IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON FAMILY VALUES

Abstract

This study captioned Impact of social media on family values seeks to establish the obvious fact that the evolutionary usage of the social media in our contemporary society has both positive and negative impacts on the family which is the nucleus of the society. It argues that the negative impacts are more overwhelming on the family and are negatively affecting core values of the family. Addiction to social media which cuts across virtually all age groups, cultures and nations has become the horseback upon which these negative effects ride. It has become increasingly difficult for many a family which was the bedrock of socialization to pass on their values from one generation to the other. This study follows a conceptual analytical approach in its research methodology to evaluate how social media usages have adversely affected family values. It applies two theoretical frameworks to assess social media usage in families, namely, uses and gratification theory of Elihu Katz; and the social learning theory of Albert Bandura. With these theoretical approaches it arrives at some conclusions that families in particular and societies in general should “motivate” good uses of the social media and “demotivate” bad ones. The study recommends among others a pervasive media education for families to reinstate family as the citadel of socialization.