Thursday, December 3, 2015

Parents and Social Media


Being a parent, I wanted to read about how parents use social media.  It seems that parents and non-parents have some differences. 
In the report the findings found that out of parents Facebook topped the list with Pinterest 2nd, Linkedin 3rd, Instagram 4th and Twitter 5th
Parents are more likely to use Facebook and they use it to share, respond to good and bad news, and for support.   It seems that more moms use it the most frequently.     I also found it interesting that a typical parent has 150 Facebook friends one third of them are “actual” friends, while non-parents report that less than one fourth of their network is made up of “actual” friends.  Most parents over 40 are likely to be friends with their children on Facebook. Parents with one older child will more than likely be friends with their children on Facebook.  Lots of parents are more likely to be friends with their own parents, children and neighbors.  I find this to be true, I am friends with my children where I can keep up with my grandchildren.
Instagram, 54% of non-parents post on their accounts than 39% of parents.  I don’t follow anyone on Instagram.  I know my daughter-in-law loves it and post continuously on it.
Moms are more likely to use Pinterest than fathers. Also 20% parents over the 16% post or use Pinterest.   Among Twitter and Pinterest users, there are few statistically substantial differences in how often parents and non-parents use them.
More parents than non-parents are likely to use Linkedin.   I have used Linkedin but only with my children.  
Parents also use social media as a source for parenting advice and information. Also they use it to keep up with the children or grandchildren.
1 out of 3 parents expressed concern about their child’s social media and technology use. 
I do believe that parents are on social media because they want to keep up with the times or the kids.


M. Duggan, A. Lenhart. (July 2015) Parents and Social Media, Pew Research Center, Retrieved October 2015 from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/07/Parents-and-Social-Media-FIN-DRAFT-071515.pdf

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1 comment:

  1. As well as having some curiosity about how to make social media work for them, older adults embrace social media for the reasons you outline. There are also folks who refuse, fir whatever reason, to be involved at all! Interesting.

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