Technologies for intergenerational family ...

Technologies for intergenerational family communication Carolina Abrantes, Ana Carla Amaro, Vania Baldi University of Aveiro, Dept. of Communication and Art CIC.Digital DigiMedia Aveiro, Portugal [email protected],[email protected],[email protected] Abstract — Many families have begun to make use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and social media, incorporating their functionalities in their daily lives in order to keep in touch with each other. An exploratory investigation on how technology and social media are used to support intergenerational family communication was carried out, in order to understand, not only the technologies and media adopted, but also how and for what they are used by each family member.After the selection of families through pre-established criteria, semi-structured interviews were conducted to each of its members. It was possible to conclude that, despite the media differences and asymmetry in their use between generations, the members of the families under study use technologies and digital media at their disposal to maintain contact with each other. This paper proposes a social network for intergenerational family communication, based on a set of characteristics and functionalities identified as fundamental for any technology platform focused on family communication. Keywords - intergenerational; technology; social media.

I.

family;

communication;

INTRODUCTION

As a result of technological advances and the integration of ICT in everyday life, contemporary families have changed the way they interact and maintain contact[1]–[4]. This study aimed to investigate how ICTs and Social Media affect and support intergenerational family communication. In addition to the ICT and Social Media that are used by families, the study sought to understand the purpose and the way of its use by each family generation, in order to understand the relevance of a social network to support intergenerational family communication and determine its main characteristics and functionalities. In order to achieve the study aims, semi-structured interviews were conducted, with different generations of the selected families. Through the content analysis of these interviews, it was possible to understand, from an intergenerational point of view and in the context of family communication, the advantages and disadvantages of each technology and media used and it was possible to draw a first draft of a technological platform focused on family communication, by delimiting its main features and functionalities.

c 978-989-98434-7-9/17/$31.00 2017 AISTI

II.

BACKGROUND

As Harwood [5] and Bengston [6] pointed out, the intergenerational relationships between grandparents and grandchildren occur more often and can be expected to last longer, due to the increase in the average life expectancy. The increasing number of divorces and marital instability are yet other factors that, leading to a lack of support from parents towards their children, contribute to a greater connection between grandparents and grandchildren [6].Maintaining these relationships is crucial for both grandparents and grandchildren, as it allows them to contact with different perspectives on the world around them through the interaction between generations of completely different ages, and gives them the opportunity to share and understand their family history [5]. Nowadays, the Internet has become one of the greatest communication resources, allowing its users to have access to several subsets of communication platforms anywhere, anytime, at reduced costs or even for free, such as social networking services, instant messaging and mobile applications [7].These resources are also used in the family context as a means of strengthening family ties and creating memories between relatives through shared activities (such as online games) [8] or making long-standing or immediate family plans [9]. This enthusiasm and apparent strengthening of family ties are the factors that lead to the use of these services and applications. By 2015, 70% of Portuguese households had internet access at home and 70% of internet users were registered in social networks [10], with an increasing number of relatives meeting and joining as friends on social networking websites. As observed by Mahmud, Rahim, Miskon, and Jomhari [4], the sharing of resources between relatives has influenced each family to constantly adapt social network services to their communication purposes, and these services are increasingly being used as intergenerational mediators [11]. Social networking services can also provide a sense of closeness to physically distant relatives by allowing them to exchange photos, messages, and other information [8]. Video calls are another service provided by the Internet that is presented as a solution for distance communication: in addition to its reduced cost, its greatest benefit is the ability to provide distant relatives with a sense of closeness, allowing them to know each other better than just with audio support [12]. Being a synchronous communication medium, it presents

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immediate benefits, such as the possibility of having richer real-timeconversations [13], by adding non-verbal communication aspects, like facial expressions and body language [14, 15]. It is precisely in geographically remote families that the impact of ICT is particularly visible [1]. These technologies have the potential to improve intergenerational communication [5], as well as to create the sense of shortening the distance that separates relatives, generating a feeling of family unity [1], [14]. However, while young people are increasingly using social networking services to share personal content with family and friends, older family members are unlikely to enjoy these platforms [16], leading to intergenerational communication failure[17,18].Although ICTs have much to offer to older adults, they are often reluctantto use them, preferring face-toface communication or phone calls [19]. With the ultimate goal of conceptualizing a solution to attenuate the generational discrepancy in the use of communication services, also improving the technologically mediated intergenerational family communication,this research aimed to understand which technologies and digital media are most used by a set of Portuguese intergenerational families and which of their characteristics and functionalities are most valued. III.

