Exploring the Effects of Social Media on Interpersonal Communication among Family Members

Abstract

Communication is essential toward all families and given the technology that we have today, Facebook has been one of many social media sites that lets people stay connected whereever they may be, although, not all members of the family are in to using Facebook to communicate with their loved ones. This study aims to determine the effects of social media on interpersonal communication among family members, in particular, it analyzes the effectiveness of Facebook and family communication. In connection with this, the emphasis of this study is the effects of social media on the quality of interpersonal communication skills among family members. A sample of 25% of 120 individuals from four different colleges during the 2016-17 school year were the respondents of this study. A questionnaire was given to the respondents which included their profile, number of hours and activities on Facebook, and lastly the quality of their interpersonal communications with their family members. The results of the study show that communicating through Facebook more than likely leads to misunderstandings among family members as the messages are not expressed properly. Hence, a family must take time to talk and interact with each other personally in order to avoid these kinds of conflicts and maintain a good family relationship.