Netflix, Spotify & Co. set the tone among young people in Switzerland

One third of young people in Switzerland have their own video and music streaming subscription from Netflix, Spotify & Co. (video: 33 percent; music: 35 percent). This means that these two abotypes have more than doubled in the last two years. In fact, more than half of all households have such streaming subscriptions (video: 56 percent; music: 51 percent). Game flat rate subscriptions, which allow unlimited game play, are also available in around a quarter of households. This is shown by the current 2018 James Study, for which around 1,000 young people aged 12 to 19 were surveyed on media use for the fifth time since 2010. "While in earlier years it was primarily the spread of the smartphone that greatly changed the usage habits of young people, music and video streaming services now play a major role," says ZHAW researcher and study leader Daniel Süss, who conducted the James study with co-project leader Gregor Waller and his team.

Streaming influences content

Flat-rate streaming not only gives Swiss young people access to a huge range of movies, music or games, but also influences their preferences. The most popular series, for example, is "House of Money," which is distributed via Netflix. Of the ten most popular series, a total of seven come from this series portal. "In addition to the sheer endless supply, additional titles are algorithmically suggested based on usage. It remains to be seen what effect this entertainment land of milk and honey will have on behavior," says Gregor Waller. "This means that the individualization of society is also reflected in media consumption, where people can put together their own media menu as they wish. In the future, media literacy will increasingly mean being able to put together the optimum media menu from the millions of options available," says Waller.

In the future, media competence will increasingly mean being able to put together the optimum media menu from the millions of options available.

There are also more and more game flat rate subscriptions for video games, such as Playstation Now or Xbox Game Pass. As many as 23 percent of young people and a third of households have access to a wide range of games. Games are also increasingly playable across many platforms, which promotes their distribution, as in the case of the most popular game "Fortnite. At the same time, portable game consoles are losing relevance as people increasingly play games on their cell phones or tablets. Only 37 percent of young people still own their own portable game console (2016: 45 percent). Flat-rate streaming is having an impact on young people's device ownership. Radio sets, DVD players and MP3 players are becoming less important. Six years ago, for example, four out of five young people owned an MP3 player (81 percent); today, two out of five still do (2016: 53 percent; 2018: 38 percent).

Messenger apps instead of SMS

99 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds have their own cell phone. They use it for around two and a half hours a day - primarily to communicate: 95 percent do so daily or several times a week via a messenger app. It is therefore not surprising that the most popular smartphone app is Instagram, followed by Whatsapp and Snapchat. In addition, young people also use their cell phones primarily for entertainment purposes, to listen to music (89 percent), surf the Internet (89 percent), visit social networks (88 percent) or watch videos (82 percent). By comparison, regular phone calls have leveled off at 70 percent, while text message use has dropped to 49 percent (2012: 93 percent).

Snaps and Stories dominate

94 percent of Swiss young people are registered with at least one social network. However, up to a fifth of the accounts are not actively used. Almost all respondents have an account on Instagram (87 percent) or Snapchat (86 percent). A majority use these several times a day. Facebook, on the other hand, has lost a few places with 52 percent. This trend is also evident in terms of usage: while almost four-fifths of young people were on Facebook at least several times a week in 2014, only around one-fifth currently do so. But the older they are, the more likely they are to use Facebook regularly.

On social networks, young people are reserved and reveal little publicly. The most common activities are viewing photos, videos or texts from others (82 percent at least several times a week) and liking them (80 percent). Chatting within the networks is also popular (75 percent). On the other hand, less than half of those surveyed regularly post photos, videos or texts. If they do, they are mostly time-limited posts (45 percent) or those for a selected audience (29 percent). Snapchat and Instagram support time-limited posts like Snaps or Stories that disappear again. In addition, three-quarters of teens have settings enabled that show photos and videos to only certain people. "Apparently, the sensitization of young people around publishing content on social networks is bearing fruit," says Gregor Waller. "Young people are cautious, protect themselves by means of privacy settings or only post material for a limited time."

Online time remained constant

Overall, internet usage time during the week has remained constant at 2 hours 30 minutes since 2016. Online, young people regularly use social networks and video portals such as YouTube for entertainment. They increasingly watch videos on the Internet (85 percent at least several times a week) instead of TV (69 percent). Search engines such as Google are primarily used to find information on the Internet. On the other hand, fewer and fewer young people regularly read newspapers, whether online (2010: 26 percent; 2018: 18 percent) or on paper via free (2010: 49 percent; 2018: 21 percent) or subscription newspapers (2010: 32 percent; 2018: 11 percent).

The family is becoming more important than the circle of friends. This can be seen as a counter-trend to a supposedly insecure feeling about the world.

For the first time since the surveys began, there have been changes in non-media leisure activities. Compared to 2010, 12- to 19-year-olds are doing things with family more often (2010: 16 percent; 2018: 27 percent at least several times a week), but are meeting friends less often (2010: 81 percent; 2018: 70 percent). "This is in line with the social trend of social cocooning and means withdrawing more into a private domestic life," says Daniel Suess. "The family is gaining in importance over the circle of friends. This can be interpreted as a counter-trend to a supposedly insecure sense of the world," says Süss. In addition to meeting friends, 67 percent of young people regularly play sports and 65 percent like to do nothing at all.

Cybergrooming has increased

One third of young people in Switzerland have already been approached online by a stranger with unwanted sexual intentions. Among 18- and 19-year-olds, it is almost half (43 percent), but 12-/13-year-olds are also affected. This so-called cybergrooming has increased significantly in the last four years (2014: 19 percent; 2016: 25 percent; 2018: 30 percent). "This is why we need to educate young people at an early stage and support them in dealing with such contact," says Michael In Albon, Youth Media Protection Officer at Swisscom. Just under a quarter of those surveyed (23 percent) had already been bullied online at least once. Cyberbullying has remained roughly stable since 2010. "Young people from a wide range of backgrounds and as young as 12 are affected by cyberbullying. That's why it's important that prevention work starts in elementary school," says In Albon. Just under half of young people have already met a stranger on the Internet (42 percent).

About the study: The James study maps the media use of young people in Switzerland. James stands for "Youth, Activities, Media - Survey Switzerland" and is conducted every two years. In the representative study, more than 1,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 19 in Switzerland's three major language regions have been surveyed since 2010 by the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences on behalf of Swisscom about their media and leisure behavior.