Connecting The Unconnected FINAL

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
As social media rapidly advanced over the years, scrolling through our
gadgets has become our daily practice, not just for us, the younger generations,
but also for Gen X, and that includes our parents. In today’s advanced world,
parents have also made their way to associate with the internet through their
own social media accounts. But as observed, there are parents who are among
the generation of those who did not grow up with social media and are now
struggling to understand how it works (Kelly, 2021). We all know that the online
environment is not going anywhere, instead, it will continue to grow and is
expected that it will enhance over the few decades as stated by Brenner (2021).
That is why the researchers believe that the only way to help our parents or the
older generations fully understand how social media works is by identifying
what are their struggles with social media in the first place. With that, they can
understand and access social media better.
Social media is present everywhere (Lin et al., 2019). The world is
continuing to develop, and so is social media, there are billions of parents
around the world who have access to it, and this will continue to grow. Parents
in Indonesia stated that they have struggled to understand what their children
are doing with social media (Setyastuti, 2019). The daily contacts of Americans
now mostly take place on social media platforms as well. Americans between
the ages of 35 and 49 were found to spend an hour more each week on social
media than Millennials (Nielsen, 2017). Everybody's life now revolves around
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social media. We make use of it to keep in touch with loved ones, stay up to
date on the news, and perhaps most importantly entertain ourselves (Forgeard,
2022).
Filipino parents are online as well; they are active social media users as
stated by Nicolas (2015). In fact, Filipinos spend more than 10 hours each day
on social media platforms, they interact with social media multiple times a day,
specifically with Facebook (Licsi, 2022). Especially because of the recent
Covid-19 pandemic, quarantine occurred, Filipino parents were then intrigued
and introduced to different social media platforms. Since the beginning of social
distancing, parents and their children have increased their usage of technology
and social media, on average (Drouin et al., 2020)
Locally, there have been studies about social media usage among the
residents of Panabo City Davao del Norte. One study discussed the behaviors
of Panabo residents in social media marketing (Dagohoy et al., 2021) but we
haven’t found any related studies on the social media struggles of Generation
X parents in particular. As a result, we, the researchers of this study chose to
conduct this study, highlighting the Gen X parents of Panabo City, Davao del
Norte with their struggles on social media.
Although there are many studies conducted on social media usage
among parents, the researchers observed that there are only a few studies
focusing on the struggles of Generation X parents on social media. Thus, the
researchers believe that more studies focusing on the social media struggles
of Generation X parents should be conducted.
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PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research is to
determine the struggles and experiences of Panabo City's Gen X parents in
relation to social media. Knowing that, by identifying their struggles, we can
have an overview of how to help them how to navigate social media better.
Along with that, this study also aims to aware those companies who work
behind the software platforms that there are people who are having a hard time
navigating their created software.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the experiences of Gen X parents on social media platforms?
2. What coping mechanisms do Gen X parents do when they encounter
problems on social media?
3. What insights do Gen X parents have regarding social media?
THEORETICAL LENS
Social media has become an important platform for communication,
information sharing, and social interaction. Theoretical frameworks have been
developed to explain how social media works, how it influences people, and
how it is used by individuals and groups (Wills, 2017).
The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), authored by Albert Bandura,
explains how personal experiences, other people's conduct, and environmental
circumstances affect a person's health habits. Through instilling, expectations,
boosting self-confidence, and using observational learning and other reinforces
to effect behavior change, SCT creates possibilities for social support (Rural
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Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Toolkit, 2018). The SCT represents
a theoretical framework that may be used in a variety of contexts and groups.
It is widely applied to help treatments that modify behavior. In rural areas, it
could be especially helpful to look at how people interact with their surroundings
(Rural Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Toolkit, 2018).
Social network theory, by William N. Dunn, has made major contributions
to our understanding of human social organization but has found relatively little
application in the field of animal behavior (Krause et al., 2007). A theory that
focuses on people, groups, and organizations, as well as the web of
interpersonal connections that both limits and facilitate human behavior in
various social systems, is referred to as social network theory (Nimmon et al.,
2019.)
