Even those taking the occasional conscious break said they still spend too much “dead time” online.
Keystone
Only 31% of people in Switzerland manage to take a conscious break from media consumption at least once a day. One in four Swiss never actively disconnects at all, according a representative survey published on Monday.
This applies to people in all linguistic areas of the country, revealed the surveyExternal link by comparis.ch. Those who do take occasional breaks said they still spent too much “dead time” consuming all kinds of online media.
It’s not only younger people who treat their smartphone as a constant companion: 36% of those who never take an active break from media consumption are over 56, according to comparis.ch. This is the same proportion as for those users aged 18 to 35.
“The smartphone has replaced the television and the radio, which means that people have constant access to all kinds of media at their fingertips,” said Jean-Claude Frick, digital expert at comparis.ch.
Messages from friends and colleagues on social media increase the pressure to constantly check our phone, he said.
Push notifications – “the junk emails of the smartphone generation” – are another reason for people’s inability to reduce their consumption, Frick said. He recommends turning them off as a “first step to a breaking the smartphone addiction”.
The survey questioned 1,049 people about their media consumption in all areas of Switzerland.
More
More
Does age determine media habits in Switzerland?
This content was published on
Discussions about media in Switzerland often conjure notions of a generational divide, but how we consume may transcend questions of age.
What do you think Switzerland’s Alain Berset can bring to the Council of Europe?
The former interior minister is to become the first Swiss Secretary General of the Council of Europe – which issues should his five-year term focus on?
How is your country dealing with the return of stolen artifacts?
Western nations like Switzerland often have to deal with the process of recovering or returning looted artifacts which have been illegally imported. What’s the situation like in your country?
The legal difficulties of online expression in Switzerland
This content was published on
Drawing the line between freedom of expression and discrimination is a nuanced minefield in the age of social media, as a case in Switzerland shows.
This content was published on
They are strong, they are dominant, they have money – and they are located outside the Swiss sphere of influence: the internet giants or “tech intermediaries”. They are social media platforms, especially Facebook and Google, that no longer merely serve as a means of keeping in touch with family and friends. In Switzerland, the generation…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.