Impacts of Facebook on Family Relationship: Research Report

This research report explores the impact of Facebook on family relationships, including both positive and negative impacts. The report includes a literature review, methodology, findings and discussion, and conclusions. The study found that Facebook has both positive and negative impacts on family relationships.

Running head: IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 1
Research Report on Impacts of Facebook on family Relationship
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IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 2
Abstract
There have been a continuous growth in the use of social mead especially Facebook in
the recent times. Social media has significantly contributed in communication and linking people
globally. It is associated with negative impacts as well. This study is designed to investigate the
impact of Facebook on family relationship. This has been achieved by qualitative analysis. By
doing so, two major questions were generated to aid in the research. A number of literatures were
collected using reference management applications. Findings of the research demonstrated that
Facebook has high influence on the family relationship.
Keywords: Impact of Facebook, family relationship, impacts of Facebook on family
relationship.

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Table of Contents
Abstract......................................................................................................................................................2
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................3
Aim of the research...............................................................................................................................4
Research questions................................................................................................................................4
Literature review.......................................................................................................................................4
Methodology..............................................................................................................................................7
Findings and Discussion............................................................................................................................8
Positive impacts of Facebook on family relationship..........................................................................9
Negative Impacts of Facebook on Family relationship.....................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................12

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Research Report on Impacts of Facebook on family Relationship
Introduction
The use of Technology has come about with its impacts in society and has significantly
changed people's way of life. It has also cause impacts on relationship between friends and
families. With more discoveries, we find some negative impacts. Therefore, we can say that
technology has become a blessing for all. It also seems to be a burden to some individuals as
justified by the discoveries made. This paper will discuss the impact of social media (Facebook)
in communication with the family.
Facebook is a social media site that has linked may people across the globe, it enables
people to post links to interesting content or news on the web, comments, chat live, share or view
photographs and short-form videos. Facebook posts can either be made public or be shared
among the selected group of people or persons. Facebook use has improved since its existence.
As it began as a school; based social network in 2004 at Harvard University then later opened to
anyone thirteen years and above in 2006.
The Facebook platform of communication accommodates every user from the school
children to old aged users. People express their ideas, feelings, and sorrows via their post in the
media, for example, the images, written poem, and songs, videos and status updates. People also
do business through the use of facebook.one post an item/items on sale and another person
orders.
The use of Facebook has made it easy worldwide to share stories, hence making stories
popular as it’s easy to communicate. It also helps in updating people on some events and news.
Through the use of this platform people also make new friends, and not to forget others even get
their couples thereafter becoming friends. It has posed significant ramifications on family

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 5
relationships; this research sought to explore the impacts Facebook has caused on family
relationship.
Aim of the research
The following show the aim of the research:
 To explore the benefits of Facebook on family relationship especially between family
members and overseas students.
 To find out the unfavorable effects between the Facebook users and their family.
 To examine the disadvantages of facebook and its impacts on family relationship.
Research questions
As it explore the impacts of Facebook on family relationship, this research attempts the
following research questions:
a. What are the positive impacts of Facebook on family relationship especially on overseas
students and their family members? This question is of fundamental relevance as far as
the research is concerned. It is important to explore the benefits of Facebook as much as
it may pose negative impacts some times.
b. What are the negative impacts of Facebook on family relationship especially on overseas
students and their family members? It is also important to investigate the negative
impacts of Facebook. It is essential to be aware of the negative impacts of Facebook as
we benefit from its positive impacts.
Literature review
There are a significant number of literatures on this critical subject. This section
examines a few related works on the impacts of Facebook on family relations. According to
Romero-Ruiz et al. (2017), in their research of information and communication technologies and

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 6
their impact on family relationships, ICT has influenced and improved the economic, social,
cultural and political structure. They also emphasize that with ICT large flow of information that
reinforces the nuclear family has been enabled but has also caused a detriment in their
communication process and family life. The technology has also promoted the ease of
communication of individuals with disabilities such as those with hearing and speech problems.
Moreover, loved ones get news in real-time through videos and photos. ICT use promotes
entertainment and amusement with friends and family members through the use of videos and
other various posts. One is also able to get job advertisements (Romero-Ruiz et al., 2017).
Social media like Facebook has played a vital role in linking people from everywhere in the
world, however, it is destroying relationship with family members and time spent with family
members had relatively decreased (Tang-Mui et al., 2017).
Teenagers are distracted by Facebook. They are always engaged in Facebook, making them to
forget about caring for their family. Their engagement in Facebook makes them to sleep late and
wake up early in the morning (Kamal et al 2016).
Active participation of various individuals in social media especially Facebook has got
both positive and negative impacts. This has been an area that has called an attention for research
for long. A handful of studies has been done explicitly on the on the impacts of internet on
family relationship and Facebook is a typical example. According to Collier (2014), Facebook
plays an important role in linking seniors to their families. Young people exposure to Facebook
is rapidly increasing along with the potentiality of improving family and romantic relationships.
Kamal and Arefin, (2016), suggest that people use their thoughts and ideas in Facebook.
They continued that most of the teenagers do not nowadays share their problems with their
parents but with Facebook fans. This has led to total fall in family relationships since many

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 7
friends drop their views and remarks to provide affections and shelter to their problems. Due to
insufficient knowledge on addictions and communications in Facebook, there is a wide gap
between parents and their children.
Most couples, friends and family members do visit Facebook together as highlighted by
Kanter, Afifi and Robbins (2012). They get access to some photos as well as videos that
demonstrate the essence of love. This has contributed to strengthening love between by getting
entertained. The funny clips amuse Facebook fans as a family and increases the time that is being
spent while together.
According to Joos (2012) Facebook has increased the level of laziness among teenagers
and aging adults as well. Most of them spend a lot of time in Facebook and taking little time to
pay attention to their family. Getting to bed and late and waking up early to visit Facebook pages
has greatly contributed to this.
A report of Kisekka, Bagchi-Sen and Rao (2013) suggest that Facebook is not the best
place to share problems. He continues that most teenagers do reveal vital information about their
family members. Moat parents get access to the v accounts of their children and whatever they
post. This has been a great source of conflict among parents, friends and their children.
Using Facebook as way of communication has reduced privacy. Information conveyed in
any Facebook page can easily be accessed by other unauthorized individuals. It takes little time
for accessed information to circulate within the country and globally. He expound that Facebook
should not be a form of conveying vital information. This report examines the extent to which
private family information is disclosed by young Facebook users. This has increased
disagreements between friends as well as families. Cravens, Leckie and Whiting (2013) have

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 8
documented that many partners have gone extra mile by engaging in infidelity behaviors in
Facebook. There is a smaller number of nonparticipating and a larger number of participating
partners in infidelity behaviors in Facebook. Those who do not engage in the behaviors
experience emotional problems when they realize that their partners take part in them. This has
called for clinical suggestions and interventions.
Based on research done by Fox and Warber (2012), Facebook has led to cheating,
breakups and divorce to many partners. It is through this that various individuals communicate
and get to love others out of their marriages. The researchers have tried to clarify this by
interviewing various affected individuals. The respondents agreed that they have ever used
facebook in romantic relationships which later led to their breakups as well as divorce. This was
later emphasized by Clayton, Nagurney and Smith (2013) Saying that a lot of romantic
relationship has developed in the age of Facebook on a daily basis. They added that adults are as
well motivated to join these behaviors that were initially practiced by teenagers.
Methodology
This proposal is intended to certify the impacts of using Facebook especially to family
relationship. A web survey of six open ended questions in form of a questionnaire was used to
provide qualitative results. A sample of 75 Facebook users will be solicited to respond to the
questions at a favorable atmosphere for null hypothesis to be achieved. A larger sample will
make it difficult to identify sensitive small differences. Sampling users from different countries
or parts of the country will be most effective. The proposal will enquire that both employed and
unemployed adults are exposed to the questionnaires. Both negative and positive impacts of
Facebook on family relationships will be discussed.

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Various answers to the stated research questions were attained through approaches that
will be discussed in this part of the paper. The best technique that was proposed for the purpose
of this study was simple open based questions in form of a questionnaire. Numerous periodicals
related to the subject of the study were used to form the theoretical framework of the discussion.
Two key terms including; “how much time does people spend on Facebook,” “impacts of
Facebook,” “Impacts of Facebook on family relationship” were used in the research process. In
order to facilitate the research process, various reference libraries such as Google scholar,
EndNote, ACM and IEEE libraries explorer were used. Numerous articles were also accessed,
though a few of them such as journals and periodicals were coherent to the field of research.
Only documents published within 2012 to 2019 were considered.
Database Total result Initial result Final selection
Google scholar 65 16 8
EndNote 40 11 6
ACM 68 24 4
IEEE 29 8 1
Table 1: Distribution of articles in database
Findings and Discussion
For the success of this study, qualitative research questions were used the perceptions of
various literature were reviewed and the researchers came up with findings. This section sought
to present the findings of the study. The results from the study were summarized and presented
as follows. Findings for questions in the questionnaire were organization, analyzed and
interpreted to answer the research questions.

