High Levels of Digital Well-Being in Switzerland
Overconsumption?
Reading the newspaper, posting vacation photos, or watching cat videos on YouTube: We can use the internet for many purposes, but how do we evaluate our online activities? Digital overconsumption and the feeling that it causes us to miss out on more important things are more common among young people and those with lower levels of education, but are generally not perceived as a major problem. Eight out of ten users (83%) in Switzerland say they’re good at distinguishing between important and unimportant online activities. Three-quarters (75%) of users believe they can selectively choose which people or information sources they follow online, and 73% believe they can set up internet services or devices so that they do not cause a disturbance.
Digital expectation pressure higher for boys
Half of Internet users (50%) in Switzerland feel that they are expected to respond quickly to messages in their daily lives. The pressure of digital expectations regarding availability and skills is felt more strongly by young people and those with higher levels of education in particular. When it comes to social media use, young people and those with lower levels of education increasingly feel under pressure. Most (78%) rate their own internet skills as at least good, while only 4% rate them as poor. Overall, men rate themselves higher than women. «Digital well-being is high in Switzerland,» concludes Michael Latzer, professor of Media Change & Innovation at the University of Zurich. The survey, conducted for the fourth time and representative of the Swiss population, now also includes questions about difficulties encountered in everyday use of the internet.
Nine out of ten Swiss are online
Today, 90 percent of the Swiss population uses the Internet. Four out of five users (79%) also go online while on the go. The average time spent online has doubled since 2011 and now stands at 25.5 hours per week. Young people and those with lower levels of education spend the most time online. The number of non-users has halved over the past six years. However, half of those who do not use the Internet benefit from it indirectly by having others do research or complete tasks on their behalf. The number of absolute non-users in Switzerland thus stands at approximately 360,000 (5%).
20 to 29-year-olds find it hardest to do without a smartphone
Internet use via cell phones is growing faster than use via computers and tablets. Virtually all young people, but only one in four (27%) in the 70+ age group, use the Internet via cell phone. People aged 20 to 29 find it hardest to go without their cell phones for even a short time, while the youngest and oldest find it easiest. Internet use at home (95%) and at work (72%) has leveled off at a high level; half of users also use the Internet at home for work purposes. Six out of 10 people (62%) already use social online networks; in 2011, the figure was only 4 (41%). A good half of Internet users create their own online content (51%) or share content (56%). «Many are thus actively participating in gatekeeping. They help determine which topics reach the Swiss public and how they are discussed,» says communication scientist Latzer.
One in three Swiss sells online
86% of Swiss internet users search online for product information. Three-quarters of Swiss users (77%) shop online, with travel bookings (66%) being particularly popular. One-third (35%) also sell items online themselves. Sharing economy services such as Uber and Airbnb are used by 20%, and 5% actively offer their services themselves.
Strong growth in chatting, Internet telephony and time-shifted TV
Among the various forms of online interaction, texting/chatting (83%) and Internet telephony (67%) have seen the sharpest increase in recent years—both have doubled. Personal (61%) and professional (34%) social online networks have continued to grow and are used extensively: Two-thirds of users (67%) log in to personal social online networks daily. Twitter is used actively by 8% and passively by 15%. Music (69%) and video consumption (65%) dominate entertainment. Time-shifted TV (50%) has seen the sharpest increase since 2011 (up 13 percentage points). One-third (35%) play online games, 17% engage in gambling, and 25% report viewing adult content.
Internet also the most important source of entertainment
In 2017, the internet is not only the most important source of media information in Switzerland, followed by newspapers and television, it is also in first place for entertainment purposes for the first time, on a par with television. In both categories, however, personal offline contacts are still considered far more important. In the 70+ age group, the internet is still less important than newspapers and radio for both information and entertainment.
Increased fact-checking
The growing global debate over fake news is reflected in user behavior. In the «Information» category, fact-checking (78%, up 18 percentage points since 2011) and news searches (86%, up 11 percentage points since 2011) have seen the sharpest increases in recent years. Online encyclopedias are now used by 86%, and search engines are used by virtually everyone (97%).
