How is Social Media changing Family Relationships? | Dr. Vasudha Neel Mani l

Technology does have its pros, but nobody can deny that the cons that come with it are starting to become a major problem.

 Especially when it comes to the internet, from parents to kids, everyone has multiple social media accounts which keeps them engaged for long periods of time. 
People post almost anything on their accounts, from pictures of events to minute things like telling their friends and followers that they just got their nails done.

Technology does have its pros, but nobody can deny that the cons that come with it are starting to become a major problem.
 Especially when it comes to the internet, from parents to kids, everyone has multiple social media accounts which keeps them engaged for long periods of time. 
People post almost anything on their accounts, from pictures of events to minute things like telling their friends and followers that they just got their nails done.
The impact of social media is a powerful one.
Most often technology can bring forth negative interaction, or zero interaction between siblings, couples, or parent-child. It starves the family of learning and modeling with each other social cues, interpersonal relationship skills, communication skills, and bonding.
As humans, we are social by nature and crave bonding within relationships. We may feel that we are connected through social media, but it strips us of our ability to hear and see verbal and nonverbal messages.
Studies have shown that as parents increase screen time, so do children. Screen time in these studies included smartphones, television, computers, and video games. Children mimic what they are taught, and when parents use electronics while sitting at a playground with their children, the children were found to more likely to engage in risky behaviors.
In other family-impact of social media studies, it was found that when a parent arrived home from work and their children were immersed in technology that the parent was greeted 30% of the time, and was ignored 50% of the time. And when children who spent a significant amount of time on social network sites stated they felt less supported by their parents.
Parents are more involved on their phones, with work and personal responsibilities blurred. Too often are parents working at home, and spending more time on technology than with children or partners. 70% of women report that cell phones, computers, and/or TV interfere with their relationship a majority of the time [6].
They also reporte that 40% of the time, partners get distracted by TV during conversation and that 33% of the women stated their partner checks their phone during meal times 
Researchers are finding that individuals communicate more often with family and friends due to technology, but the style and type of communication is potentially weaker.
Studies are also finding that kids who spend more time using technology and are in front of a screen, have more difficulty than peers understanding emotion, developing relationships, and may be more dependent on others.