[Stealth3si]

Technology is helping families stay in touch like never before, says a report. Instead of driving people apart, mobile phones and the net are helping them maintain social ties, says the Pew Internet report. Families are also among the keenest users of technology, the survey of 2,252 Americans revealed. It found that using the net was often a social activity within families, with 51% of parents saying they browsed the web with their children. The research looked at the differences in technology use between families with children and single adults, couples without children and adults who share a home but are not related. It found that traditional so-called “nuclear” families were more likely to have more hi-tech gadgetry in their home than almost any other group it measured.

Multiple mobile phones were found in 89% of nuclear families and 66% had a high-speed net connection. The US national average for broadband is 52%. It also found that 58% of this type of family were likely to have more than two computers in the home. Many people use their mobile phone to keep in touch and maintain social ties with parents, siblings and children. Seventy percent of couples who both own a mobile use it every day to chat or say hello. In addition, it found, 42% of parents contact their children via their mobile every day. This led to 53% of those questioned saying that new technologies had increased the quality of their contact with distant family members, while 47% said it improved interaction with those they live with.

Source: BBC

Interesting…. rings true w/ some of my other friends' family and friends anyway.