In Switzerland, only one in ten young people still get their information from the media

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are intruding into the daily lives of young people at record speed. Around 71% of them have already tested ChatGPT and other similar tools. A third of young people already use AI tools at least once a week, while the general public only discovered this technology at the end of 2022. This is what reveals the latest JAMES study, which interviews around 1,000 young people aged 12 to 19 every two years.

“Never has a technology established itself in our daily lives as quickly as AI tools. Therefore, critical analysis of information will become even more important in the future,” says Gregor Waller, researcher at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and co-leader of the study commissioned by Swisscom. Hence the absolute need to raise awareness among young people about this topic and teach them to verify the information.

Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and Snapchat remain the most popular social networks and messaging programs among young people in Switzerland. This “Big Four” of digital communication is an integral part of their daily lives, regardless of age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics. Young people mainly consume content on social networks without commenting on it, sharing it or even creating their own posts. The “Big Four” is regularly used for information, but also and above all for entertainment.

A tendency towards saturation is perceptible in media consumption among young people. Many media activities such as browsing social networks as well as streaming music and videos are so anchored in daily life now that an increase in these uses no longer seems possible. A natural ceiling seems to have been reached in terms of time spent on school, learning, non-media leisure activities or social activities. “The stability of the results could indicate that young people’s daily digital routines and habits have consolidated,” explains Céline Külling-Knecht, researcher at ZHAW and co-author.

Traditional media are seeing a decline in usage. While 25% of young people surveyed still regularly obtained information from magazine and newspaper portals in 2018, there are only 10% today. At the same time, more than half (57%) of respondents use social networks as a source of information. Even though traditional media is also present on social networks, everyone has the opportunity to spread information on these platforms, without any filter. With an increased risk of fake news and young people potentially more exposed to manipulation and disinformation. Remember that Australia is in the process of legislating to ban access to social networks for those under 16 and that a recent Tamedia survey shows that a majority of Swiss would be in favor. to set an age limit.

80% of young people play at least occasionally. Gaming is by far the favorite pastime of boys, around twice as many of whom play regularly as girls. Free-to-play games like “Brawl Stars” on mobile are particularly popular, followed by “Fortnite” and “Minecraft”.

If these games are so fascinating, it is because the “dark patterns”, namely these interfaces deliberately designed to influence the behavior of players, are not for nothing. These include, for example, loot boxes (random rewards encouraging people to play and buy more) or complex currencies specific to a game (which make it more difficult to assess the real cost). The time-limited rewards, which create a form of anxiety leading to fear of missing out (“Fear of Missing Out” or “FOMO” for short), the social obligations of the game (these two elements force you to play regularly ) and loss aversion (mechanisms by which players can lose what they have acquired) are also part of it.

These games are monetized through microtransactions (a model that allows users to purchase virtual items in-game). Around half of the young people surveyed have already carried out a transaction of this type. “Faced with these mechanisms, it is the duty of parents to look into these different games and to listen to their children’s behavior when it comes to video games,” says Michael In Albon, responsible for protecting the youth facing the media at Swisscom. Furthermore, it is up to the authorities to monitor the evolution of these dark patterns and legislate to regulate them if necessary, as has already been done in certain countries such as the Netherlands or Great Britain.

36% of young people surveyed say they have been questioned over the last two years at least once about their appearance and around a third have been approached by strangers wanting to talk about sex or make unwanted propositions of a sexual nature. In this area, there are significant differences between boys and girls: the latter have suffered different forms of sexual harassment much more often. Nearly one in two teenage girls have already received a sexual solicitation on the Internet, in one form or another. The frequency of these kinds of experiences increases markedly with age.

“It is intolerable that children are harassed like this; platforms like Instagram or TikTok must be made more aware of their responsibilities in order to better protect young people,” declares Michael In Albon. Boys and girls are not equal when it comes to cyberbullying either: with 28%, boys are almost twice as likely as girls to declare that they have already been yelled at or insulted at least once on the Internet. At the same time, many more boys are actively engaging in bullying. However, acts of active cyberbullying and being a victim of it occur at very similar frequencies. Hence the possibility that many young people actively practice harassment and are victims of it themselves. “Given the marginal increase in cyberbullying with age, it makes sense to start prevention on this topic from primary school,” explains Céline Külling-Knecht, researcher at ZHAW and co-author.

During their free time alone, young people largely prefer sporting activities, audiovisual media and music. Compared to the JAMES 2022 study, sport has particularly gained in importance and is becoming the preferred leisure activity. While video games and sporting activities clearly predominate among boys, it is other cultural (reading and music) and creative (baking and drawing) activities that interest girls more. As in 2022, young people indicate that the leisure activities they most often engage in with their friends are sports, outdoor outings and group activities. For them, discussions between friends also occupy a very important place.

For many years, young people’s interest in reading has been a constant in terms of media consumption. Various platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube increasingly offer book-related content, which is so widespread that these sub-communities have their own names, namely “BookTok”, “Bookstagram” and “BookTube”.

Young people were asked about their favorite books, which had not been done since 2016. The “Harry Potter” saga, at the top of the ranking since 2012, once again came to first place. “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “Die Drei???” (The Three Young Detectives) and “One Piece” are also popular in 2024. Since 2012, books adapted for cinema have consistently been the most popular. When it comes to reading habits, there are particularly striking differences between the two sexes. Girls read more than boys and cite reading as one of their favorite hobbies.