The study, which inspired the book "Children, Young People and Media: (Dis)Connected Lives? Proceedings of the bYou Congress," concluded that young people spend "four hours a day on their cell phones, three hours on social media, two hours watching television, two hours on the computer/tablet, one hour watching videos, one hour listening to music, one hour playing video games, and 30 minutes reading books and reading/watching or listening to the news."

The study, which included an average of 1,131 children and young people between the ages of 11 and 19, revealed that listening to the radio, podcasts, and reading newspapers in print or online are activities to which the sample devotes almost no time.

"National and international studies have shown that social media has been assuming a central role in media practices, particularly among younger generations. Children and young people increasingly use these platforms, developing their repertoires according to the roles and meanings they attribute to each network," the book states.

A survey of 390 Portuguese young people between the ages of 11 and 19, across eight school groups in mainland Portugal, revealed that watching videos, posts by friends, celebrities, and people they admire, communicating with friends, colleagues, and family, and producing and publishing their own photos and videos are the most common uses of social media.

"Less common is the sharing of news and information, as well as news research," the researchers state.

Searching for information, news, and learning is a practice mentioned primarily by 12th-grade students, who primarily use the social media platform X to access news, while "reading news appears to be a concern for a minority of the sample."

In this sense, "the most common uses of social media are viewing audiovisual content related to their personal interests and surveillance practices. Second, interaction with friends and colleagues stands out, followed by the production and posting of photos and videos."

Gender differences in online behaviour were also found: while boys use social media primarily to watch videos related to video games and sports, girls seem to prefer content about dance, cooking, and humour.

Regarding the production of content for social media, girls are the main producers, especially of photos and videos, using TikTok and Instagram for this purpose.