My life with social media

Snapchat and nothing else? 15-year-old Ginka Blöchlinger tells us how she uses social media and what the mobile phone rules are at home.

After a stressful day at school, young people are happy to be able to distract themselves with their mobile phones. That's exactly how I feel. As mobile phones are strictly forbidden at my school, I always take an hour break before homework, which I then usually spend on my mobile phone. Like many of my friends, I particularly enjoy using Instagram. I find watching videos or photos from others or posting them myself very entertaining. As almost everyone uses this app nowadays, you can not only chat to your closest friends, but also follow celebrities, influencers and other famous role models.

Time waster Youtube

I also like to use Instagram's competitor «Snapchat» a lot. I use Snapchat as a kind of visual WhatsApp, where you can send short pictures or videos to each other. It keeps you up to date with how your friends are doing and what they are up to. This makes WhatsApp almost superfluous and I rarely use this app at the moment. One exception is our class chat. I can chat with my classmates there and if I've forgotten my exam notes, for example, I can always ask for help. However, my teachers are not in this chat.
But I've also fallen under the spell of the time waster «YouTube». It's not only a great way to listen to music, you're also always up to date with the latest trends. I can watch videos from my favourite Youtubers(Janasdiary, Jay and Arya or Liza Koshy) and sometimes I forget the time.

Contrary to the opinion of many adults, I think that the internet is a great and efficient way of exchanging information and keeping in touch with friends. However, I think that parents should be aware of what content their children are posting. In my opinion, some of my friends are too revealing online or have to deal with negative comments. Fortunately, this has never happened to me. I occasionally show my parents what I'm up to on the internet. My parents trust me to turn to them if I have a problem.

«Contrary to what many adults think, I think the internet is a great way to exchange ideas and keep in touch with friends.»

I spend about 90 minutes a day on my mobile phone, which is fine for me and my parents. This gives me enough time to do my homework and other leisure activities. In the evening, I'm one of the few people in my circle of friends who likes to read a book. It has always been important to my parents that I put my mobile phone away an hour before I go to sleep because of the rays and the blue screen. I now agree with them that it helps me sleep better.

Clear rules and trust

We don't have a television. As we've never had one, I don't miss it either. I watch films or series alone or with my parents on the computer. We've cancelled Netflix, but I occasionally get DVDs from the library.
There are clear rules for mobile phones at home. No mobile phones at the table, for example, and put them away an hour before going to bed. Of course there are always discussions about it, but as long as I get good grades at school, do my homework and still have free time for my friends and my dog, my parents give me a lot of freedom, which I really appreciate.

Picture: Pixabay

Ginka Blöchlinger ist 15 Jahre alt und lebt mit ihren Eltern und ihrem Hund Ayla in Zürich. Sie liebt es Freunde zu treffen und zu lesen. Nächstes Jahr möchte sie ans Gymnasium gehen, denn einen spezifischen Berufswunsch hat sie noch nicht. Ihr erstes Handy hat sie mit 13 Jahren bekommen, ein ausrangiertes iPhone von ihrem Vater. Zum 14. Geburtstag hat sie ein neues Gerät erhalten, an das sie auch einen Teil beigesteuert hat mit Taschengeld und Hundesitterlohn. 
Ginka Blöchlinger is 15 years old and lives in Zurich with her parents and her dog Ayla. She loves meeting friends and reading. Next year she would like to go to grammar school, as she doesn't have a specific career in mind yet.

She got her first mobile phone when she was 13, a discarded iPhone from her father. For her 14th birthday, she received a new device, which she also contributed to with pocket money and dog-sitting wages.