Social media, rituals, and long-distance family relationship maintenance: A mixed-methods systematic review

Abstract

For families with limited opportunities for face-to-face interaction, social media can be a vital communication medium to help shape the family identity, maintain bonds, and accomplish shared tasks. This mixed-methods systematic review of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method empirical studies published between 1997 and 2019 uses a convergent data-based framework to explore how long-distance families engage in family practices using various modes of social media. Fifty-one papers were synthesized into four domains: (1) doing family in a social media environment, (2) performing family through stories and rituals, (3) the nature of online communication practices, and (4) privacy, conflict, and the quality of family relationships. Given the value of patterned routines to families, research into the role of family kinkeepers is suggested. Finally, families use chat (messages) extensively for both assuring behaviour and conflict resolution so further investigation of the impact of this asynchronous mode is recommended.

Climate irresponsibility on social media. A critical approach to “high-carbon visibility discourse”

“…Legitimization is particularly prominent in the well-established social-media ritual (Abel, Machin, and Brownlow 2020) where users lend approval to each other's personal desires. In the social displaying of a trip to this or that destination, the purchase of this or that commodity, and so forth, producers of status updates justify their lifestyle to their assumedly understanding followers/friends or are fishing for emotional or rational support for it.…”

People with intellectual disabilities living in care facilities engaging in virtual social contact: A systematic review of the feasibility and effects on well-being

“…Reviews on the use of ICT for social contact by the elderly (e.g., k = 25, Chen & Schulz, 2016;k = 34, Fan, 2016) and the general population (e.g, Abel et al, 2020, k = 51) included more studies.…”

“…The use of video conferencing by people with mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities was briefly mentioned by one study (Ramsten et al, 2019), but no further details were reported. The modes of communication described in the included studies are also used by the general population (e.g., van den Berg et al, 2012) and by long-distance families who do not have regular in-person contact (Abel et al, 2020;Wilding, 2006).…”

Change in mental health, physical health, and social relationships during highly restrictive lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Australia

“…Prior research investigating long-distance relationships has indicated that communication via technology can be a viable alternative for relationship maintenance instead of face-to-face interaction (Abel et al, 2020;Belus et al, 2018). However, the important difference between COVID-19 lockdown and more traditional technology-based relationships is that lockdown can create an abrupt, unplanned, and non-voluntary shift of some or all relationships that were primarily maintained faceto-face, to technology-based.…”