The uses and gratifications theory (UGT), by Elihu Katz and Jay Bumler,
is a method for comprehending why and how individuals actively seek out
particular media to meet particular needs. UGT is a method for comprehending
mass communication that is audience-focused (Wikipedia, 2022). The uses and
gratifications hypothesis is a method for comprehending how and why people
actively seek out particular media to meet particular needs. According to this
hypothesis, individuals actively consume media and are driven to choose
particular media in order to satisfy particular requirements (Sridharan, 2022).
A theory posed by Karl Mannheim in 1928, The Generational Theory. It
claims that a 'generation' defines a group of people who share a history and a
set of experiences that have shaped their formative life, rather than a group of
people classified by a defined year of birth. Paul Redmond (2008) then further
explains the theory, that generations differ in many things including how they
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do their daily activities. According to Mannheim (1928), people are greatly
influenced by their youth's socio-historical context, giving rise to social classes
based on shared experience, which in turn influences matters that shape the
following generations.
Davis and Francis (2023) lately discussed that Generational Theory
considers variations between generations. Along with their information, they
mentioned the Generation Gap. A generation gap is a gap that exists between
the views and actions of individuals of two different generations. In particular, it
can be used to explain the contrasts in beliefs, activities, and tastes displayed
by younger generations contrary to the older generations (Hayes et al., 2022).
It is also said that the word “Generation Gap” was first used in the 1960s
referring to those individuals who were born between 1946 and 1964 growing
apart from their differences in their beliefs and opinions from their parents.
The different generations are already living in completely different online
worlds, with potentially negative effects for social separation, and political
disengagement (Culley, 2021). In relation to this research, the author Moore
(2020) stated that Social Media is creating or opening a Generation Gap
between Gen Z (Born between 1997-2012) and the older generations
(Millennials, Gen Y, Gen X, etc.). Lately, the younger generations tend to
disapprove of the practices of the older generation on social media like;
Sharenting, use of emojis, etc. The author also stated that the younger
generations are aware of the privacy and safety guidelines that some parents
are not aware of. Along with that the author also stated a difference between
the younger and older generations’ preferences; teenagers nowadays, prefer
light filters in their photos while some parents or the older generations prefer
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heavy filters. Particularly, the young generations disapprove of how the older
generations share personal information about them, and sometimes including
their family, on social media in exchange for likes or clout.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This Phenomenological Research aims to broaden the knowledge of parental
struggles towards the advanced and arduous terms of Social Media platforms,
mostly Facebook. This study will benefit to the following:
The Parents, this Research will help them have deep and immense
knowledge of issues, dilemmas, and misconceptions about social media. This
research will be beneficial to parents who experience the same experiences
they had or encountered when they are using Social Media.
This Research will so help Social Media Companies identify the
dilemmas on their platforms, this research will provide them with the information
they specify to know in order for their created software to be understandable to
those who are aged 43-58 years old.
Lastly, to the Future Researchers. This Research will help future
researchers on identifying their citations and ethical statements that have the
same topic as our research does. Future researchers will have a wide range of
topics and trends to explore, given the enormous impact that social media has
on our lives and society as a whole. And with this study, more future
researchers’ minds will be opened to curiosity as to why parents struggle to
operate social media.
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DEFINITION OF TERMS
Connecting the Unconnected - The researchers utilized this concept to
pursue social media literacy among parents who experience trouble in
navigating social media platforms.
Social media - According to Dollarhide (2021), social media is an internet-
based technology that allows people to share ideas, opinions, and information
by forming virtual networks and communities.
Generation X - The generation that was born between the middle of the 1960s
and the beginning of the 1980s is known as Generation X, or Gen X (Kagan,
2022). In this research, this term specifically refers to those parents who are
between the ages of 43 to 58 years old and who cannot operate social media
platforms very well.
SCOPES AND DELIMITATIONS
With this purpose in mind, various delimitations are set to specify the
scope of this research work. The central goal of this study is to comprehend the
fact that there is a specific generation of parents who are struggling to relate or
connect with the social media environment. Specifically, it highlights the
struggles and experiences in social media of Generation X parents from
Panabo City, Davao del Norte. This study does not address any criticism
towards parents who cannot navigate social media properly, comparatively, it
focuses on the life of those parents who experience troubles in navigating social
media in a digitally active era. And lastly, this study will also be considering the
availability of the chosen participants.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter of the research paper covers the concepts, completed
thesis, generalizations, and conclusions provided by previous studies on the
struggles and experiences of Gen X parents on social media. The context of
this chapter will give readers an in-depth understanding of the said topic since
this chapter also includes related subjects.
