Away from the ever-depressing news reports on the global credit crunch, several major media sources have reported on a recent national study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project which looked at how Americans are engaging in technology. Contrary to cynics claiming that technology is driving people apart and creating a fragmented society, this project would appear to refute this stance.
The study looked at how different social groups exploited technology - broken down by families with children, couples without children, single adults and adults living together but not related.
The survey of 2,252 Americans found that 51% of parents said they browsed the net with their children and that the Internet was a means of social interaction between members of the family. Coupled with data about mobile phone use, and the typical “nuclear” family was more likely to have broadband connectivity (two-thirds of the sample compared with 52% of the general US population) and more likely to have more than one mobile phone (89%). This sector was also more likely to have more than 2 PCs in the home - in this case, 58% of the sample.
Tracy Kennedy from the University of Toronto who was part of the team that conducted the study said:
“Some analysts have worried that new technologies hurt family togetherness, but we see that technology allows for new kinds of connectedness built around cell phones and the Internet. A lot of families treat the Internet as a place for shared experiences. They don't just withdraw from the family to their own computer for private screen time. They often say, ‘Hey - look at this!' to others in the household.”
Across the whole sample, 53% said they used technology to keep in contact with relatives and to maintain long-distance relationships, whilst 47% said new technologies actually improved dialogue with their co-habitants. Respondents were asked if their family was closer now, to when they were growing up - 25% gave a positive response.
The project reported that the typical nuclear family was more inclined to spend time on the Web in the presence of another family member several times a week, but interestingly, this sector was less likely to share evening mealtimes with each other and when asked, were less satisfied with family leisure time than those families with less access to technology. The downside of having all this technology at our disposal is that work time encroaches more on family time - and could explain why respondents gave a negative response to this question.
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