Sunday, March 23, 2014

How Social Media Changed Family Dynamics

By: Marcin Sajda

Adapted from http://www.socialsonar.com
Family dinners and holidays in 2014 often come with teens heads buried in their smart phones, laptops and tablets, checking social media. Today’s youth are often more focused on documenting what’s going on and checking out what’s happening with their friends, then actually living in the moment. As we know social media can be a great way for teens to connect with their friends and community’s that help identify their likes and interests. Although often a teen or youth’s over usage of social media can cut into family creating a rift. In the article, 'Families Back Together', the author describes how families have implemented a ‘no mobile devices at the dinner table’ and a ‘lights out’ rule, that cuts out the internet during certain hours. These rules allow the family a break from social media and the internet, limiting both usage and allowing the family to get back to the tradition roots of family bonding.

As social media continues to grow and become an even more powerful force in our social communications, it will become even more important for families to balance technology with the core traditional family values in a world powered by technology.

References:
http://parentsware.com/bringing-families-back-together/

http://www.socialsonar.com/SmartphoneAddiction.jpg 

4 comments:

  1. Hi Marcin, I really enjoyed you blog about teens and technology. Today as you said technology can cut into family time. Kids bring their phones to the table and text while they are eating or posting on Facebook what they are having for dinner. In an article I read on http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9134444/Social_networks_cutting_into_family_time site shows us that 47% are involved in social media and that 27% increased since a year ago. This shows that there are so many more users on social media and the majority of these users are teens.

    By Jade Brocklehurst

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  2. Thank you so much for raising this topic! I agree with each your word! Gadgets have got lots of benefits, they make our everyday lives easier in many different ways. But when talking about relationships between parents and children - gadgets always become the greatest barrier between them. I advise each parent to read this article http://www.agsinger.com/how-a-family-outing-can-strengthen-relationships/in order to realize that family outings may be vital for healthy family relationships!

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