Report on Livestreaming

The internet has evolved so much since its creation that combined with new technology many things have become much more easier in life. If you are lost then you can look at Google maps, if you are hungry you can now order by tapping a button on Just Eat and if you want to speak to someone abroad you can do it for free via Skype.

 

However, the internet can also be a dangerous place, especially to children, who may not understand how certain parts of the internet work, just like the ever-increasing world of livestreaming.

 

A report by the child charity, Childnet, has produced a report following their survey from children aged 8-17 years old about livestreaming. Livestreaming is when a user can 'Go live' to just their friends or can make it open to public viewing. 33% percent of 8-17 year old said that they had livestreamed before, whilst 1 in 10 of the children told Childnet that they had livestreamed in the last day.




Here are some of the key findings that Childnet has from their survey:

• Watching Livestreams: YouTube Live is the most popular service for watching others livestream, with 44% of 8-17 year olds using this. 

• Going Live: Instagram Live is the most popular service that children use to ‘go live’ themselves, with 11% of 8-17 year olds saying they had done this on Instagram, with the second most popular service - Facebook Live - being used by 9% of 8-17 year olds. 

• Teens more prolific users: Almost half of teens aged 13-17 years have watched livestreams on YouTube (47%), compared to around a third (32%) of 8-12 year olds. Meanwhile, 1 in 8 teens have broadcast live on Instagram (12%), and 1 in 10 have done so on Facebook (10%). In comparison around 1 in 15 children aged 8-12 years have used Instagram (7%) and Facebook (7%) to go live.

If you're going to watch a livestream then remember that you won't know exactly what will happen in the stream as it is live and therefore there won't be any filters on the video, such as foul language that could be used.




Secondly, if you decide to livestream then make sure you don't disclose personal information if your video is public and make sure that you choose who you share your stream to carefully.




More pieces of advice can be found about online safety by clicking here.