Lonely due to smartphones?
Digital media make teenagers socially lonely", «Teenagers only hang out on the internet» - hand on heart: these statements will certainly sound familiar to you.
But are they true? A look at the JAMES Study 2018 will help you check the most common prejudices concerning young people and their digital media consumption. The study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) has been providing information on the media use of Swiss young people aged between 12 and 19 every two years since 2010.
Prejudice 1: «Teenagers only hang out on their mobile phones»
Young people like to meet friends or do sport; they do this slightly less often than two years ago, but they do it more often with their family. 70 per cent frequently meet friends - 25 per cent regularly do things with their family. Of course, this behaviour varies greatly depending on age, gender and family situation.
Prejudice 2: «Teenagers reveal everything about themselves»
On the contrary: young people behave cautiously on social networks and reveal little about themselves in public - instead, they rely on semi-public spaces, on a select audience, often for a limited time. Snaps that can only be viewed once and stories that disappear after 24 hours are popular. 29 per cent post their own posts, 82 per cent view or like other people's posts. Incidentally, all JAMES studies since 2010 have shown this responsible behaviour among young people. The fact is that children are often more careful with private data online than adults.
Prejudice 3: «Teenagers only consume free offers»
Swiss teenagers rely on streaming subscriptions - for listening to music and watching films. The prevalence of such subscriptions has more than doubled within two years - Spotify and Netflix are now must-haves for many young people. 51 per cent of families and 35 per cent of young people have a music streaming subscription - 56 per cent of families and 33 per cent of young people use a film and series streaming subscription. Who pays for the subscription - the young people with their pocket money or their parents - is not answered by the JAMES study.
Prejudice 4: «Teenagers choose what they consume»
Teenagers juggle several apps effortlessly, use different communication channels in parallel and switch from one screen to the next. They cope with the ever-increasing flood of information through a tough selection process: They click, read and look at what others in the digital environment have already found to be good. Although they make a selection and do not surf around aimlessly, this behaviour also carries the risk of getting stuck in an information bubble of their own interests.
Prejudice 5: «Boys game, girls don't»
It's not that absolute, but there is a large portion of truth in this statement. 66 per cent of boys game daily or several times a week - compared to only 11 per cent of girls. There is currently much debate about the reasons for this difference. Some blame the nature of games because, for example, shooters (which are the most successful games) a priori appeal to the male gender and game content with an affinity for girls has a smaller market, others see the reasons in socialisation, others again in the fundamentally different preference for using digital media among boys and girls.
The JAMES study invites us to take a closer look. The development of young people's media and leisure behaviour is more complex and differentiated than we adults generally think.
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On Medienstark you will find tips and interactive learning modules for the competent use of digital media
with digital media in everyday family life.
Read more:
- What do young people do online? The results of the JAMES study...
- The mobile phone as babysitter - After JAMES and MIKE comes the ADELE study: it examines the media use of four to seven-year-olds in Switzerland. The most important results - and three tips...