YouTube has long been the dominant video website for all generations around the world, but TikTok have finally pushed past it.

There are two primary places you go to when you want to watch videos: YouTube and TikTok. YouTube might be more of a purposeful destination, whilst TikTok is a place for casual entertainment, to just see what’s playing.

The lines between the two platforms have become more blurred in recent years as YouTube Shorts replicate the vertical, short-form of TikTok. Meanwhile, TikTok are eschewing their less-than-1-minute origins with tests of up to 30-minute long videos. TikTok have even begun experimenting with landscape videos.

As each service vies to become a video platform for all occasions, the competition heats up. We recently reported that, despite TikTok’s dominance in the attention economy, YouTube still beat them out. Even amongst teens, an astonishing 93% reported using YouTube compared to 63% of US teens using TikTok. However, the same report showed that teens were using TikTok more regularly than YouTube.

Sorry TikTok, YouTube is still teens’ favourite place to go

A new study conducted by Qustodio has similarly found that younger generations are using YouTube far more than TikTok. The report reveals that those aged 4-18 years spent an average of 112 minutes a day on TikTok in 2023. Yes, nearly 2 hours, every day. They found that kids are spending an average of 60% more time on TikTok than YouTube.

13-year old Bay explains: “I’m usually on my phone when I go somewhere and I’m bored. I like YouTube because I can follow my game people and see new tips and tricks. I like to watch the funny short clips too.”

The comprehensive study looked at the habits of over 400,000 families and schools. It looks at “real-world usage” across mobile and desktop in markets including the US, UK, Spain, Australia, and France.

In the report, they have distinguished TikTok as a social media app whilst YouTube is under streaming apps. So whilst the report doesn’t directly compare them, we can make the comparison based on the results. Qustodio found that kids and teens used YouTube for an average of 70 minutes a day, a decent result but far below the usage of TikTok.

In the data, YouTube takes the lead for attention amongst streaming services. Netflix is the second most-used platform, with an average of 46 minutes of use a day amongst 4-18 years olds. Disney+ followed in third place, with a dramatically lower average use of 31 minutes a day.

Qustodio wrote: “Free services YouTube and its little sister YouTube Kids stepped in to beat records, as screen hours climbed yet higher for another year on both platforms. This was especially true for content geared towards younger children, with watch time for YouTube Kids rising globally by 14% and hitting a staggering daily average of 96 minutes, the highest number seen since our research began in 2019.”

You can view their full report on media usage amongst kids here.

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