“It's just a technological version of us”: Three-generation family WhatsApp groups in Israel

Objective

This qualitative study analyzes communication practices, roles, and rules developed by family members while participating in a three-generation WhatsApp family group (WFG).

Background

Although instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp have become increasingly popular with families worldwide, study findings of the digital family formation process, roles, rules, and family communication styles have remained fragmented. Combining the rich familism ideology with technological skills makes the Israel digital family a good study case.

Method

We conducted 43 semistructured interviews with WFG participants representing three generations of Jewish Israeli families.

Results

All WFGs were organized in the form of a three-generation family tree, including one or a couple of older people in the core and a significant number of their younger relatives in the upper tree levels, where WFG membership was used as a marker of family belonging. WFG members played roles of kinkeepers, flickerers (rarely commenting participants), and silent warm experts. WFGs used two rules for communication—problematic discourse avoidance and exaggerated writing style—and two strategies for enforcing those rules—temporarily excluding rule breakers from the general group or ignoring messages of offending participant(s).

Conclusion

Maintaining the WFG is not a single initiative but a collective, well-coordinated endeavor of all family generations, which helps to include grandparents in the digital family, gives WFG participants a sense of family belonging, and reproduces the image of the untroubled family.

Implications

The research findings can be helpful for educators, family therapists, social workers, and social policy professionals. Moreover, the study's results can benefit families who want to open WhatsApp family groups.