Struggles and Experiences on Social Media
A study by Pilette (2021) stated that those who belong to Generation X
are referred to as Digital Immigrants, including the Baby boomers (Born
between 1946-1964). Digital Immigrants are those generations who were born
before the abundance of technology and social media arose. The study
continued that the Digital Immigrants had to learn how to utilize the early
generations of technology and that they are typically slow in trying to
understand how the internet works and how to operate advanced devices.
Melendi (2020), supported that, Generation X has a mixed relationship
with technology and the digital environment. Because they spent their childhood
witnessing new technologies gradually advancing over the years, but they still
had to learn how to use them much later in the future. The author also stated
that although Gen X had to learn how to use different devices and how to
navigate social media, most of them now have their own smartphones and
social media accounts. However, they tend to use the same platforms that they
are familiar with rather than engage with new platforms that come arise.
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Duggan et al. (2015)’s report stated that the earlier generation of parents
did not experience the same rate of technological advancement as the younger
generations did. Many of the earlier generation parents still appear to have
trouble adjusting to the new online environment (Why Don’t Parents Take Time
to Understand Social Media, 2015). As mentioned by Hill (2017)’s study,
because of the fast developments in technology, parents frequently fall behind
their children when it comes to understanding social media. This report
continued that parents had experiences with educational and informational
usage, as well as monitoring and setting limitations on the media, while other
parents explained how they utilize the media as research material in order to
better convey educational concepts to their children.
Lim and Wang (2021) also stated that from the early stages of online
platforms, parents, typically mothers, have found extra support and comfort on
parenting websites, internet forums, and recent parenting advice on social
media platforms. Hill (2017) supported that most younger parents who are the
ones with better knowledge of social media tend to be the ones who encounter
parenting advice while the older generation parents are the ones who have less
knowledge about it.
Sweney (2018) found that the social media platform, Facebook, is
commonly used by parents who are aged 55 and above, more than teenagers.
This information continued that the amount of Facebook’s young users is slowly
decreasing and that more and more older generations are taking over the
population of Facebook. The study says that teens and younger adults are now
slowly leaving Mark Zuckerberg's social networking website. McCarthy (2019)
supports this, saying that when Snapchat and Instagram came out, both the
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new platforms were more attractive in the eyes of the younger generations.
Thus, leaving Facebook as “Social Media’s retirement home”. Daly (2022) later
explained that Facebook is now “officially” for old people to use while teenagers
are now using the latest social media platforms.
Duggan et al. (2015)’s study continued that overall, parents who use
Facebook are equally inclined to share, post, or comment on the platform.
Mothers, on the other hand, are more active to do so on a regular basis. The
research also stated that parents who use social media said they do it to seek
support from their friends and gather information. Compared to the younger
generations, parents on Facebook commonly have less amount of Facebook
friends. Based on the study, parents on Facebook often have a median of 150
friends and among those 150 friends on Facebook, most of the parents stated
that only 50 of their online friends they consider their “real friends”.
Duggan et al. (2015) reported that Mothers and Fathers differ in their
usage of social media platforms. According to their report, mothers are
commonly the ones who scroll through social media, and they are more likely
to join the popular social media trends, unlike fathers.
A practice that most parents usually do on their social media accounts is
Sharenting, the sharing of any information regarding their child (Marasli et al.,
2016), especially, those parents who are active social media users. Auxier et
al. (2020) further explains, that the habit of parents uploading and sharing
images and other information about their children on social media, is often
known as "sharenting,". They would share any information about their child;
From their baby’s first tooth to their first day of school (The Mobile State of
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Parenthood, 2016). Apparently, Duggan et al. (2015) discovered that parents
are not that concerned about sharing their children’s information and they don’t
often feel uncomfortable about sharing theirs. Then stated that some teenagers
whose parents overshare said that it is pointless to share their information and
that their parents are doing it out of selfish motives. Adolescents often regarded
sharenting negatively, considering it unnecessary or irritating. Kotala (2022)’s
study showed that parents who often share information about their children on
social media platforms tend to be confident with their parenting styles. And
along with that information, the study also supported that parents who regularly
share posts on social media raise privacy and safety concerns and that the
parents don’t seem to be bothered by sharing too much of their children’s life
online.
