Published on 22.11.2022 under Agency, General, Content, Social Media
The online study by ARD and ZDF and what we can learn from it
If you are reading this article, then you belong to the 95 percent of the German-speaking population who use the Internet. Admittedly, this is no feat. How typical do you think your online behavior is? The current online study 2022 by ARD and ZDF shows how Germans use the Internet, what they use it for and which content is consumed most frequently. The study is published annually. We have summarized important findings from the study for you.
The Internet plays a major role in media use, and videos are particularly popular. We spend a total of 160 minutes a day on the media Internet, i.e. with videos, music, podcasts or texts (Source). That's about four lessons at school, about two games in the basketball league and only slightly shorter than the cinema version of "Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring". For people between the ages of 14 and 29, the members of Generation Z, it's a full 284 minutes - that's even longer than the Extended Edition of the Lord of the Rings film.
Video is the most popular medium on the web
Almost every German uses one Video Streaming Service: 95 percent of post-millennials uses YouTube monthly, which is 2021 percent more than in 50. But among the older population (69-47 years), YouTube is also the most popular with 57 percent of at least monthly users. The popularity of YouTube can be explained, among other things, by the fact that content from the broadcaster's media library can often also be found here. At XNUMX percent, these use more than half of the population.
Across the age groups, the use of video streaming services increased by around five to ten percent compared to 2021. The popularity of video content is also reflected in the fact that social media platforms are also increasingly relying on video content. Above all, the video platform of the Chinese company ByteDance: With a daily usage of 8 percent, TikTok is ahead of Amazon Prime Video, which is in third place in the streaming service ranking and has a daily usage of 6 percent in the total population (Source).
Florian Baar, head of the content team at matrix agency, knows what is important for the correct staging of one's own moving image content: "The popularity of videos can also be used for one's own online presence. However, to ensure that your own content doesn't just fizzle out between all the other videos, it is advisable to start with the conception of a user:inside-centric moving image strategy. That saves time and money and increases reach.”
Meta continues to be the leader in social media
69 percent of 14 to 29 year olds use it every day Social Media Offers, above all the two meta-platforms Facebook and Instagram, followed by TikTok. Instagram was able to increase the most daily users: Overall, the number of users increased from 2020 percent to 2022 percent from 15 to 22. In Gen Z, 56 percent use Instagram every day. When asked about islands, 37 percent of these young people choose Instagram as their preferred social media platform. But why is Instagram more popular? According to the study, one of the main reasons for choosing Instagram and not Facebook, for example, is the celebrities, stars or influencers. Facebook users, on the other hand, are more interested in the comment function (Source).
More business-heavy platforms are also becoming increasingly important. Jens Peters, Online Marketing Manager at matrix agency, says: “In particular, LinkedIn has become a game changer for us over the last year. In the business context, the platform offers an interested and committed audience that pushes its own content through interactions and thus helps to bring the content to a new, relevant audience. In this way you can position yourself broadly, but above all you can reach the right audience with niche topics.”
Audio streaming for knowledge transfer
Around every second German also listens to audio via the Internet: from music streaming to audio books and podcasts. The motivation with which certain content is accessed is particularly interesting. Well over half of podcast listeners want to learn something or get background information. Current affairs information is also at the top of the list of most popular podcast content. The topic of knowledge transfer is therefore the most important criterion according to which people decide on a podcast. Fun and pastime follow as motives only in second place.
What is also exciting about this aspect is the opposing development of video and audio: Thanks to TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, the trend in video formats is clearly moving towards short and concise content. In the case of podcasts, on the other hand, the "transfer of knowledge" usage motive speaks more for extensive content or content in series format.
The Swedish streaming service Spotify is the absolute market leader in the audio sector. More than half of the population uses the service at least weekly to stream music, radio plays or podcasts (Source).
What we learn from the study
What do we draw from the study for ourselves? Moving images are well received, we also notice that on our channels and the channels of our customers. No wonder, then, that our new office space not only offer space for innovative forms of work and event formats, but also for our own sound and video studio. What we unfortunately see again and again: far too few organizations and initiatives that operate YouTube strategically. Very few (including the study) do not perceive the platform as the direction it has been developing for years: the largest social media platform. For a year now, functions such as "Shorts" (comparable to TikTok videos), posts (cf. Instagram post) and the chat function have been creating completely new usage patterns.
If you want to take your first steps with shorts or on TikTok, you can find them here 6 Tips for Making TikTok Videos. To ensure storytelling in your content succeeds, you will find advice in our blog series "The Red Thread", for example to storytelling in Social Media or in Videos.
If, after reading this article, you put your mobile phone aside or switch off your computer – i.e. do a bit of digital detox – then you do the same as almost 50 percent of Germans who have also treated themselves to a digital break.
You can find more about content & social media here.
You can find the whole study here here.
