Notes from: Raine, Lee and Barry Wellman. 2012. Networked: The New Social Operating System. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

PART II: HOW NETWORKED INDIVIDUALISM WORKS

CHAPTER 6 – NETWORKED FAMILIES

• The family home is no longer a private castle.
• Now it is used as a base for networking with family members, friends, community groups, and work.
• More flexibility in family communication and togetherness.
• Family members spend less time physically together than ever.
• Each member as semiautonomous individual connected with others through mobile phones and internet
• Other changes affecting structure of the family besides internet and mobile devices:
  • Personal car ownership.
  • Women working outside the home.
  • Shifting family composition.
  • Paid services displacing work formerly done by homemakers.

Changing Households: Size and Composition

• We see a decline of the nuclear family.
  • From 1980-2005: 31% to 23%.
• Households are becoming smaller.
  • 1970s – 10% of women in their childbearing years did not have children; 2008 – 20%
  • 1970 – 21% of households have five or more members; 2003 – 10%
• Households are becoming less stable.
• 1970 – 84% of Americans aged 30-44 were married; 2007 – 60%
• Divorce is more common.
  • 2.2 per 1000 people in 1960; 3.6 per 1000 people in 2005.
• Partnership (cohabitation without marriage) is also increasing.
• 2012 – 2/3 of couples lived together for more than two years before marriage.
• See also, SOC 1010 notes on the Family.

Shifting Family Roles

• Husbands and wives have less specialized roles.
  • Both spouses must work as networked individuals to negotiate distribution of family roles.
  • Both partners are commonly employed outside the home.
  • 1960 – 38% of married women work; 2006 – 59% work
  • Dual job households: 1970 – 39%; 2007 – 53%
• Work, school, and domestic activities are negotiated by both partners.
  • Time mothers spend on housework: 1965 – 32 hours; 2005 – 19.6 hours
  • Time fathers spend on housework: 1965 – 4.4 hours; 2005 – 9.8 hours
  • The time fathers spend taking care of children has doubled, though mothers still do majority.
• Large increase in fast food restaurants (local copy).
• Men and women spend more time in leisure activities both inside and outside the home.
• Boundaries between work and home blur.
• Longer work hours (47 hours per week).
• Multitasking is common (may result in spending less time in person with family).
• Household life speeds up and becomes more individualized.
• A smaller household means fewer people to talk to.
• ICTs (information and communication technologies) change the way we communicate with family, friends, and coworkers.
• Households with higher education, higher income, and children still at home are more likely to use the internet at home.
• Average TV screen size: 1970 – 20 inches; today – 42 inches

Family Time/Networked Time

• “Family Time Decreasing With Internet Use”.
• Emphasizes the negative effects of the internet, while ignoring positive effects.
• Social and economic changes redefine family life from togetherness to networked semi-independence for family members.
• Half of parents feel they spend too little time with their kids.
• Sharing family meals
• Majority of families say they share a meal every day.
• Redefinition of the family meal?
• Television watching:
  • Television shows were watched every night a generation ago.
  • Basis of conversation during dinner and at work.
  • Still important but watched slightly less often now.
  • Many current television shows are narrowcasted – aimed at a specific audience.
  • More flexible ways to watch television shows than ever.
  • “My Playlist/Queue” instead of “Must See TV”.

Digital Technologies and Networked Households

• Homes are being reorganized to accommodate computer use.
• Children are growing up unconsciously computer literate.
  • 75% of Canadian children use the internet before age 7.
  • Favorite toys now often include parents’ cell phones and laptops.
• ICTs help networked individuals communicate and coordinate with others.
• Family shares web pages and online media together.
• Married couples with children have more technology.
• Larger households need more devices for communication and coordination.
  • 93% of these families own at least one personal computer.
  • 89% of these families own at least one mobile phone; 47% own three or more.
• 78% of teens have their own cell phone.
  • Gift from parents = strings attached
  • Get to connect with friends, but must also check in with parents
  • Cell phones allow teens to be physically freer from parents, but also more accessible.
• Families working harder to stay in touch (and in more ways) than families of the past.

The New Connectivity: Keeping in Touch with Spouses

• Spouses with children stay in touch more often than those without because of increased responsibilities and workloads.
• All spouses contact each other to schedule events, organize daily routines, and plan future events with friends and family.
• Staying in touch throughout work days.
• Most frequently use cell phones and landlines to stay in contact.

Connecting with Children

• Parents need to be connected to their children for socioemotional reasons, instrumental reasons, and to ensure their children’s security.
• Single parents contact their children more often than married couples do.
• “Media Multiplexity” – frequent contact using a variety of devices.
• Mothers contact their children more often than fathers do.
• Parents become “digital parents” to better interact with their digital native children.

Teens Texting

• Household communication changes from place-to-place to person-to-person.
• Teens (especially girls) are often the most active networkers in the household.
  • Send an average of 60 text messages per day.
  • Older girls send an average of 100 text messages per day.
• Conversations without parental supervision.
  • Discrete – no sound, unlike a phone call.
  • Conceals information from parents – background noise.
• Texting is also preferred because it is asynchronous.
  • Acts as a buffer
  • Keeps parents at an emotional and physical distance.
  • Giving bad news or making uncomfortable requests.
  • Avoids hearing parents’ voice/yelling.
  • A means to touch base – mundane communication.
• A call usually signifies something important is going.

Netting Together

• Sherry Turkle – ICT use may weaken the quality of time families spend together because individuals focus on a screen instead of socially engaging with other family members.
  • Alone Together (2011): "We expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship. Always-on/always-on-you devices provide three powerful fantasies: that we will always be heard; that we can put our attention wherever we want it to be; and that we never have to be alone. Indeed, our new devices have turned being alone into a problem that can be solved." (from "The Flight From Conversation," NYTimes, 4/21/2012).
• Internet use does not have to be solitary though!
  • Perhaps ICTs are used instead to support, supplement, and enhance face-to-face interaction between family members.
  • Most spouses go online together.
  • Shaped by common interests.
  • 90% of parents report going online with their children.
  • Single parents spend more time online with their children than married parents.
  • Learning activities, sharing interesting things, finding information, game playing, and boundary setting.
  • Supervision.
• Family rules emphasize safety, netiquette, and metiquette.
  • Texting during dinner.
  • Computers in public areas of the house.
  • 70% of parents on Facebook are “friends” with their children.
  • Gives parents a good idea about what their children and their friends are doing.
  • Installing spyware to record children’s page views and keystrokes.
  • To prevent cyber-bullying and visiting inappropriate sites.
  • Voyeuristic?

Networked Families: In Connected Motion

• Today’s households are varied, evolving, and complex.
• ICTs are used to bridge barriers between time and space.
• Weakening boundaries between private and public domains.
• ICTs are embedded in family’s everyday lives by helping members stay connected while in motion.

Chapter 7: Networked Work

Back to The Networked Society Lecture Notes

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