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Networked Families Keep In Touch Using Technology

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 October 2008, 12:45 CDT

Advances in technology are helpful in allowing families to stick together rather than driving them apart, according to a new study.

The Pew Internet Report found that families are also among the keenest users of technology.

Through a survey of 2,252 Americans, researchers found that using the net was often a social activity within families, with 51 percent of parents saying they browsed the web with their children.

"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," said Tracy Kennedy of the University of Toronto who helped to write the Networked Families report.

American spouses often go their separate ways during the day, but remain connected by cell phones and to some extent by Internet communications. When they return home, they often have shared moments of exploration and entertainment on the Internet, the report found

So-called "nuclear" families were more likely to have more hi-tech gadgetry in their home than almost any other group it measured.

It also found that 58 percent of this type of family were likely to have more than two computers in the home.

Additionally, the report noted that mobile phones were found in 89 percent of nuclear family homes, while 66 percent had a high speed Internet connection.

Seventy percent of couples who both own a mobile use it every day to chat or say hello. What’s more, it found, 42 percent of parents contact their children via their mobile every day.

Each of these findings combined to show that 53 percent of participants said new technologies had increased the quality of their contact with distant family members, while 47 percent said it improved interaction with their immediate family.

For many, greater use of the net came at the expense of TV watching, with 25 percent saying they now spent less time watching television. Only 58 percent of 18-29 year olds said they watched TV every day.

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On the Net:

• Pew Internet Networked Families Report

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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