The most popular social networks of 2022  

According to the Youth Internet Monitor, the six most popular social networking apps among Austrian young people in 2022 were the following:

1. WhatsApp (96 per cent)
2. YouTube (95 per cent)   
3. Instagram (81 per cent) 
4. Snapchat (70 per cent) 
5. TikTok (70 per cent) 
6. Discord (46 per cent) 

TikTok and Discord on the rise 

With a slight decrease compared to 2021 (minus two per cent), the instant messaging app WhatsApp is once again the most popular social media platform among the Austrian users, followed by YouTube and Instagram. The other social media apps also confirm the trends observed in previous years as the most popular apps. In particular, Discord and TikTok have seen a remarkable increase in use among young people (13 per cent). TikTok gained more and more popularity, catching up with Snapchat and now sharing the fourth place with the photo-sharing app. In terms of regular use, TikTok is leading among video portals: 77 per cent of young people who use TikTok confirm they do so on a daily basis – which is more than the video app in second place, YouTube (64 per cent state they use it daily). 

The chatting platform Discord (with an increase of 13 percentage points when compared to the previous year) made it into the top six social networks for the first time in 2022 and is particularly popular among younger users in Austria. 53 per cent of 11-to14-year-olds state they use Discord. 

Online gaming platform Roblox was surveyed for the first time this year. The platform is increasingly being used as a social network, and particularly popular among 11-to-14-year-olds. 21 per cent of the surveyed stated using it regularly. 

Which social networks do girls and boys use? 

The Youth Internet Monitor 2022 shows that there are still some differences between the surveyed boys and girls. TikTok (used by 78 per cent of the surveyed girls surveyed and 62 per cent of the surveyed boys) and Pinterest (used by 66 per cent of the girls and 19 per cent of the boys) are significantly more popular among the female target group. 

In contrast, the platforms Twitch (11 per cent of girls and 49 per cent for boys) and Discord (30 per cent for girls and 61 per cent for boys), which both originate from the online gaming world, are significantly more used by boys. The exception is the gaming platform Roblox, which is used slightly more frequently by girls (24 per cent, 17 per cent for boys) who were part of the survey. 

Instant messaging: more than just WhatsApp 

Although almost all the surveyed Austrian young people regularly use WhatsApp, other messenger services are also increasingly being used. Signal, for example, gained 13 percentage points in comparison with the previous year and is now at the same level as Telegram at 25 per cent. Both services are used equally by all age groups. Other instant messaging apps in use include Snapchat (70 per cent), Facebook Messenger (27 per cent), iMessage (18 per cent), Viber (14 per cent) and Kik Messenger (six per cent). 

About the survey 

A representative online survey was conducted by the Institute for Youth Culture Research for the Youth Internet Monitor 2022. For this purpose, 400 young people aged 11 to 17 were surveyed in December 2021 about their use of social networks. More information about the survey can be found at www.jugendinternetmonitor.at.  

Download the infographic (pdf) of the 2022 Youth Internet Monitor for a summary of the results of the survey.

For comparison purposes, you can read the summary of the 2021 Youth Internet Monitor here. 

Find out more about the work of the Austrian Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services, or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe. 

• Type: awareness, youth
• Date:2022-05-11
• Author:Austrian Safer Internet Centre

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