Pew report: Networked Families

October 2008, Networked Families, by Barry Wellman, Aaron Smith, Amy Wells and Tracy Kennedy

This report is an examination of how new technologies, namely cell phones and the Internet, play a role in family relationships and closeness. The researchers examined a few different types of households for their study: married without children, married with children (ages 7-17), multiple non-married adults and children in one house, multiple non-married adults and no children in home, and single parents.

Ultimately, the researchers found that most people feel new technologies have had a positive impact -- if any -- on their familial relationships. The majority of those surveyed said they think the closeness in their families are equal to or greater than the levels of closeness they experienced growing up.

Before reading this report, I thought of a current commercial for a cell phone service provider (the company escapes me now). Two little girls are texting each other: "what r u doing?" "eating, lol. u?" then the camera pulls back and the viewer sees that they are sisters, sitting next to each other at a dinner table with their mother and father. father rolls his eyes in exasperation. i have no doubt this happens at many dinner tables in real life.

I also thought about the family I used to be a nanny for and how the kids would, if allowed, spend hours upon hours online. They were really into webkinz, and would get completely hypnotized by playing in this online world. All three of them would crowd around the computer and argue over whose turn it was to man the controls.

A major point in the study is: "The internet enables shared 'Hey, look at this!' experiences." This point is made in conjunction with the finding that 52% of those surveyed that fall into the married-with-children category go online with another person at least a few times a week. This refutes the assumption that internet use can be isolating. I thought this was an interesting point to make and at first I balked at it. I wrote in my notes, in fact, "This is still passive interaction," comparing it in my mind to television. But upon further reflection I think maybe there is some validity to the point that sharing "hey look at this" experiences can nurture closeness. As with any kind of media (books, magazines, radio programs, television), digital media can spark robust conversation and debate and help people learn more about each other.

The wording about the finding that people surveyed claimed they watch less television "thanks to the internet" was troublesome to me. Not all television is bad. Most of it is bad, but there is worthwhile, enriching programming out there. There is also a lot of bad, unproductive internet content. I'm not convinced that watching less television and using more internet is a positive thing. Not to say it is negative, but I found the wording to suggest the former.

The study notes that spouses often keep in touch throughout the day via cell phone calls. Most of their calls are just to say hi and check in with each other, rather than making major plans.

A few points made in this study brought to mind McLuhan's argument that we ignore and/or understate the amputations caused by new media. One sentence in particular stands out: "Roughly nine in ten internet users say that the time they spend online has had no impact on the amount of time they spend with friends, family or at social events." I don't know if I buy that. I do believe that people responded that way, but I don't believe it to be true. I know that I have been distracted and then been late to meet with friends/family because I was on the Internet. I also have been victim to the iphone: I'm out to dinner/drinks/whatever with a friend who has an iphone and he will look something up on wikipedia mid-conversation. When this happens, while we're all physically together, we aren't mentally in the same place. I think this is more detrimental to interpersonal relationships than being too busy with work to go out to dinner. I think people are in denial of their abilities to forget that they are spending time with someone and that it is rude to surf the internet on your phone or text with other people.

In the end, the study argues that for most families, cell phones and the internet have been mostly good additions to the households.