A study by the author, Houfer (2021), explained that the difference
between the younger generation and the older generation’s usage of social
media depends on how they choose to use it. Although the number of older
people using social media has grown over time, younger users continue to
outnumber older users on social media. The author continued that it’s because
the younger generations spend more time on social media than the older
generations.
Many parents, specifically from earlier generations, do not understand
internet slang according to Heaney (2017). Then continued that young people
who grew up with technology naturally discover new languages from social
media, but most parents are unsure of what they are saying making them
concerned about what their children are dealing with. According to Hess (2015),
parents are highly curious about what their children are saying on social media
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and they can simply just google it. But the information continued that adolescent
slang has evolved a highly sophisticated defensive mechanism against the
google search engine.
Barrie (2017) then supported that social media has become a huge part
of the younger generations’ lives and that the older generations and parents
are finding it difficult to understand the online languages. In the early 2010s,
strange forms of languages formed through the social media platform, Tumblr
(Weinberg, 2019). A report by Smith (2016) explains that emojis are small
digital symbols or icons that are used to express one’s feelings or ideas. But for
teenagers, emojis are a whole language to them. Bennet (2015) shares that
emojis are the latest technology trend that parents can use or relate to. Parents
love using emojis, but they don’t quite get it right (Frisbie, 2018). Weinberg
(2019) then explained that the reason why parents don’t usually understand the
meaning of the emoji is that they didn’t grow up taking irony nor sarcasm as a
joke. They often transmit the emojis used by teenagers in a serious or literal
meaning.
First, the older generation of parents invaded the social media platform,
Facebook. Now they’re coming for Snapchat, stated Heath (2016). The author
continued by saying that, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook declared in
the year 2013 that his social media platform (Facebook) was slowly being
abandoned by teenagers and that parents from the older generations were
taking over. And when the parents did take over Facebook, they are now slowly
working their way into another social media platform, Snapchat.
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Nations (2021) defined Facebook as a social networking website where
users can post, comment, share other people’s posts, and etc. This platform
was introduced to us in 2004 and has grown popular among social media users
in rapid state. Now, another social media platform arose and has made its way
to the top most used platform, Snapchat. According to Tillman (2023), Snapchat
was initially a messaging, and video chatting platform that was primarily a digital
communication app. Then, the programmers of the platform included different
features in the app which made it distinct from the other social media apps.
That was when Filters and AR-based lenses were added as a feature update
in the platform. He continued that Snapchat went from a communication-based
app to a filtered lenses-based app really quickly.
Perspectives on Social Media
Pearson (2020) states that parents’ perspective refers to a parents’ full
awareness and dedication to their children’s state, whether it’s their mental or
physical health. According to a recent study, a parental perspective is the
involvement of one parent in their child’s every aspect of life. It is also referred
to as a parent’s full responsibility and concern in recognizing their child’s
thoughts, including their behaviors.
An author of a recent study regarding how parents feel about the
internet, Koebert (2022) stated that with easy access to social media, parents
have various expectations about their encounters and use of social media.
Because most social media platforms emerged in the early to mid-2000s, most
parents watched the development and evolution of social media. This implies
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they've had enough time to form ideas on social media as it applies to them and
their family and friends. He continued that even though social media was
around during some parents' formative years, several parents stated that they
were glad that social media was not present in their childhood.
Hill (2017) found that parents have a range of experiences in navigating
the complexities of parenting and technology. Many participants of her study
said that because of the internet, their children could easily access educational
content on social media platforms. Other parents provided their thoughts that
social media helped their children could easily connect with the world. They
also stated that their children’s usage of social media should only limit for school
projects and homework only.
The article by Gelles-Watnick (2022) says that social media has allowed
us to easily gather information from different platforms and different sources,
but some say that social media has introduced a lot of inappropriate content
much easier to access. Most studies, when it comes to social media
perceptions commonly show the negative sides and effects of social media
(Odgers & Jensen, 2020). Lurie (2020) pointed out that parents’ main concern
when it comes to social media is, its effects on their children. They believe that
social media affects their peers’ ability to socialize, and some parents consider
social media as a bad influence or unhealthy for their children.
