Impacts of communication technology and social media on intergenerational relationships in Bangkok

Abstract

The objective of this research is to explore how communication technology and social media affects the intergenerational relationships between older persons and their adult children in Bangkok. Using Bengston and Schrader’s (Bengtson and McChesney 1998) measurement framework for intergenerational relationships, this study examines how communication technology, namely the smart phone and its accompanying applications, Line and Facebook, has impacted the relationship between thirty older persons and their adult children. Purposive sampling was used to select participants from three elderly associations located in different neighbourhoods around Bangkok, data was collected using semi-structured interviews and data was analysed via thematic analysis.

The results of this study indicate that while the use of such technological tools may bring about certain negative impacts, when utilised efficiently and to its full potential, these innovations could enrich and foster relationships. Given that older persons are able to overcome the barriers that prohibit their willingness to adopt these tools, data results illustrate that rather than dividing the generations, access to these communicative technological tools have been shown to decrease the generation gap between older persons and their children.