In order to exchange ideas with family and friends during lockdown, Mr and Mrs Swiss preferred to use WhatsApp. This is the result of Xeit’s 12th social media study, for which the company surveyed 1,120 people. According to this, 40 percent stated that they used the messaging service belonging to Facebook particularly intensively during Corona for private contacts.
This is doubly surprising, writes Xeit in a press release: On the one hand, Messenger has been causing negative headlines for a long time, most recently due to new data protection guidelines.
(Source: Xeit)
On the other hand, the chat platform has so far not made a special name for itself as a medium for video calls. However, the type of communication was particularly important during the lockdown.
Conversely, the platforms Zoom, Skype or Teams, known for video calls, still rank behind Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat in the list, at least in terms of private communication. “One possible reason? The users already had enough of it due to the home office obligation,” writes Xeit.
Linkedin and Tiktok are growing
When it comes to online social platforms, YouTube and Instagram are ahead: the Swiss spend most of their time there, writes Xeit. Tiktok has definitely said goodbye to its niche existence. It shows the greatest increase. LinkedIn is also one of the winning platforms in terms of increased usage intensity.
Every fourth person said they had bought something on social media. Social commerce is thus gaining in importance, as are influencers, by the way.
Meanwhile, Facebook is still on the decline, especially in Generation Z (born 1993 to 2012). In the same generation, the need for privacy has increased significantly, writes Xeit. At the same time, she wants to have a say and appreciate surveys or competitions. All Swiss people are feeling tired online: According to Xeit, many would like to have a digital break.
Social media and television are part of the everyday life of almost all young people. A team of researchers at Oxford University has investigated what that does to the psyche. The result: Flickerkiste, Instagram, Facebook and Co. do not seem to be harmful, as you can read here.
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