The family on the digital divide: some notes on the nature of family transformation, based on the different models of media use

Mihailova, K., Mirchev, M. (2011). The family on the digital divide: some notes on the nature of family transformation, based on the different models of media use . Zagreb conference: "New challenges and methodological innovations in European media audience research". 7-9 April 2011.

Abstract: Considering the structural-functionalist approach to society, audience transformations, themselves, are not enough a condition for the transformation of a society. But they are true evidence that the transformation of society is actually happening. This paper is trying to find the root of this audience-society transformation and supposes that its very beginning is in the transformation of the family. In a sociological context, the family is the smallest social group, in the media and communication context – it is the smallest audience group, consisting of members with affectionate relations. As we are living in a media dominated society with a widening digital gap between generations, the paper assumes that the different models of media use (the different types of access to media content) between the different generations within the contemporary Bulgarian family are transforming the family and society. The hypothesis is tested by the exploration of the existing sociological and statistical data (2000-2011).