«There are social media worlds that are like safe spaces»

All three young people attend the Wiedikon cantonal school in the city of Zurich.

Leah: «It's easy to switch off when you're watching reels on Insta or Tiktok.»

Vanessa: «That's right. When I was studying on Tiktok once, I even briefly forgot about my exam the next day.»

Liam: «My parents don't allow me to use Tiktok or Instagram yet. But I don't want that either. I'm mainly on Snapchat. I can switch off and it's fun.»

I think Snapchat is cool on holiday because you can see where everyone is.

Vanessa, 15

Leah: «I downloaded the apps out of curiosity when I first got a mobile phone. But it wasn't until I got older and spent more time on my mobile phone that I started using Instagram and Tiktok. That's actually why I spent more time on my mobile phone. You quickly become so ... not addicted, but ... because everyone has it, you want it.»

Liam: «But there are people who don't answer the phone anymore and are only at home on their mobile phones. I don't think that's good.»

Vanessa: «Yes, social media can be addictive.»

Liam: «I'm allowed to game for two hours a day. I think that's enough. And Snapchat is blocked after 30 minutes.»

Vanessa: «I think Snapchat is cool on holiday because you can see where everyone is. But I'm on Tiktok most often. I can't say for how long. There are days, before exams, when I'm not on my mobile phone at all. On other days, it's sometimes longer.»

Liam: «Sometimes I'd like to be on for longer. But I only know tricks to get round the lock for Apple devices.»

Leah: «I sometimes delete apps before exam periods. The distance is good. Afterwards, however, I'm also happy to download them again and see what's happened.»

Two worlds in social media

Vanessa: «But there are also two worlds on social media. The nice, heartfelt, funny one. And the less nice, where there's a lot of hate. I once came across the Tiktok account of a person with an eating disorder. She was encouraging people to get out there. And the comments often said «son of a bitch video» and other insulting things. People don't realise what that can do to you.»

Liam: «I don't understand it. There's no reason to write something like that. But there are still people who think it's funny. Things like that also happen on Snapchat.»

Vanessa: «Sometimes I think it would be better if everyone deleted everything. Although ... there are also areas, for example on books, cooking recipes or learning tips, where I hardly ever read hate comments. These are worlds within social media that are like safe spaces.»

Younger children in particular don't understand that a lot of things are fake. That's why I think stricter age restrictions would be good.

Leah, 17

Leah: «These predominate for me. Probably because content is personalised. That's also critical because you only see one side.»

Vanessa: «Like the gap between rich and poor, there is a gap in terms of opinions.»

Leah: «Younger children in particular don't understand that a lot of things are fake. That's why I think stricter age restrictions would be good. I also think it's a shame when ten-year-olds wear make-up and dress revealingly because that's what they see. And don't realise that everything looks so perfect because there are so many beauty filters.»

Liam: «It's important not to be influenced by this - no matter how beautiful the people in the pictures look. But I can imagine that some people then doubt their own looks.»

Vanessa: «But I'm not a fan of parents withdrawing mobile phones. It just makes it more interesting. And sets children and parents against each other.»

Leah: «My father took mine away from me once, but I just got angry. Talking about risks makes much more sense.»