Setting a Bad Example

Children Unimpressed by Parents' Online Behaviour

LONDON, January 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Social media gives us the freedom to communicate with our loved ones, whenever and wherever we want. However, this freedom comes at a cost: blinded by our seemingly happy digital lives we often don't realise how social media threatens and damages our real-life relationships. New research from Kaspersky Lab shows that a third of people communicate less face-to-face with their loved ones, and 21 per cent of parents admit that relationships with their children have been damaged as a result of them being seen in a compromising situation on social media. 

With people's tendency to post photos of themselves or others under the influence of alcohol, wearing something revealing or even naked in order to get more "likes", it is evident that social media can damage offline relationships. But while we would expect parents not to approve of their children's online behaviour, it is often the other way round. More than a fifth of parents admit that their relationship with their children worsened after they had seen their parents in compromising circumstances on social media. In contrast, only 14 per cent of parents said they were annoyed by their children's online behaviour. In addition, around one-in-five (16 per cent) people also said that their relationship with their spouse or partner has been damaged as a result of them being seen in a compromising situation on social media.

Relationships with family, friends and colleagues are changing as people communicate less face-to-face as a result of social media. A significant third of people admitted that they now communicate less with their parents (31 per cent), children (33 per cent), partners (23 per cent), and friends (35 per cent) because they can see and communicate with them via social media.

Dr. Astrid Carolus, Media Psychologist at the University of Würzburg comments: "Studies show that today digital communication complements real-life communication. We live in a globalised and highly mobile world resulting in distances between partners and family members. Digital communication is an opportunity to bridge the gaps in our modern lives caused by living in different cities or countries. However, digital communication cannot replace face-to-face communication - at least not always and not completely. Digital communication is less rich in terms of sensory channels affected, resulting in "reduced" sensory quality."