CPH Tech Policy Brief #7

How concerned are people about their ‘screen time’?

This edition of CPH Tech Policy Brief presents insights from a new study that attempts to deconstruct the concept of screen time and ask which specific types of screen use people are dissatisfied or satisfied with. By asking respondents separately about their use of digital devices, social media platforms, and digital activities and comparing the answers across these categories, we can provide a nuanced picture of what people are concerned about when it comes to screen time.

As digital media have increasingly permeated all areas of life, concern with the impact of prolonged screen time has been on the rise, in Denmark – a highly digitalized country – as well as globally.

However, despite plentiful debates in both public media and academic literature, we know little about the extent to which individuals would like to change their own screen time, which parts of their screen time they would like to change, and what they already do to achieve this. This CPH Tech Policy Brief highlights central findings from a comprehensive survey of the Danish population’s ideals and opinions concerning their own screen time.

We find that a substantial proportion of the population – especially younger age groups – would like to lower their screen time, yet one fifth of these people take no action at all to do so. We also find that many have a multifaceted experience of the impact of digital technologies on their lives, and that there is a varied experience of which types of digital technology use should ideally be decreased. Policy discussions around regulations of digital devices and media could benefit from taking the variations in people’s own concerns into account.

The study was made by Malene Hornstrup Jespersen (PhD Fellow), Kristoffer Albris (Associate Professor), and Helene Willadsen (Postdoc) from the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS).