Saferinternet.atYouth Internet Monitor on the social media use of young people in Austria
WhatsAppremains the number one among the most popular internet platforms among young Austrians in 2026 - despite declining use. With 82% usage (84% of which is daily use), the messenger service leads the ranking, followed byYouTubewith 76% (50% daily use). While WhatsApp lost 5 percentage points compared to the previous year, YouTube lost 4 percentage points.
In third place is the messenger appSnapchatwith 65% usage (of which 85% daily usage). This puts it just ahead ofTikTokandInstagramwhich are each used by 64% of young people, with TikTok (83% daily use) in fourth place and Instagram (77% daily use) in fifth place. All platforms recorded significant declines compared to the previous year: Snapchat and Instagram each lost 9 percentage points, TikTok 8 percentage points. Microsoft Teams, in sixth place with a usage rate of 31%, also fell by four percentage points.
Away from the major networks, the young people's app landscape is diverse. 31% of young people use the digital pinboard Pinterest. The gaming platform Roblox is also used by just under a quarter (23%) and the communication platform Discord by just under a fifth (18%). The streaming platform Twitch accounts for 14%. These platforms also recorded declines compared to the previous year. Only the messenger service Signal and the internet forum Reddit (9% each) did not suffer any losses. The biggest loser of the year is BeReal: the instant photo app, which was still used by almost a third of respondents in 2024, has been steadily losing importance since then and is only used by 7% of young people in 2026.
ChatGPT & Co.: The new stars of young people's digital lives?
AI chatbots are already firmly anchored in the everyday lives of 11 to 17-year-olds. For this reason, Saferinternet.at has dedicated an additional survey to this topic. This revealed that 94% of young people already use chatbots, which may partly explain the observed decline in social media use.
Added to this is the enormous variety of digital offerings: In addition to social networks, streaming services such as Spotify, Netflix and Disney+ are also being used. There is also an increasing sense of saturation among young people: although social networks continue to be an important part of their everyday lives, many young people expressed criticism in focus group discussions with Saferinternet.at. The large amount of advertising and similar content on the various platforms are perceived as particularly annoying. Incriminating content and hate comments also make social networks unattractive for many young people.
Only slight differences between the sexes
In terms of the most popular social networks, the gender-specific differences are small overall. YouTube (boys: 79%, girls: 73%) and TikTok (boys: 67%, girls: 61%) are still used slightly more frequently by boys. However, there are no longer any differences in WhatsApp, Snapchat and Instagram in 2026 - a significant change compared to 2025, when Snapchat clearly dominated, especially among girls. As in the previous year, Microsoft Teams is used more frequently by girls (35%) than by boys (27%).
The differences are clearer when it comes to video streaming and gaming platforms: Discord (boys: 28%, girls: 8%) and Twitch (boys: 23%, girls: 5%) remain clearly male-dominated. The difference is less pronounced for the gaming platform Roblox: a quarter of boys (25%) use Roblox, but also over a fifth of girls (21%). In contrast, there are significant differences in the use of the digital pinboard Pinterest, which appeals to over half of girls (55%), but only 8% of boys. Further clear differences can be seen on Reddit (boys: 14%, girls: 3%) and X (boys: 12%, girls: 4%).
Algorithm instead of exchange: short videos dominate platforms
The focus of social networks has shifted significantly in recent years. Sharing information directly with friends, staying informed about your surroundings or following specific people are becoming less and less important. Instead, the endless scrolling through short videos is coming to the fore. This principle, which has shaped TikTok in particular, now determines the way almost all major social media platforms work. Young people consume their content predominantly passively and allow themselves to be sprinkled with content suggested by the algorithm. This is reflected, among other things, in the fact that many of them can hardly name which content creators they actually follow. Algorithmic consumption is increasingly replacing consciously subscribing to and following individual personalities.
About the Youth Internet Monitor and saferinternet.at
The Youth Internet Monitor is a representative study conducted annually on behalf of Saferinternet.at. It investigates how and which social networks and online platforms are used by young people (aged 11 to 17) in Austria and what changes there are in media use in this population group.
Saferinternet.at forms the Safer Internet Center Austria together with Stopline (report center against sexual abuse of minors and National Socialist reactivation) and Rat auf Draht (emergency number for children and young people). It is the Austrian partner in the Safer Internet Network of the European Union.
The initiative is implemented by the European Union as part of the Digital Europe program and is funded by the FFG.
This text on the Youth Internet Monitor is courtesy of saferinternet.at.