The impact of social media platforms on communication within Saudi families: A quantitative analysis based on the theory of uses and gratifications

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the influence of social media platforms (SMPs) on communication patterns within Saudi families. The research adopts an analytical description methodology employing a questionnaire tool administered to a sample of 384 male and female students from the University of Hail in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The statistical treatment utilized the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-V26) and included methods such as frequencies, percentages, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and the chi-square test. Distinguished from prior studies, especially those employing quantitative indicators, this research embraces the theory of uses and gratifications to map communication between family members using SMPs. This approach allows for the determination of the prevalence of selective mutism within the family, considering the patriarchal family structure. The findings indicate that students generally communicate more with their mothers than with their fathers via SMPs. Additionally, male students exhibit higher levels of communication with their parents compared to female students, who tend to communicate more with their mothers than with their fathers. Moreover, the study reveals that the number of hours dedicated to using SMPs and family selective mutism did not display significant differences. Likewise, there were no significant variations between the age of SMP usage onset and family mutism. The study recommends conducting comparative analyses based on a similar approach to unveil communication dynamics in families with varying sociological, cultural, and geographical characteristics. Such research would enable the diagnosis of SMPs' impact on different family structures.