Trust in content collapses
«Snowden’s revelations and the populists» accusations of fake news are having an impact in Switzerland as well,« says Michael Latzer. »Since 2013, trust in online content has fallen significantly—across all age groups.” Until 2013, three-quarters of the Swiss population considered at least half of online content to be credible; by 2017, that figure had dropped to 58%. The credibility of various information providers is assessed differently: SRG, government agencies, and paid newspapers are rated significantly higher than user-generated content and social media platforms.
Great concern about violation of privacy
One in two people is concerned that companies (51%) or other individuals (46%) are violating their privacy online. Four out of 10 Internet users fear (39%) that governments are doing the same. Older internet users are more concerned than younger ones that their privacy will be violated by other people. The oldest group (70+) is more concerned about privacy violations by governments than the rest of the respondents. Eight out of ten internet users (81%) in Switzerland are very careful about protecting their privacy, and 44% believe they can control their privacy online. One-quarter (27%) consider privacy concerns to be exaggerated. Three-quarters (76%) of users believe they have nothing to hide. Older internet users are more likely to feel that they can control their privacy online. At the same time, they are more likely to state that they have nothing to hide and that concerns about online privacy are exaggerated.
One in ten confronted with data breaches
11% users in Switzerland have experienced data breaches in the past twelve months. These breaches usually resulted in only minor problems. Financial losses (31%) and embarrassing situations (25%) were the most common consequences. The most common negative online experiences are unwanted pornographic content (41%) and attempts at data misuse, such as phishing (37%). One in five users (19%) was affected by virus problems, and 6% by cyberbullying—primarily among those aged 14 to 29.
"Despite increasing awareness of the social risks of internet use, the predominantly reserved attitude of the Swiss population towards internet regulation remains constant", explains Michael Latzer. The rejection of increased internet regulation predominates among the Swiss population. The call for more regulation increases with age and decreases with the level of education.
Half feel integrated in the information society
Half the population (54%) feels included in the information society, 13% (tend to) feel excluded, and one-third (32%) are neutral or undecided on this issue. The sense of inclusion is stronger among men, decreases with age, and increases with educational attainment and internet skills. The majority in Switzerland does not believe that internet use leads to greater individual political participation. «While internet use can help with understanding politics—40% believe this—it does not lead to greater participation or influence on the country’s political process,» explains Michael Latzer. Only 21 to 29% believe in improvements in this regard. One-third of the population views the impact on democracy as neutral. The middle-aged group is the most likely to believe in positive effects, while the very young and the elderly are the least likely. Overall, confidence in digital democratization in Switzerland has risen slightly since 2011 but remains at a low level.
Not a safe place to express political opinions
For half of the Swiss population, the internet is not a safe place to express political opinions. Half (49%) of the Swiss population does not (or rather does not) believe that it is safe to say what one thinks about politics on the internet. Two-thirds (63%) of the Swiss population support the freedom to criticize the government online. One-third (34%) of the population supports unrestricted freedom of expression online, though a slightly larger proportion rejects extreme expressions of opinion (39%). The middle age groups take the most liberal stance on freedom of expression online. «Despite increasing political and religious extremism in recent years, the Swiss population’s attitude toward extreme expressions of opinion has remained the same,» concludes Michael Latzer.
World Internet Project
The World Internet Project (WIP) is a comparative long-term study. It tracks the spread and use of the Internet across 30 countries in an international comparison and analyzes the social, political, and economic implications of the Internet’s development.The WIP-CH project has been conducted since 2011 by the Department of Media Change & Innovation at the Institute for Journalism and Media Research (IPMZ) at the University of Zurich under the direction of Prof. Michael Latzer since 2011 and is based on a representative telephone survey of 1,120 individuals aged 14 and older, which was conducted by DemoSCOPE in May/June 2017. Members of the 2017 project team are Moritz Büchi, Noemi Festic, and Natascha Just. The detailed thematic reports from WIP-CH 2017, as well as information about the project, can be found here>>>.
