وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي وتضييق الفجوة بين الأجيال: دراسة ميدانية مطبقة على عينة من الأجداد والأحفاد بمدينة جدة

Abstract EN

In the last two decades, the impact of social media on family relations has accelerated dramatically.

the aims of the study were to (1) describe the reality of social media in relation to grandfathers and their grandchildren, (2) measure its impact on narrowing the gap between generations, and (3) uncover the requirements for utilizing social media in achieving more effective communication between generations.

methodology: the study employed a social survey method on a sample of (224) grandchildren and (150) well-educated grandfathers.

results: the study found that social media has a high impact on grandfathers from the viewpoint of respondents (grandfathers and grandchildren), with an average mean score of (25.16-23.54), and a standard deviation of (5.25-6.26).

findings also revealed a similar high impact on grandchildren from the viewpoint of respondents (grandfathers and grandchildren), with an average mean score of (27.79-28.29), and a standard deviation of (2.90-3.75).

the study pointed out that the indicators of the impact of social media on narrowing the gap between grandfathers and grandchildren were in the moderate level from the viewpoint of respondents (grandfathers and grandchildren) with an average mean score of (15.84-14.75) and a standard deviation of (4.69-5.79).

moreover, the study showed that the requirements for utilizing social media in narrowing the gap between grandfathers and grandchildren were highly prioritized by grandfathers and grandchildren, with an average mean score of (27.68-24.82) and a standard deviation of (2.16-3.02).

summary: in spite of the negative impact of social media on family relations, it still can have a positive impact on the relationship between well-educated grandfathers and their grandchildren if both parties use it as a mechanism to strengthen relationships.

they also need to adopt dialog as a means of building relationships and increasing awareness about the importance of communication and avoiding all the inconveniences that negatively affect the communicative relationship between them.