The influence of the ICT on relationships in the family of modern Japanese (based on the Japanese students’ survey)

The article is an analysis of the answers received during a survey of students of Japanese universities on the impact of information and communication technologies (social networks, instant messengers, etc.) on communication within the family. The respondents were asked to answer whether the active use of ICT affects communication with relatives, what kind of impact it has, whether communication on social networks aggravates misunderstandings between the older and younger generations, etc. Most of the respondents noted that they were regular users of various social networks (the answer “I don’t use social networks” at the corresponding question was chosen by 0 % of respondents) and often communicate with their family members using ICT. At the same time, there were twice as many respondents who noted that they communicated with their parents more often than with other relatives in comparison with those who noted communication with brothers or sisters; it shows the peculiarities of the intra-family relations of the Japanese. The positive influence of this method of communication on contacts within the family was also noted, since "one can quickly exchange the necessary information", "ties with relatives who live far away are strengthened", and "there are things which are easier to write in a message than to say in person". There were significantly fewer people who considered the impact of ICT on intra-family communication to be negative. At the same time, many respondents did not see the connection between the use of social networks and the lack of mutual understanding between generations, answering that social networks do not affect in any way, although it was noted that the network slang inherent in youth communication could be incomprehensible to older generations. It is worth noting that the results of the same survey among representatives of another generation or among young people who are not representatives of university students may differ significantly.

Japan, ICT, family communication, social networks, student survey, youth language

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