Young people's media useJIM Study 2024 published
In addition to Chat GPT, AI offerings from Snapchat, Google AI and DALL-E also play a role. Overall, just under two thirds of young people state that they use AI technologies. Among the young people who use AI, the most common motive is school-related use: two thirds use AI for homework and school subjects. In addition, 52% use AI for entertainment. 43% use it to research information.
61 percent of young people confronted with fake news
The study documents an increase in contact between 12 and 19-year-olds with problematic content on the internet: 61 percent of young people now say they have been confronted with fake news in the last month. This proportion has risen steadily in recent years; in 2021, it was still at 42%. Offensive comments (57%, 2023: 51%) and extreme political views (54%, 2023: 42%) are also perceived more frequently by young people than in the previous year. Almost one in three young people state that they have been sexually harassed online. These incidents mainly occur on social media platforms - most frequently on Instagram.
Social media is an important source of news
Social media is a daily companion for most young people. WhatsApp is used by almost all young people. Apps such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat are used regularly by more than half of them, often several times a day. The different platforms fulfill different needs. The use of TikTok, for example, is primarily seen as a way to switch off, discover trends and find inspiration. WhatsApp, on the other hand, clearly focuses on communication with friends and the opportunity to share their lives with others.
In addition to personal conversations and news on the radio or television, social media is also an important source of information on world events. Around a third of young people use Instagram, YouTube and TikTok to find out about current events. In general, 83% of young people are interested in news - both world events and events in their own region. At the same time, around two-fifths say that the large number of negative reportsstresses them out. This is accompanied by the phenomenon of "news avoidance", i.e. the deliberate avoidance of news, among the majority of young people: Eight percent "often" try to avoid news, 23 percent "sometimes" and a further 32 percent "at least occasionally".
Smartphone remains the most important device for young people
The most important media device for young people is still the smartphone, the intensive use of which they also question critically. Two thirds of young people state that they often spend more time on their cell phones than originally planned. Two fifths report distractions when doing homework. At the same time, 59% enjoy spending time without their cell phone and the Internet. Daily online use has fallen slightly compared to last year and stands at 201 minutes per day - the lowest figure since 2016.
Information on the JIM study
The JIM (Jugend, Information, Medien) study series has been conducted annually since 1998 by the Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund Südwest (mpfs), a cooperation between the Landesanstalt für Kommunikation Baden-Württemberg (LFK), the Medienanstalt Rheinland-Pfalz and Südwestrundfunk (SWR). The representative study maps the media behavior of young people in Germany. For this purpose, 1,200 young people between the ages of 12 and 19 were surveyed between June 5 and July 14, 2024 by means of telephone interviews (CATI, 50%) and online questionnaires (CAWI, 50%). All editions of the JIM Study since 1998 are available as PDF files on the redesigned website www.mpfs.de