Studying Curiosity: What Nibble’s In-App Data Reveals About Its Users

We’re all curious creatures, driven to learn, grow, and improve. Yet, curiosity isn’t one-size-fits-all. What engages one person often bores another, and what fascinates us at 18 regularly loses its appeal in later life.

Using in-app data from Nibble, an all-around knowledge app with 10M+ users, we set out to understand not just what people like to learn, but what fuels our interests, and how curiosity changes over time.

Different subjects spark curiosity among men and women – men gravitate towards history (24%), and women prefer biology (28%). Likewise, 7% of men aged between 45 and 54 rank AI in their top three interests… a topic with few female fans, at any age. In contrast, 13% of 18-24-year-old women much prefer to study the human mind over an artificial one.

However, gender alone doesn’t determine interest. Time also has a say in the matter.

Take biology: the top subject among 18-24-year-old women. By age 54, that interest falls to 18%, and out of the top three entirely by 55+. In contrast, geography (22%), history (14%), and art (14%) tend to age like fine wine for women in their later years.

Men, meanwhile, tend to get stuck in the past as they age, with interest in history almost tripling between the ages of 18-24 (12%) and 55+ (31%).

The only place where interests converge? Geography. As retirement looms and far-flung destinations start to call, 16% of both men and women aged 45 to 54 rank it in their top three.  

If you want to get a good job and climb the career ladder, you have to study hard and collect the right certificates. However, it turns out learning is becoming less about qualifications and more about quality of life.

Only 9% chase knowledge in the hopes of securing a promotion, just 8% dream of becoming the most interesting person in the room, and merely 7% hope to impress their friends.

Rather, what self-improvers want most is to keep their minds in check (24%), feel like they’ve made the most of their free time (22%), and broaden their horizons (20%). Even getting on top of routine stress (10%) beats getting ahead at work.

For many lifelong learners, self-improvement and self-care are now intertwined – and success isn’t measured in wages earned or titles secured, but by the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that progress provides.

At 18, knowledge is essentially a social currency. We want to be noticed and fit in, so we work on ourselves in the hopes of impressing others. Among 18-24-year-olds, 10% say they learn to become “the most interesting person in the room”.

However, the spotlight tends to lose its appeal with age. By age 35-44, only 8% are motivated by the desire to stand out, and just 4% once they reach 55.

For older generations, the goal of learning isn’t to turn others’ heads, but to preserve their own. While just 20% of 18-24-year-olds learn to keep their mind in check, that rises to 32% among those aged 55+.

While younger generations hope to catch the eye of their peers, older ones hope to avoid catching the attention of Father Time – using learning as a tool for staying mentally active and preserving cognitive health.

Nibble is an all-around knowledge app that turns curiosity into habit through bite-sized, interactive lessons. With topics spanning history, art, finance, psychology, and many more,  Nibble breaks down complex information into clear, manageable, and engaging short lessons that hold users’ attention, encourage learning, and motivate them to discover something new every day.