookEdinburgh