Qian, Yue;
Hu, Yang;
(2024)
The digitalization of family life: A multilevel conceptual framework.
Journal of Marriage and Family
, 86
(5)
pp. 1160-1183.
10.1111/jomf.12983.
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Abstract
The internet and digital technologies have penetrated all domains of people's lives, and family life is no exception. Despite being a characterizing feature of contemporary family change, the digitalization of family life has yet to be systematically theorized. Against this backdrop, this article develops a multilevel conceptual framework for understanding the digitalization of family life and illustrates the framework by synthesizing state-of-the-art research from multiple disciplines across global contexts. At a micro level, as individuals “do” family online, digitalization influences diverse aspects of family practices, including family formation, functioning, and contact. How individuals “do” family online is not free-floating but embedded in macro-level economic, sociocultural, and political systems underpinning processes of digitalization. Bridging the micro–macro divide, family-focused online communities serve as a pivotal intermediary at the meso level, where people display family life to, and exchange family-related support with, mostly nonfamily members. Meso-level online communities are key sites for forming and diffusing collective identities and shared family norms. Bringing together the three levels, the framework also considers cross-level interrelations to develop a holistic digital ecology of family life. The article concludes by discussing the contributions of the framework to understanding family change and advancing family scholarship in the digital age.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The digitalization of family life: A multilevel conceptual framework |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/jomf.12983 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12983 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Journal of Marriage and Family published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Communication, family, family theory, inequalities, media, theory |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10210744 |
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