Study: 85% of young Romanians with Internet access go online every day

Some 85% of the young Romanians aged between 5 and 16, who have access to the Internet, go online on a daily basis, according to the Bold by Profero study. Moreover, they spend more than five hour per day, on average, on social networks. The study also shows that the average age at which the Romanian children receive their first tech gadgets is 8.5 years in the case of tablets, 9 years for computers, 10 years for smartphones, and 11 years for other smart devices. However, most Romanian children have access to the parents’ devices before owning one. “The technology brought in front of children at such a young age produces behavioral changes among both the younger generation and the decision-making drivers in the family. Some 71% of parents said they ask their children what products to buy and 51% believe that the little ones are very persuasive, and that comes from increased confidence in their perception, increase registered due to the access to information they have by using modern devices,” said Adela Preda, Digital Creative Strategist, Profero. The most popular modern device among Romanian children is the smartphone. They spend an average of 160 minutes per day on their smartphones, and sometimes even 208 minutes per day (mainly in the case of teenagers aged 13-16). Meanwhile, those aged 5-7 usually prefer the tablets. The young Romanians usually access the Internet from home, and they stay online to watch music videos, funny videos, and cartoons, or to enter social networks. On average, they have 14 apps installed on their smartphones, most of them for Internet browsing, social networking, games, and chat/messenger. The younger ones use the smartphones to play, while the teenagers use them for messages. Thus, they have accounts on several social networks such as Facebook (43% of them use this social network and spend an average of 121 minutes per day on it), WhatsApp (11%/72 minutes per day), Instagram (2%/67 minutes), and Snapchat (1%/62 minutes). More than half of the children have created a Facebook account with their parents’ help. While on Facebook, most of the Romanian children give likes to their friends’ posts, and use the chat option. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com