Media year 2022: Bad social web, good games

Be it the risk of addiction, the spread of hatred and violence, fraud or a lack of protection for minors – never before have Facebook and Co. had to endure so much criticism. This time, the front runner was TikTok, which has been described as a “danger to children” and a “fake news peddler”. A countertrend can be seen in video games.

Negative side of the online world

Social media use can a positive impact on the well-being of socially isolated older adults, a study from the University of Texas at Austin has found. Reports like this were in short supply in 2022. The negative side of the interactive online world came into focus far more often. For example, their addictive potential was discussed or it was discovered that many sides could stir up hatred in society and ultimately even endanger democracy . It's no surprise that experts are now increasingly recommending taking regular social media breaks in order to protect your own mental health.

Failure to protect minors

Representatives of this sector perform particularly poorly when it comes to protecting their younger users. According to a British survey in Great Britain, 39 percent of children between the ages of 13 and 17 have been victims or witnesses of violence on the social web . Mechanisms such as age verification and ID verification technologies, which are intended to protect younger people in particular from unsuitable content, are criticized as being in need of an overhaul . But even when abuse victims report possible attacks to the operators, in the majority of cases they do n't even get a response .

Teenagers in particular today are spending more time than ever on social media, not least as a result of the corona pandemic, as a survey by Common Sense Media showed. new high was recorded this year for 13 to 18-year-olds with eight hours and 39 minutes of usage time . , eight out of ten parents find that children's mental health improves when they spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. For six out of ten parents, children under the age of 13 have no place at all on social media, a survey in the USA found.

TikTok is the number one offender

This year, it was not Facebook but TikTok that was identified as the number one culprit. The Chinese video portal, which is now more popular with many young people than its US competitors , is not only considered one of the worst data octopuses poisoning its users with harmful content , according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate. false and misleading statements are continually on important topics such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, school shootings and COVID vaccines , according to an analysis by NewsGuard.

The rise of TikTok and its enormous popularity among younger people has led to the portal being increasingly used for questionable marketing purposes. For example, Hollywood studios use the site to market their TV shows. The problem here: They do this with explicit adult content that is actually completely unsuitable for children, as a study by the Parents Television and Media Council criticized. Video clips on the portal that promote poor nutrition and drive young people to anorexia . In view of the lack of protective mechanisms, TikTok is even planning fined 27 million pounds (around 30 million euros) in Great Britain.

Smartphones as “relationship killers”

Just like social media, smartphones have become an integral part of modern everyday life. According to the latest report from App Annie, people now spend an average of four hours and 48 minutes per day using mobile apps on their phones. This corresponds to a third of the waking time that a person has available each day. To reduce the usage time, there is no point in activating mute function This can have the exact opposite effect and lead to people spending even more time in front of the screen, warn researchers at Pennsylvania State University.

As with Facebook and the like, it is becoming increasingly clear with smartphones that excessive use can be very harmful to yourself and your personal environment. For example, around 88 percent of married Indians see their relationship negatively affected by excessive smartphone use. Last but not least, many young people are also affected because if they spend too much time on their cell phones, they often tired and exhausted . Parents are becoming increasingly aware of these circumstances and believe that their children should only use a cell phone from the age of 13

Video games as a positive exception

Despite all the criticism and negative aspects that have characterized the media sector in 2022, there are also positive exceptions. One of these is the area of ​​video games, which, according to BITKOM, has also become an “integral part of everyday life” – especially among young people. Almost 89 percent of ten to 18-year-olds in Germany play computer or video games and invest an average of two hours and 29 minutes per day - on weekends the figure is even higher. Mobile games are particularly popular, with sales increasing by 22 percent to 2.8 billion euros.

Given the ongoing gaming boom, it is only logical that major players in the media circus are making increasing efforts to gain a foothold in this sector. Amazon Luna subscription service and Netflix wants to concentrate primarily on luring gaming fans with game adaptations of its successful series franchises. The streaming giant has even founded its own games studio .

A decisive factor in the increasing economic attractiveness of video games is the fact that the industry has undergone a serious image change in recent years. While not so long ago there was talk of “killer games” that glorified violence, experts are now finding that games can increase children’s intelligence reading ability or have a positive effect on cognitive abilities . It's no surprise that almost 40 percent of parents also believe that video games have a positive impact on their children's mental well-being .

Article image: Pixabay

Source:

PT