Young people surf the Internet more and more with cell phones
Teens are riding the smartphone wave at the forefront: According to a study, more and more teenagers are going online with their all-in-one smartphones. They are also increasingly taking advantage of the ever-expanding entertainment options offered by their mobile devices.
The share of smartphones among young people has doubled to around 80 percent within two years, according to a study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) published on Wednesday. The study, commissioned by Swisscom, examined for the second time after 2010 how young people between the ages of 12 and 19 communicate and which media they use. For the study, called "James," more than 1,000 young people were surveyed in all three language regions of Switzerland.
Two-thirds of teenagers said they surf the Internet on their smartphones every day or several times a week. In 2010, the figure was just 16 percent.
Entertainment equipment
In addition, the increasingly powerful cell phones are becoming versatile entertainment devices. In addition to telephony, text messaging or surfing, young people are increasingly playing mobile games, watching videos or listening to music. For example, 46 percent of respondents play mobile games, up from just 19 percent two years ago. The proportion of on-the-go e-mail readers rose from 10 to 38 percent.
However, the classic functions of text messaging (91 percent) and telephoning (79 percent) are still used by far the most. This year's study also revealed that young people often use several media at the same time. For example, they listen to music while sending messages, watching a YouTube video or browsing Facebook.
Just under half of those surveyed say they regularly surf the Internet while watching TV. 59 percent say they make phone calls or write text messages while watching TV. (sda)
