93 hours per week – that’s the equivalent of almost four whole days and nights. According to Postbank's “Digital Study 2023”, this is how much time people between the ages of 18 and 39 spent on average last year on the Internet. You already think you have them in mind: the experts who warn against too much screen time, as well as those who don't think it's all that bad.
First of all: Overall, Germans are using the Internet for longer than ever before, on average last year it was 71 hours per week, 21 hours more than in 2019. In 2023, smartphones alone accounted for 23 hours of Internet time.
84 percent of the 3,038 respondents use their cell phones to access the Internet, followed by laptops and desktop computers. On average, the professionals surveyed only use the Internet for work for around four and a half hours a day.
Internet prevents relaxation
Internet use is therefore primarily a leisure activity. The Berlin psychiatrist Jan Kalbitzer, author of the book “Digital Paranoia”, distinguishes between two phenomena. On the one hand, the dwindling control: “We have to practice not reaching for our cell phones so impulsively anymore.” The Internet makes people dependent on external stimulation, which means they forget how to be alone and process their feelings.
On the other hand, the Internet promotes so-called micromanagement. “We constantly fill all the gaps in everyday life with small tasks and are therefore constantly busy,” says Kalbitzer. This leads to permanent unrest. Stress is “a healthy, human ability,” but it works like a muscle: “The Internet prevents us from relaxing this muscle.” To change that, Kalbitzer recommends conscious screen breaks. In the long term, internet consumption leads to a vicious circle: the “unprocessed” feelings accumulate and increase the need to distract yourself from them with your cell phone.
Those surveyed in the “Digital Study 2023” are also thinking about spending less time on the internet. In general, around 73 percent are satisfied with their usage time, only 16 percent want to be stricter with themselves. However, there are clear differences in the age groups: almost a third of those surveyed up to 39 years of age want to reduce their internet time, while in the group 40 years of age and older the figure is only nine percent.
To practice impulse control, Kalbitzer recommends the so-called toilet cleaning game for families or shared apartments: everyone puts their cell phone on the table with the sound on and listens to the news coming in. “Whoever picks up their cell phone first has to clean the toilet next.” Kalbitzer doesn't believe that 93 hours on the Internet is a lot. He himself uses his iPad at work and constantly listens to online radio, which quickly adds up to a lot of hours. It is much more important that people “regain what it means not to follow the impulse.”
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