Intergenerational Communication: The Meaning of Communication Channels and Their Affordances

ABSTRACT Based on the Relational Dialectics Theory 2.0 and the concept of affordances, this study examined the competing discourses that animate the meaning of intergenerational communication among Israeli women. Three generations of women from nine families were interviewed about their perceptions and use of multiple channels–face-to-face communication, mobile phone calls, and WhatsApp chats–to communicate with each other. A contrapuntal analysis revealed two competing discourses: The central discourse of intergenerational communication as connectedness (DICC) and the marginal discourse of intergenerational communication as a disruptor (DICD). The subthemes exhibited in the DICC were the need for closeness, the expectation of openness, and the means for resolving any conflictual issues. The DICD revealed the disappointments associated with intergenerational communication and different expectations regarding the frequency of communication and how various communication channels are used.