METHOD

Multiple case study method was used. Five cases were selected, consisting of Portuguese intergenerational families, in which there were at least three live generations (at least one individual per generation). In this way, it was possible to collect information not only from three different generations the older adults, the adults and the youngers -, but also from three intergenerational family roles - grandparents, parents and grandchildren. Geographical proximity to the researcher was also a selection criterion, in order to ensure the possibility of face-to-face contact. Thus, the studied sample consists of four families with three generations and one family formed with four generations. In total, 18 participants were interviewed, divided by the different generations as follows: one great-grandmother (4th generation), five grandparents (3rd generation), seven parents (2nd generation) and five grandchildren (1st generation). Twelve of the participants are female and six are male. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews, a technique especially appropriate to the typology of data to be collected, of a subjective and often emotional nature.Interviews were done individually to each member of the families, except for the younger participants, who needed the presence of their parents. The interviewswere recorded for later transcription, coding and analysis. At the beginning of each interview,a questionnaire was used to collectdemographic data and other information, such as family role, geographical distance between family members and ICT and Social Media to which participants had access.These data enabled a real-time adaptation of some of the interview questions to the particular context of each participant.

Once the transcription of the interviews was complete, all records were imported to the Nvivo software and qualitative data analysis was performed. The content analysis was then subjectedto frequency analysis andrelational research between categories of analysis. IV.

RESULTS

For all the study participants, the most used and valued form of family contact is face-to-face communication, not technologically mediated. Since the participants belong togeographically close families,face-to-face meetings are possible and are pointed out as an almost infallible way to check relatives’ wellbeing, since no problem can be masked by the lack of visual clues (as can happen, for example, in phone calls or social networks) and escape the scrutiny of a face-to-face conversation.In addition to weekend visits, family meals are considered a 'sacred' moment of connection. Usually, these meetings are held in the home of older members, such as grandparents or greatgrandparents.However, as was also pointed out by Mahmud, Rahim, Miskon and Jomhari [4], these meetings are not always possible due to different schedules and routines or the geographical distance caused by the migration of some relatives.And it is in these cases that ICT and digital media play an active role in maintaining family relationships. The research allowed to conclude that the phone calls andSMS are the preferred means to maintain this type of contact. Though, when physical distance increases, SMS is replaced by video calls and contact through social networks increases. It has also been observed that phone calls with family members becomes more prominent as age increases. In most cases, it is the only form of technologically mediated contact enjoyed bythe third and fourth generation participants.This reluctance to adopt ICT has already been pointed out by several authors (for example, Muñoz et al. [19]), due not only to the low digital literacy of the participants,but also to the fact that media consumption changes with age, as reported by Livingstone & Das [20]. Photos are another way of maintaining contact between generations that also becomes more valued asageincreases. While there is no record of its use as a means of communication in the first generation, older generations ensure photographic registration as a valuable contact resource. The format in which the photos are used also changes with the generation: while in the fourth generation the physical photo albums are the chosen configuration, the second generation already uses them in digital format and the third generation uses a combination of the both formats. It has been concluded that SMS and video calls are the preferred formof communicationfor the first generation, and that their use increases asage decreases. SMS are presented as an impersonal and fast way of communicating, characteristics that appeal to the younger and more inhibited participants. Video calls are preferred by women, and the great advantage of resembling face-to-face meetings has been indicated, as it is possible to observe the person and hear their voice.It is also one of the preferred ways to contact family members living abroad.

Proceedings of the 12th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies

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Facebook also appears as an important means of contact, especially in situations where family members are geographically distant. The advantages indicated by the participants are the possibility to establish individual or group conversations between relatives and also to receive notifications whenever their relatives share information and photographs. These advantages correspond also to the ones observed by Mesch [8].

