‘Who introduced Granny to Facebook?’: An exploration of everyday family interactions in web-based communication environments

The aim of the study was to explore the reasons that Estonian three-generation families use different web-based platforms for family interaction. Semi-structured interviews (N=13) were carried out with representatives of four Estonian families to study their motivations for communicating with each other through web-based communication channels. Furthermore, we were interested in learning how they had selected the platforms for communication, what topics they discussed and what information they exchanged while communicating online. The findings of our study suggest that web-based communication channels were firmly domesticated in the everyday family routines of our respondents. Our interviews revealed that the Internet and web-based communication channels play an enormous role in supporting and partly also re-establishing inter-generational communication and, thereby, strengthening family bonds.