The Facebook Family: Information and Communication Technology Redrafting the Rules of Participation in Family Life

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the manner in which information and communication technology is constructing new forms of regulation of family life. For example, the Facebook pages of young people have been used by parents to discover why a child has taken their life or gone missing. Spouses or parents may use mobile phone records or tracking software for online activity to check the behaviour of their partner or child. While this may simply be viewed as increased surveillance within the family, it also raises questions about how this changes the nature of participation in family life, whether as partner or parent. Information and communication technology generates public or traceable records in traditionally private realms of existence. How do family members cope without such private spaces? Are we more suspicious of each other? Or does sharing become easier? Is a good parent now to be defined as one who frequently logs into their child’s social networking pages because this will prevent harm, predict behaviour or protect their child from 'inappropriate’ interactions?