Making sense of digital media in family interactions: a qualitative study from a symbolic interactionist and family systems approach

Digital media devices function as both bridges and barriers within family interactions. From a family systems perspective, this qualitative study explores the role of digital media in family interactions through qualitative media diaries and unstructured interviews with seventeen families with preadolescent children (ages 9–13). Employing reflexive thematic analysis and a symbolic interactionist approach, findings reveal the nuanced relational- and situational-specific ways digital devices gain symbolic value, contribute to, and are entangled in family interactions. Three non-exhaustive symbolic categories emerged across different types of digital-related interactions (i.e. interaction-oriented and co-present digital media use): ritual/routine-based practices, spontaneous moments, and practical applications. These varied along a continuum from deeply connecting to neutral or disruptive. The study demonstrates how various digital tools are woven into in family interactions, offering insights into the nuanced ways digital media shape and are shaped by relational dynamics across different family (sub)systems.