A recent Pew Study observed the social media habits of parents, and how social media is factoring into 21st century parenting methods. The study looked at 2,000 mothers and fathers and found that 75 percent with children under 18 relied on parenting social media sites and groups for tips.
The study broke down parents' social media behaviors into a variety of behaviors and ranked how likely parents were to use social for those behaviors. In terms of connecting with other parents on social, mothers in general were much more supportive of other parents, with 53 percent to fathers' 33 percent reporting they are very likely to use social to respond to "good news" about other parents' children. 35 percent of mothers, and 28 percent of fathers, were very likely to use social to respond to parenting questions posed by other parents.
Combined, however, the data paints a picture of a total parental unit that's very invested in using social to receive and dispense parenting advice, as well as support, among other parents. Only 12 percent report ever feeling uncomfortable reporting this information online.
Another area of the study looked at which platforms parents use the most for parenting information. Facebook has the lionshare, at 74 percent of parents using the social network for parental advice. Twitter, at 23 percent, came in at a surprising last place, behind Pinterest (28 percent) and LinkedIn (27 percent). Pinterest, however, showed the greatest disparity of use between mothers and fathers, with 40 percent of mothers using it for parenting, and only 15 percent of fathers.
More key findings:
- Parents on Facebook are especially avid users: 75% log on daily, including 51% who do so several times a day.This is a statistically significant difference when compared with non-parents, of whom 67% log on to Facebook daily, including 42% who do so several times a day.
- Parents are more likely to be Facebook friends with their parents than non-parents, 53% vs. 40%. They also are more likely to be friends with their neighbors on the network, 41% vs. 34% of non-parents.
- Mothers interact more: Some 76% of mothers on Facebook say they do so "frequently" or "sometimes," compared with 61% of fathers who say the same.
See more here.