Spanish Minors’ Perception of their Parents’ Role in their Use of Social Media Networks

Abstract

The role of families in the use of media by children has traditionally been analyzed through different parental mediation strategies, and the most recent research pays attention to the impact of these practices on the generalization of digital media and, in particular of mobile devices and social media. With the aim of analyzing schoolchildren’s perception of the role their families especially parents— have in their management and handling of social networks content (challenges, publications, and monitoring of influencers, disinformation, and hoaxes), a qualitative study was carried out by holding 12 discussion groups among a sample of Spanish minors. Generally speaking, minors’ allusions to family converge to two dimensions: family as a resource for general information or verification (warnings on possible hacks, for example) or as a source of restrictions or limitations when parents deem content improper or excessive. An interesting finding was that minors perceive hoaxes as mostly coming through WhatsApp family groups. Remarkably, students tend to manage two profiles on the same social network: a public account where they friend their parents, and a private one, reserved only for close friends.