During the corona pandemic, many people learned to appreciate the advantages of digitization. Ordering food and staying in the home office is something that even those who are traditionally skeptical about technology have become accustomed to. But now the trend seems to be reversing: the digital pessimism of the Germans is back.
This is the result of the digital index of the D21 initiative, which is published once a year. One of the most striking results is that there are fewer citizens who still have the feeling that they are benefiting from digitization – at 55 percent of those surveyed, this is almost four percentage points fewer than in the previous year. The differences between young and old (73 to 21 percent), between those with higher and lower levels of formal education (71 to 37 percent) and between town and country (60 to 48 percent) are large. There is also a large gap between the new and old federal states (45 to 57 percent).
At the same time, the feeling of being stressed out by digitization is increasing in some sections of the population. “It’s the deteriorated attitudes that bother me the most – that fewer people feel that they are benefiting from digitization, but at the same time the feeling that this change is putting them under pressure is increasing,” explains the author of the D21 study, Sandy Jahn, in conversation with the daily mirror. After a strong “corona effect”, which showed citizens the positive aspects of digitization, the current situation has apparently “arrived in a kind of oversaturation”.
Arrived in a kind of oversaturation
Sandy Jahn, author of the D21 study
The index also reveals a major weakness when it comes to digitization in German schools, which are currently plagued by staff shortages: only 31 percent of those surveyed trust the local school system to teach the necessary digital skills so that students can keep up internationally – too here the trend is downward. Jahn explains that this comes less from the pupils than from the parents’ generation.
The young people themselves have fewer doubts about their digital skills, but according to the D21 expert, they often feel isolated when dealing with digitization. “With younger people, we see that, due to their high exposure to social media, their frequent confrontation with disinformation online, they feel more often on their own and sometimes want to withdraw from the digital space,” explains Jahn. There is a need for more psychologists and social workers in the schools who provide support beyond the lessons on topics such as cybergrooming, disinformation, problematic body and self-image and also addictive behavior.
News literacy and resilience are increasing
On the other hand, there are positive signals for the labor market: According to the index, one in four employees has used further training opportunities to acquire digital knowledge within a year. As far as the possible loss of jobs through digitization is concerned, only a fifth of employees relate this risk to themselves. However, how employers deal with digital change is also viewed critically: Overall, only 58 percent believe that they are taking the necessary steps to to keep up in times of digitization. For people without an office job, this value is only 46 percent.
Digital news competence has improved in Germany. 60 percent of citizens believe, four percentage points more than in the previous year, that they can recognize dubious news on the internet. Author Jahn notes, however, “that this is mainly the case with people with higher education and men, but also with older people and people in the new federal states – and that it is a matter of self-assessment.”
55
percent of those surveyed felt they would benefit. That is almost four percentage points less.
Although fears about the influence of digitization on democracy and social cohesion are often the focus, 56 percent see digital change as “rather positive” for democracy. In contrast, 64 percent see disinformation – especially with regard to AI applications suitable for the masses such as deepfakes or ChatGPT – as one of the greatest risks for democracy. However, digitization itself is seen as a threat to democracy by only one fifth of those surveyed.
There was also an improvement in digital resilience, i.e. the skills and attitudes of people to adapt to changes caused by digitalization. Measured in terms of basic skills in dealing with digitization – including searching using a search engine or creating simple texts in word processing software – 64 percent of those surveyed could be recorded as resilient in digital change. It is also positive that 69 percent of those surveyed have acquired knowledge of digital topics within the last year.
With regard to people with a lower level of formal education, this value is significantly lower, with only 39 percent having acquired digital knowledge in the same period. Another aspect that speaks for a growing division in German society in the digital transformation. The author of the study, Jahn, also points to the initiative factor here: 80 percent of those with a higher education see a certain degree of personal responsibility for keeping up with digital change, while only 63 percent of those with a lower education see it that way.
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