Abstract: The purpose of this research is to observe if social media access through smart devices really becomes a barrier to family communication. Descriptive qualitative method was used in this study with the use of purposive sampling and Focus Group Discussion. There were three (3) families interviewed so as to learn more about their behavior and if social media access really affects their communication. To validate and confirm the data gathered from the families questioned, four (4) experts were interviewed — two (2) social media and smart device experts and two (2) life coaches. The results show that when it comes to family communication, social media only becomes a barrier if it already takes the place of face-to-face communication and eventually becomes a priority rather than an option. When members of the families failed to harmoniously weigh their urgencies, communication suffers. Therefore, in order to establish a healthy family communication, parents should exert effort on cultivating their children’s communication skills while growing up for this can lead them into an open relationship when time comes. Since family is the basic unit of this society, all of a person’s communication skills start from it and when communication within the family fails, a person will have a difficult time, communicating towards other as well. It is recommended that communication should be defined as broad as possible in order to further expand the area of the study as well as its results.
Keywords: Social Media, Family Communication, Barrier, Relationship.
Title: Social Media Access through Smart Devices as a Barrier to Family Communication
Author: Reginald H. Gonzales, Guiller Mena R. Aquino, Jennifer Elaine D. Lucido, Julianne P. Navarro
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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