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 10
Positive impacts of Facebook on family relationship
Studies show that Facebook is very important in the daily life of a number of people
(Burke & Kraut, 2014). Most people are capable of conveying messages easily to their family
members. Facebook has been essential in communication. This means that the rate at which the
family members respond to each other’s messages is higher compared to other forms of
communication. A number of people find it easier to know more about their family members
through Facebook. They find it to be the best platform to connect with their family members
once they have Facebook accounts. It has therefore made many families to get closer to their
spouses however far apart they may stay. This has finally strengthened their family relationships.
It has been shown that Facebook provide a platform for fun as shown by Andreassen,
Torsheim, Brunborg & Pallesen (2012). People get it easier to use Facebook where they can as
well see the faces and picture of their beloved families and spouses as well. Some researchers
suggested that Facebook enhances social ties by ensuring that users are in continuous contact
with their family and friends. It has helped many people to get aware of death issues and illness
among family members. Most people also find it easy to discuss social issues affecting the
family. It is therefore worth to say that Facebook has helped in management of relationships.
Facebook has built relationships among individuals across the world (Junco, 2012). A
number of Facebook users have gotten their beloved wives and husbands through it. People have
dated and finally got married through Facebook. Such partners have developed the ability to
romanticize their partnership and improve their socialization abilities. A better understanding the
backgrounds of partners has been developed in those houses as well. Distinctive chances also
come in for couples to satisfy their expressive and function needs. Most individuals are
reportedly using instant Facebook messaging and blogs to make their relationships active.

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 11
Studies also show that some families have got some members across the borders and they
use Facebook to interact (Hutter, Hautz, Dennhardt & Füller, 2013). Various researchers report
that using mobile phones to call them becomes expensive. Using Facebook as a form of
communication is their advantageous to them. They have therefore kept in touch with those they
don’t see regularly by communicating via Facebook. Most people have also known their relatives
through family members in Facebook. This therefore means that Facebook has made many
families to get to know other members who might have been away for long thereby making
social capital to be bonded and bridged.
Negative Impacts of Facebook on Family relationship
Various studies investigated the time spent by individuals when they visit Facebook
while they are at home. The studies found that majority spent at least one hour in Facebook. The
number of Facebook friends was also analyzed. Sharma, Joshi & Sharma, (2016) in his analysis
to find out Facebook usage found that an average Facebook user at least have 300 friends.
Moreover the literature suggests that the hider positivity and lower negativity in Facebook
interactions increases the chances of higher number of friends in the social media. Various
studied examined the number of days per week people spend in Facebook. It was also found that
the majority uses Facebook on a weekly basis.
Based on the findings regarding the time spent by individuals on Facebook, it can be seen
that people spend a great deal of time on Facebook. This denies them the opportunity to relate
with their families which is dangerous for family relationship. The excessive time spent in the
social media can cause harm to family relationship. A study by Burke & Kraut (2016) found that
a larger population of Facebook users is associated with negative relationships with their

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 12
families. These negative outcomes generally precipitates from the issues related to Facebook
identified previously such as the amount of time spent in the social media platform.
The interaction among Facebook users was also examined in this research. Various
studies report that interactions, especially among teenagers are very high in the social media
platform. This may be due to the reason that Facebook was the first social media to be used. The
study by Kamal & Arefin (2016) analyzed the impacts of Facebook on family bonding. The
scholars found that Facebook users, especially participates in online communities through
Facebook groups and pages. A high level of Facebook users uses the platform to chat with their
friends and their families as the respondents in the study say that they use Facebook to send
messages with their friends as well as in discussion. In addition to this, Błachnio, Przepiorka &
Pantic (2016) also point out that addiction to Facebook may cause considerable impacts in
relationships.
This has been reported to be affecting the relationship between individuals and their
families in the sense that once one is engaged with friends more than his families, the individuals
tend to interact less with their families or if they do interact with the families, they do it by
communicating through Facebook which is dangerous in family relationship.
Various researchers have examined the impacts of Facebook on interpersonal relationship
(Joo & Teng, 2017; Thapa (2017). According to the studies, a simple majority either strongly
agrees or agrees that Facebook make them have trouble with their parents. The studies further
reports that a good number of users accept that Facebook always distract them while paying
attention to their family members.

IMPACTS OF FACEBOOK ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 13
Conclusion
In summary, most of the current are majorly based on the impacts of Facebook in
general, however, a few literature have examined its impacts on family relationship. This study
has fulfilled this purpose by examining its effects on family relationship. These effects have been
measured with the time spent by individuals in Facebook, how often individuals chat using
Facebook as well as their interaction in the platform. The major finding in the research is that
Facebook has linked people from various locations in the world. It has also made communication
with families easier. However, it has also been found that besides the positive impacts, it is also
associated with negative impacts like making individuals to interact less with their families due
to the reason that they spend much time on Facebook.

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