The James study by ZHAW and Swisscom shows new data on the use of media by young people in Switzerland.
editorial staff
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November 24, 2022
Girls join new networks before boys and thus become trendsetters. Currently they use TikTok and Pinterest much more, and this was also the case with Instagram in 2014. This is demonstrated by the current James study, for which around 1,000 young people aged 12 to 19 are interviewed every two years. “If this trend continues, we can use women’s use of social networks as an indicator for all young people in the future,” says ZHAW researcher and study co-director Gregor Waller.
Most used Instagram and Snapchat
Social networks continue to be among the most important media elements in the daily life of young people in Switzerland. Almost everyone uses WhatsApp to communicate (97% of users at least several times a week). Additionally, Instagram (81 percent) and Snapchat (76 percent) are still the most used and have remained stable over the years. A rapid increase can be seen on Tiktok: 67% of young people use the platform regularly (2018: 8%), with girls using the app more often than boys. Young people, on the other hand, have practically disappeared from Facebook: only 5 percent use the network daily or several times a week (2014: 79 percent).
View and like posts
Activities on social networks remained constant. Others’ posts are viewed more frequently (56%) and liked (55%) or personal messages are written via chat (57%). Young people post their posts much less frequently, and when they do, they tend to post time-limited stories or snaps.
Video games continue to be popular: 79% play at least occasionally, with boys playing far more often (93%) than girls (65%). Compared to previous years, however, the number of girls who play has increased. Also, younger kids have more fun than older teens. Free games are played more frequently (60 percent). Paid video games, on the other hand, consume only 35%. The number of young people who regularly make in-game purchases has more than doubled in two years, from 3% to the current 8%.
Sloppy on privacy
Young people are becoming increasingly careless when it comes to protecting their privacy online: ten years ago 84 per cent said they had activated the relevant settings in social networks, but now only 60 per cent do so. Concerns about others seeing personal information online continued to decline (2012: 38%; 2022: 28%). At the same time, most young people are quite reserved on social networks and reveal little about themselves in public.
here There is more information about the study.
