The everyday life of young people has been heavily influenced by crisis experiences in recent years and fake news is unfortunately still very present.
Since 2020, the corona pandemic has changed leisure and media activities. It is only this year that the circumstances are approaching those before the start of the pandemic. This is reflected, for example, in the leisure activities of twelve to 19 year olds. Young people are meeting more with friends and attending sporting events again. Daily internet use during leisure time in 2022 will also be back to the level before the start of the pandemic with an average of 204 minutes (2021: 241 minutes, 2020: 258 minutes, 2019: 205 minutes).
These are the results of the JIM study 2022 (Youth, Information, Media) by the Media Education Research Association Southwest, which was published today. For the representative study, 1,200 young people between the ages of twelve and 19 in Germany were surveyed by telephone or online from June 2nd to July 16th, 2022.
The study, which was carried out jointly by the Baden-Württemberg State Communications Authority (LFK) and the Rhineland-Palatinate Media Authority in collaboration with Südwestrundfunk (SWR), also shows that disinformation and insults on the Internet are part of everyday digital life for many young people.
According to this, 56 percent of twelve to 19 year olds say they have encountered fake news online in the last month. Extreme political views and conspiracy theories are at 43 percent each, a good third of those surveyed were confronted with hate messages and 16 percent were exposed to personal insults.

A return to the level of 2019 can also be seen in the reading time, which is now back to an average of 53 minutes per day (2021: 59 minutes, 2020: 74 minutes, 2019: 53 minutes). In some areas, however, there is a continuation of increased media use. At 109 minutes, the average time that young people play digitally every day is still at the previous year's level (2021: 110 minutes) and significantly above the value in 2019 (81 minutes).
Netflix and YouTube are still the most relevant for the online use of shows, series and films.
Every second person uses these platforms regularly. When it comes to shorter videos and clips, YouTube is particularly popular as a platform among young people, although regular use has declined compared to the previous year.
The topic of advertising is often discussed in connection with YouTubers/influencers.
72 percent of those surveyed think it's okay for YouTubers/influencers to earn money from their posts. 40 percent have already bought something because it was recommended in such an article. For almost half, this type of advertising feels more honest than television advertising. Two thirds of young people assume that advertising from YouTubers/influencers is always labeled as such. One in four people can imagine becoming a YouTuber/influencer themselves.
WhatsApp remains the most important app for 12 to 19 year olds.
93 percent use the service regularly. Instagram is in second place by a clear margin (62%). After the sharp decline last year (-14 percentage points), a slight increase can be seen again (+4 pp). TikTok is used regularly by over half of young people, expanding its lead over Snapchat (45%). Similar to 2021, Facebook is used regularly by a quarter of young people.
Spotify continues to be the main way to listen to music.
Over half use the platform regularly for this purpose. Radio stations come in second place, with 45 percent using them to listen to music. After a decline in usage at the beginning of the corona pandemic, listening to the radio has stabilized again since last year and is almost at the previous year's level in 2022, with regular usage of 57 percent (2021: 58%). 82 percent of radio listeners say they turn on the radio to listen to music, 61 percent to get to know new music. 59 percent listen to the radio to stay up to date, one in two people use the radio for regional information.
Overall, the results of the 2022 JIM study show a return to the situation before the start of the pandemic in many areas. However, in other areas such as digital games, a steady development can be observed.
Source: Media Education Research Association Southwest (mpfs) c/o State Institute for Communication
Media Research
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

