7 Reasons Why Parents Love Online Kids’ Content

Where there’s a kid, there’s usually a parent or guardian!

That’s why, with the help of Censuswide, TheSoul Publishing carried out a survey about parental attitudes towards kid-friendly online video content.

By observing parental attitudes, behaviors, and preferences, we can continue to make content that are both beneficial and appealing to their children. As Victor Potrel, our Vice President of Platform Partnerships, puts it, “TheSoul’s mission is to delight viewers of all ages, and that includes producing content that satisfies both children’s and parent’s needs.”

The results of the survey offer new insights into how both parents and children interact with shorter-form digital content in modern society. The findings are especially important as parents of all generations prefer to consume online videos over traditional television because of their variety and accessibility, whether it be for at-home family projects, upbeat songs, or ‘edutaining’ stories.

These are seven key insights worth paying attention to:

1. Kids can learn digital skills and become more tech-savvy thanks to online content.

The majority of parents (nearly 80%) concur that watching kid-friendly online video content has improved their kids’ overall digital skills and familiarity with technology, with 36% saying that this improvement has been “very much.”

Also, 55% of parents said that the most important thing about kid-friendly online videos is that they make their children happy. This was followed by their educational value (51%) and then their ability to “keep their child busy so they can finish other things” (40%).

2. Short-form media is excellent for entertainment while traveling.

It can be challenging to keep kids entertained when they are away from home. The majority of respondents to the survey (85%) said that they would prefer their child to watch kid-friendly online videos than to be noisy and disruptive while on the go.

Outside of the home, kids are more likely to watch online video content while driving (58%) than while visiting their grandparents (38%), flying (32%), eating in a restaurant (29%), or staying in a hotel (21%).

Overall, the results indicate that kid-friendly media produced by companies like TheSoul Publishing is keeping kids occupied and interested anywhere and everywhere.

3. Parents are increasingly allowing their children to watch online videos as a means of recharging their batteries and taking a break.

It’s getting harder and harder to find time to entertain kids at home in today’s hectic world. In the survey, 41% of parents said that they needed a break and let their kids watch online content while they did so.

The survey also found that men are more likely than women to use online entertainment to reward their kids for good behavior (37% vs. 28%).

4. Instead of relying on long-form television to entertain their kids, parents are increasingly drawn to shorter online video content.

Nearly half of parents (48%) report that they rely on kid-friendly online video content (such as YouTube Kids) to keep their children occupied for long periods of time, while only 29% say the same about movies, TV shows, and streaming services.

This demonstrates the obvious decline in viewership of regular television programming.

5. Children now consume more online media than their parents did traditional television.

60% of parents said their children spend more time consuming online videos than the time they themselves spent watching television when they were younger (with 31% using the phrase “much more”!)

The older the parent, the more likely they were to agree that their children spend more time watching online videos than they did, with 68% of those between the ages of 45 and 54 agreeing that their children watch more online content than they watched TV as children, with 38% of those in that age range claiming their children watch “much more” than them.

6. Kids love their favorite videos and watch them over and over again.

It has been reported by 39% of parents that their children will watch the same kid-friendly online video content multiple times within a month if they find something they like.

Plus, 34% of parents reported that their children watch their preferred online videos an extra 5–10 times per month. This only serves to emphasize how much better on-demand online video content is compared to traditional TV, thanks to its ease of “rewatchability.”

7. Online content is something that parents watch with their kids, especially parents in the Gen Z demographic.

37% of parents who answered the survey said they watched online kids’ content with their kids for at least 30 minutes a day.

Gen Z parents, in particular, are spending more time watching this content. 48% of respondents between the ages of 16 and 24 said they watched with their kids for more than 30 minutes every day, while 33% of respondents between the ages of 35 and 44 said they did the same.

Also, more than 99% of parents said they look at the video content their kids watch and assess its suitability, showing that most parents take the time to think about what their kids watch.

Conclusion

There’s lots to unpack from TheSoul Publishing’s survey, but the key findings show that kids’ short-form content is no longer just considered to be pure entertainment for them or a simple diversion to keep them quiet on long journeys. Parents spend time with their kids by watching online content with them, weighing the pros and cons, and letting their kids watch their favorite parts over and over again.