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KIDS AS YOUNG AS 5 ARE WEARING SMARTWATCHES THAT PLUNGE THEM INTO A WORLD OF POPULARITY CONTESTS, ENGAGEMENT HACKS, AND EVEN DATING.

- STEPHANIE YANG

AT WHAT AGE Should a kid get a smartwatch? In China, parents are buying them for children as young as 5. Adults, of course, want practical features, so they can call their kids or track their location down to a specific building floor. Children have their own reasons to clamor for the gadgets.

And they're specifically after ones made by a company called Xiaotiancai, which translates to Little Genius in English.

The watches, which launched in 2015 and cost up to $330, are a portal into an elaborate world that blends social engagement with relentless competition. Kids can use the watches to buy snacks at local shops, chat and share videos with friends, play games, and, sure, stay in touch with their families. But the main activity is accumulating as many "likes" as possible on their watch's profile page.

On the extreme end, Chinese media outlets have reported on kids who buy bots to juice their numbers, hack the watches to dox their enemies, and sometimes even find romantic partners. According to tech research firm Counterpoint Research, Little Genius accounts for nearly half of global market share for kids' smartwatches.