At Snap, nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our Snapchat community. We have in place, and consistently enforce, policies and rules that detail the type of content and behaviour that are acceptable on Snapchat. We offer tools and resources to help Snapchatters stay safe, and we engage with others in industry and across the tech sector to better protect teens and younger users in particular.
To offer insight into how teens and young adults are faring online we conducted research into Generation Z’s digital well-being. Surveying teens (aged 13-17), young adults (aged 18-24) and parents of teens, aged 13 to 19 in six countries: Australia, France, Germany, India, UK and the US. The study produced a Digital Well-Being Index (DWBI): a measure of Gen Z’s online psychological well-being.
DWBI readings for 2022
The first Digital Well-Being Index for the six geographies stands at 62, a somewhat average reading on a scale of 0 to 100 – neither particularly favourable nor especially worrisome. By country, India registered the highest DWBI reading at 68, and France and Germany came in below the six-country average, each at 60. Australia’s DWBI is 63; the UK matched the six-country reading at 62, and the U.S. came in at 64.
The index leverages the PERNA model, a variation on an existing research vehicle, comprising 20 sentiment statements across five categories: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Negative Emotion and Achievement. Respondents were asked to state their level of agreement with each of the 20 statements, taking into account all of their online experiences on any device or online application (beyond Snapchat) over the preceding three months. (The research was conducted from 22nd April to 10th May 2022.) An example statement in each of the five categories follows. For a full inventory of all 20 DWBI sentiment statements, see this link.
