Abstract
This paper reports the results of the 2022 Nationwide Public Opinion Survey on Attitudes Towards Media. The 2022 survey finds more than 70% of respondents viewed TV programs (real-time viewing) “almost every day,” but the figures have been declining since 2020, notably with a significant decline from 63% (2020) to 40% (2022) for those aged 16 through 29. In this age group, more people accessed YouTube and social media every day than television. Daily use of YouTube and social media has expanded beyond the young generation.
As for media’s usefulness, in terms of “knowing what’s happening in the world,” television was appreciated by 59% of the entire respondents, which is overwhelmingly higher than for other media. For the respondents overall, those thinking the utility of “knowing what’s happening in the world” is “very important” accounted for 62%, which was the highest among other utilities, but for those aged 16 through 29, only fewer than half (42%) did so, with “to be moved and entertained” (59%) and “to acquire information about daily lives and pastimes” (51%) marking higher. This age group also appreciated YouTube for emotional experiences, entertainment, and the acquisition of information about daily lives or pastimes, and social media for the acquisition of information about daily lives or pastimes.
As to the relations between media usage and attitudes, the younger the more they tended to view the same types of TV programs or online videos, which was attributed to their proactive attitudes towards things and activities they were fond of. This tendency was also associated with their preference for similar thoughts to their own. Another finding was that many respondents considered that the more frequently they used certain media, the more they felt that the media had influence on them. Also, those feeling “information supported by many people is trustworthy” and “I get embarrassed if there is information that my colleagues, friends, or acquaintances know but I don’t,” were more likely to think that media had influence on them than those who did not feel in this way.
