The digitalization of family life : A multilevel conceptual framework

Qian, Yue and Hu, Yang (2024) The digitalization of family life : A multilevel conceptual framework. Journal of Marriage and Family. ISSN 0022-2445

Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life) - Accepted Version
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Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life) - Accepted Version
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Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life) - Accepted Version
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Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life) - Accepted Version
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Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life) - Accepted Version
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Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life) - Accepted Version
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Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
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Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life) - Accepted Version
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Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
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Text (Qian_Hu_JMF_The digitalization of family life)
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Abstract

The internet and digital technologies have penetrated all domains of people’s lives, and family life is no exception. Despite being a characterizing feature of contemporary family change, the digitalization of family life has yet to be systematically theorized. Against this backdrop, this article develops a multilevel conceptual framework for understanding the digitalization of family life and illustrates the framework by synthesizing state-of-the-art research from multiple disciplines across global contexts. At a micro level, as individuals “do” family online, digitalization influences diverse aspects of family practices, including family formation, functioning, and contact. How individuals “do” family online is not free-floating but embedded in macro-level economic, sociocultural, and political systems underpinning processes of digitalization. Bridging the micro and macro divide, family-focused online communities serve as a pivotal intermediary at the meso level, where people display family life to, and exchange family-related support with, mostly non-family members. Meso-level online communities are key sites for forming and diffusing collective identities and shared family norms. Bringing together the three levels, the framework also considers cross-level interrelations to develop a holistic digital ecology of family life. The article concludes by discussing the contributions of the framework to understanding family change and advancing family scholarship in the digital age.