Children today are surrounded by digital devices from a very young age, and many now imagine a life spent blogging – with 42 per cent of children surveyed in the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region aspiring to be take it up as a career, rather than becoming astronauts, doctors or engineers.
The seriousness of their intentions is evidenced by the fact that 44 per cent of them are already developing their own blog or working on content for the future.
The survey commissioned by Kaspersky and conducted by Toluna research agency included a sample of 10,000 online interviews – including 5,000 parent-child pairs, with children aged 3 to 17 years – in five countries: Türkiye, South Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The survey found that the dream of becoming popular is the most appealing for young people. Key findings from the study show that:
- 53 per cent of children surveyed named ‘fame’ when explaining their wish to become a blogger.
- 46 per cent of young respondents said that they simply enjoy creating video content.
- 36 per cent stick to the view that blogging is a way to make money without much effort.
- 32 per cent showed that they are prone to choosing blogging because it’s trendy and cool.
- Only 16 per cent of parents surveyed expressed a clear desire for their children to pursue a career as a blogger. Meanwhile, 44 per cent stated that they find it acceptable when the child grows up. A quarter (25 per cent) of parents expressed unwillingness to have a blogging future for their children. Despite this, the majority of parents (74 per cent) currently support their children in their blogging endeavours or at least do not mind it.
Building on the survey, Kaspersky prepared top tips for parents and young bloggers to consider, to help them step safely and securely into the new world of blogging:
- A social media account is a blogger’s main tool, so protecting it should be the first priority. Be sure to set up two-factor authentication – it’s a reliable feature that can help to keep a profile protected from compromising and hijacking.
- Creating a strong password is essential and not as difficult as it seems. Importantly, it must be unique – it’s not recommended to reuse a password from an email or social media or any other account.
- Ensure the young blogger understands privacy issues – which information can be shared and what should be kept private. For example, public sharing of IDs, tickets and other documents, is not a good idea. It’s also advisable to keep geotags private and not share information about current location and travel plans.
- As a blogger, a child will come across a lot of different people. Discuss at the beginning what topics can be communicated with strangers and what information they should never share online. Not all followers are friendly or legitimate users, so a young blogger should be prepared for undesirable users contacting them. The best solution would be to stop responding to messages or block any suspicious users.
- With the right tools, such as Kaspersky Premium, parents can also effectively safeguard their children against cyber threats.