“(...) advances in technology are dragging people into the digital lifestyle, full of virtual communication, but lacking a sense of warmth and intimacy.” [21, p. 21]In search for this warmth and intimacy,Wei, Wang, Peiris & Choi [21], conceived CoDine, a systems that takes the form of a dinner table, with an integrated display and camera (Fig. 1).In addition to a video call system, it includes several interactive activities,

It was found that the second generation makes greater use of Facebook, even though all the interviewed generations mentioned some fears related to the public exposure of information that only concerns the private family circle. Contrarilyto what has been pointed out by Webber Heffernan, Yeganeh, Estrada & Augstkalns [16], that it would be unlikely that older generations will enjoy these platforms, it was observed thatthe third generation, although often not registered in this social network, is informed by their registered relatives of any activity of interest that has been shared. The collected data also show that the e-mail service is not easily related to family communication, being only used in professional or school contexts. This form of contact may be currently replaced by more informal means, such as Facebook, where it is also possible to contact family members free of charge, not only through writing, but also through video calls and photos, allowing the development of proximity between relatives. In the studied families, when comparing the two social circles - family and outside the family - it can be concluded that the photos are the only form of contact that belongs exclusively to the family circle. All other means of contact were also used in the family circle as in other social circles. V.

FEATURES OF A SOCIAL NETWORK FOR FAMILIES

Considering the results obtained, a set of characteristics and functionalities for a social network for families was defined. Thus, the proposal entails the creation of a private social network, available in different platforms and free of charge, so as to ensure, on the one hand, the privacy of shared information and, on the other hand, access for all members of the family.

Figure 1. CoDine, by Wei, Wang, Peiris & Choi[21]

which can provide the experience and feeling of a family meal to relatives who are distant. A technological artefact similar to the one proposed by Wei, Wang, Peiris & Choi [21] could be a great solution for the older relatives, more used to TV-alike technology and less to personal computers or smartphones. In addition to transmitting the meal moment and having socialization features, the artefact could also allow access to the functions associated with the social network, such as the IM and the photo album. The implementation of the service in a similar way to that suggested by Muñoz et al. [19], could also increase its level of acceptance by the older generation. The authors developed

Communication could happen throughgroup or private instant messaging (IM). In addition to the written conversations, the social network would still need to include voice and video communication, as both older and younger users feel more comfortable using those. An area for familial photos should also exist, being possible to order the photos chronologically, by event, by family member or even by family branch. Besides these features, which can already be found in some of the online social networks currently available, family meals should be encompassed.Since this is one of the most valued face-to-face moments between intergenerational families and given that these situations are becoming increasingly rare, due to migration and extensive work schedules, it is necessary to find a solution.

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Figure 2. SocialConnector by Muñoz et al. [19]

SocialConnector, a service with a simple icon-based graphical interface, that integrates voice commands and is available through a touch screen device, mounted on the wall (Fig. 2).


For family members with higher digital literacy, the platform would also be available for mobile devices (proposed in Fig. 3), and personal computers. Several forms of interaction between relatives, both synchronous and asynchronous, are thus ensured and this has been one of the characteristics considered as crucial by, for example, Vutborg, Kjeldskov, Paay, Pedell and Vetere [13].

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Figure 3. Mobile app proposal

It is also important to highlight that a service of this nature may spontaneously become a repository of family memories, where conversations, photographs and special occasions are kept and perpetuated to be revisited or made known to new family generations. VI. CONCLUSIONS As shown, technologies have become increasingly important in maintaining family relationships, whether intergenerational or not, geographically near or distant.Although older generationsof families still apprehensive regarding these technologies, they have already begun to integrate them into their daily lives. The results of this study showed that the families studied have been integrating ICT and digital media into intergenerational family communication and that the use of these technologies and media varies according to the generation, digital literacy and communicational purpose of each individual. Since the empirical study showed that older generations of families continue to remain on the side-lines of technologically mediated family communication, especially in what concerns social networks use, this study proposes a set of characteristics and functionalities for a familial social network, aimingto integrate all generations and foster intergenerational communication. REFERENCES [1]

A. R. ùenyürekl[Idot] and D. F. Detzner, “Communication Dynamics of the Transnational Family,” Marriage Fam. Rev., vol. 45, no.


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J. Wei, X. Wang, R. Peiris, and Y. Choi, “CoDine: an interactive multi-sensory system for remote dining,” Ubicomp 2011 Ubiquitious Comput., pp. 21–30, 2011.
