Family Communication & Social Media Use

This blog post continues our mission in 2019 of raising social media afterlife awareness by asking the question - how does your family prefer to communicate? The majority of families use a combination of phone calls, text messaging, email, social networking, and written letters to stay in touch to varying degrees. Pew Research Center compiled the statistics behind the communication mediums that are used most often by different generations to highlight the role of social media in the context of family communications. The Pew Research Center data categorizes family communications in 3 groups:

1. How Parents Communicate with Their Adult Children:  First, looking at how frequently parents communicate with their adult children 18 years and older that do not live with them, 46% communicate daily, 39% communicate weekly, 7% communicate monthly, and 7% communicate less often or never.  The mediums used between parents and their adult children shows that 97% communicate on the phone, 61% communicate through text messaging, 39% communicate through email, 28% communicate through social networks, and 8% communicate through written letters.  What’s notable about this family dynamic is that 72% of parents and adult children do not communicate on social media, which might suggest that both parties may not be aware of which social media profiles their family members have.                                                                     
2. How Adults Communicate with Their Parents:  Next, looking at how adults communicate with their parents, 38% communicate daily, 43% communicate weekly, 10% communicate monthly, and 8% communicates less often or never.  The mediums used between adults and their parents shows that 94% communicate on the phone, 49% communicate through text messaging, 27% communicate through email, 21% communicate through social networks, and 8% communicate through written letters. This data set reveals that 79% of adults and their parents do not use social media to communicate, which once again may suggest not knowing which social media profiles family members have.                                                                                                                                                         
3. How Grandparents and Grandchildren Keep in Touch:  Lastly, looking at how grandparents and grandchildren keep in touch, 20% communicate daily, 41% communicate weekly, 19% communicate monthly, and 19% communicates less often or never.  The mediums used between grandparents and grandchildren shows that 79% communicate on the phone, 25% communicate through text messaging, 16% communicate through email, 13% communicate through social networks, and 9% communicate through written letters. To dispel the stereotype of grandparents not using social media, it is interesting to observe that more than 10% of grandparents and grandchildren are communicating on social media. In other words, 1 in 10 grandparents in the United States interact using their social media profiles.

The social science of family interactions and communication mediums suggests that while the majority of U.S. adults have social media profiles, families tend to use phone calls, text messages, and email far more than social media to stay in touch. As a result, family members may not be aware of the various social media profiles their loved one’s have simply because they do not interact through that communication medium.  Consequently, when a family member passes away, their social media profiles may not be considered.

In an effort to provide peace of mind and digital closure, Profile Peace has created our In Memoriam Social Media Service to help families lay their loved one’s social media profiles to rest with dignity and care. As we continue our social media afterlife awareness campaign in 2019, we invite you to share stories about how your family prefers to communicate and the extent to which social media is used. Profile Peace provides purposeful profile memorialization and closure, and we warmly welcome you to join our community.

Sources: 
http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/
http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-2018-appendix-a-detailed-table/
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/05/21/6-keeping-in-touch-across-generations/