Blogging Tops Career Dreams for 42% of Youngsters: Kaspersky Survey

ISLAMABAD: Kaspersky research findings show that 42% of children surveyed from the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa (META) region would like to become bloggers in the future.

The seriousness of their intentions is evidenced by the fact that 44% of them are already developing their own blog or working on content for the future.

53% of children surveyed named blogging as their dream career when explaining their wish to become a blogger. 46% of young respondents said that they enjoy creating video content. Interestingly, 36% stick to the view that blogging is a way to make money without much effort, while 32% are prone to choosing blogging because it’s trendy and cool.

Only 16% of parents surveyed expressed a clear desire for their children to pursue a career as a blogger. For 44% this is acceptable only when the child grows up. And a quarter (25%) express unwillingness to have a blogging future for their children. Despite this, the majority of parents (74%) support their children in their blogging endeavors or at least do not mind it.

“Regardless of parents’ opinions on blogging, creating, maintaining, and promoting a blog is a difficult task, which requires a wide range of skills that could be useful for a child’s future career. It can help young people discover their creativity and ways to express themselves. Blogging also provides mom and dad with valuable insights into their children’s lives, bringing families closer together,” comments Seifallah Jedidi, Regional Head of Consumer Channel for the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa at Kaspersky.

“Parents support helps young people take the first step to realizing their ambition with confidence and, what’s important – with cybersecurity in mind,” he added.

Kaspersky has prepared top tips for parents and young bloggers to consider, to help them step safely and securely into the exciting new world of blogging. A social media account is a blogger’s main tool, so protecting it should be the first priority. Be sure to set up two-factor authentication.

Creating a strong password is essential, and it must be unique – it’s not recommended to reuse a password from an email or social media, or any other account. Ensure the young blogger understands privacy issues – which information can be shared and what should be kept private. For example, public sharing of IDs, tickets, and other documents is not a good idea. It’s also advisable to keep geotags private and not share information about cyour urrent location and travel plans.

As a blogger, a child will come across a lot of different people. Discuss at the beginning what topics can be communicated with strangers and what information they should never share online. Not all followers are friendly or legitimate users, so a young blogger should be prepared for undesirable users contacting them.

The best solution would be to stop responding to messages or block any suspicious users. With the right tools, such as Kaspersky Premium, parents can also effectively safeguard their children against cyber threats.