Karraker (ch 3, in Breuss, 2015) talks about the families we don’t see when we consider family technology use. Who are those families? What might their unseen technology needs or uses be? How can we, as family professionals and advocates, better identify and understand their uses and needs?
After reading Karraker’s chapter Global Families in a Digital Age, my eyes were truly opened to a whole new group of families that are heavily affected and reliant on technology. The article focused heavily on the “ ways transnational families use information communication technologies (ICTs) to communicate, thereby accomplishing family functions and stretching family subsystems across national borders” (Karraker, 2015). The chapter discusses how transnational families use technologies such as ICTS as the main form of communication in the modern-day (Karraker, 2015). These families rely on technologies to allow for their members to feel close to one another and allow for each member to play its role in their family even though distance may act as a challenge in these tasks (Karraker, 2015). For example, ICTS allows for mothers who are not living in the same country as one or more of their children to still be able to “mother” these children by allowing for quick, regular, and cost-effective communication (Karraker, 2015). These families include migrant families, families who have children that are going to school or university in another country, military families, and many more (Karraker, 2015). In addition to being difficult for families to stay connected due to physical distance, there are also difficulties associated with communication when families do not have access to technology. This is important to consider because “differential access to cost-effective technologies privileges some families and individuals and disadvantages others” (Karraker, 2015). In other words, if a family or family member does not have easy access to technologies or the internet, it can hurt their abilities to communicate with their loved ones and the world around hurting them socially, emotionally, and potentially economically (Karraker, 2015).
In addition to transnational families being affected by different access to technology, many families within the United States feel the effects of not being able to have regular internet access. This was made clear to me when I watched the video “75 million Americans don’t have internet. Here’s what it’s like”. The video showed me that there are approximately 1 in 4 households in the US who face this problem and feel the effects of it each day (75 million people, 2015). This lack of internet access can affect people’s ability to find housing, access government resources, look for a job, complete schoolwork and much more (75 million people, 2015). This lack of access to the internet can affect families’ ability to climb the social ladder due to the many resources they are missing out that are available to them via the internet.
These two sources taught me much about how having technology as well as having a lack of access to technology can affect families and their functioning in a variety of ways. I believe that the best way for family professionals and advocates to better identify and understand the technology uses and needs of a family is to have a conversation with each one of the members and try to learn what forms of technology each member uses and the ways that they believe it helps or hinders their and their families functioning. I also believe that it is important to discuss with families the burdens that technology places on them whether that is financial, emotional relational, or any other. I also believe that it is important to acknowledge the ways in which technology effectively helps families communicate and function. Family professionals can then assist families in finding options to access and utilize technology in a way that is possible financially for them and works as an asset to their family function.
Work Cited
Karraker, M. W. (2015). Global Familie in a Digital Age. In K. J. Bruess (Ed). Family Communication in the Age of Digital and Social Media. (pp. 55-75).
75 million Americans don’t have internet. Here’s what it’s like. (2015, January 28). FUSION. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from
Technology and the Family 