Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
What are young people really doing online? Research from Family Kids & Youth and DESQ. An evidence-based delve into what adolescents really think about social media, gaming and AI, and what supports or harms their wellbeing online.
The research looks at what children and young people are doing online from the perspective of their wellbeing, including who they are connecting with and speaking to online, and their use of AI.
It explores how children and young people really use social media and games sites, as well as video sharing and messaging services. Launched in August 2018, our tracking study has been repeated annually apart from 2025, This is the 7th round. In the last few months we have carried out 6 workshops in schools with adolescents aged 11-16, and 1,000 nationally representative interviews across the UK with children aged 7-16.
With the introduction of a ban on social media use in Australia and many other countries, including the UK, considering a similar ban, the research look at the benefits, and the drawbacks, the risks children may face online and how they manage these, and whether these outweigh the perceived negative side of children using social media and gaming. Reflecting the ‘Ban or Build Better?’ discussion at the Children’s Media Summit in February ‘26, the session will ask ‘What do children gain from using social networking and gaming sites? What are the effects on children’s mental health through their engagement with online media?’.
What are young people really doing online? Research from Family Kids & Youth and DESQ. An evidence-based delve into what adolescents really think about social media, gaming and AI, and what supports or harms their wellbeing online.
The research looks at what children and young people are doing online from the perspective of their wellbeing, including who they are connecting with and speaking to online, and their use of AI.
It explores how children and young people really use social media and games sites, as well as video sharing and messaging services. Launched in August 2018, our tracking study has been repeated annually apart from 2025, This is the 7th round. In the last few months we have carried out 6 workshops in schools with adolescents aged 11-16, and 1,000 nationally representative interviews across the UK with children aged 7-16.
With the introduction of a ban on social media use in Australia and many other countries, including the UK, considering a similar ban, the research look at the benefits, and the drawbacks, the risks children may face online and how they manage these, and whether these outweigh the perceived negative side of children using social media and gaming. Reflecting the ‘Ban or Build Better?’ discussion at the Children’s Media Summit in February ‘26, the session will ask ‘What do children gain from using social networking and gaming sites? What are the effects on children’s mental health through their engagement with online media?’.