Auxier et al. (2020)’s study then supported, that there are parents who
think parenting is much harder in today’s generation than in past years. They
believe it is because children of a young age nowadays, are now exposed to
technology which also exposes them to a lot of access to much information that
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makes parenting harder. Thus. The parents believe the internet is inappropriate
material that young children can access. The study continued, although parents
are concerned about the media’s impact among their children, a large number
of parents themselves reported that they do get distracted by their phones as
well.
Gelles-Watnick (2020)’s article continues that the perceptions or main
concerns of parents regarding social media may sometimes vary by race or by
ethnicity. Hispanic parents are usually concerned about their children’s
excessive use of social media can lead to sharing too much information online.
On the other hand, Black parents tend to be concerned about their children
experiencing cyberbullies, which then leads to anxiety or depression, exposure
to sensitive or inappropriate content, or lower self-esteem. The article
concluded that although the parents have varying concerns, they share quite
similar reasons. That parents are worried about how social media can lead to
negative effects, distractions, and pressure on their children.
Perceptions of parents on their children's usage of social media may
range from permissive to restricted, as stated by Mira (2017). Some parents
may see social media as an essential component of their children's social life,
but others may be more concerned about the risks and downsides of social
media. The authors Frey et al. (2022), stated that some parents see social
media as a source of information platform. Social media has allowed parents to
access more information that also includes health tips or online health
diagnoses. They continued that parents have been using social media to search
for medical assistance when they or their children experience some health
problems. Because of that, access to actual healthcare and the use of
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treatments with a proper medical diagnosis from a professional is delayed and
this can lead to harmful effects, as said by the authors.
Baar (2022)’s study explains that social media is becoming less ‘Social’
and becoming more ‘Media’. “In an age where we are becoming more
connected through social media every day, it sometimes feels like we are also
becoming less social” (Rose, 2019). Along with that quote, Rose (2019)
believes that social media is associated with social isolation. In his study, he
found that past studies were conducted on individuals if they become more
social or not. According to his findings, there were individuals who neglected
the people around them, declining their social life which then increased their
depression and loneliness.
Although there are many perceptions of social media, they can either be
bad or good. A study by Rife (2022) argues that social media have countless
reasons why it can harm a person’s life. She stated, that social media can
reduce a person’s social interaction. When spending most of their time scrolling
through social media, they are forgetting the people around them which leads
to less quality time with those people. Not only that but it can also lead to fewer
friends who can be physically present around them. The author states that the
presence of an online companion compared to being physically present gives
a totally different level of comfort.
Another reason why Rife (2022) believes social media has negative
effects is that it can distract us from life goals. Because of social media’s
accessibility, many tend to forget or neglect their life goals since it’s so easy to
get addicted to scrolling through social media, she stated. When aiming to
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achieve a certain goal, the author believes it needs to take a lot of motivation
and hard work. According to her statement, social media allows us to use it
anytime, anywhere which then distracts us from the important things in life,
making us feel like we don’t need to work hard. Supporting Rife (2022)’s study
is Koessmeier and Büttner (2021)’s. They stated that social media is a major
source of distraction, preventing users to fulfill certain tasks they need to finish.
However, according to the authors, there is still little to no further explanation
as to why users get easily tempted by social media.
Rife (2022) continues, social media can lead to higher risks of
depression. It has been claimed that those negative emotions and signs of
depression have been triggered by constant social comparisons and a lack of
social connection as caused by spending a great period scrolling on social
media. Cronkleton (2022) accords with the study, saying that excessive use of
social media can expose users to content that can associate with certain mental
health conditions, including depression. Some causes of depression she stated
include: Sleep deprivation, Loneliness, Anxiety, etc. She believes that those
effects of social media can lead to depression.
Social media can numb the users’ creativity or their talent, as stated by
Rife (2022). Surfing on social media platforms has the same numbing effect on
the mind as just watching television, she stated. A person’s mind or talent needs
to be nurtured to enable it to grow and enhance (Fran, 2022). Rife (2022)
continues that social media takes away a person’s focus since it makes their
minds relax. Thus, making social media a distraction to a person’s own
creativity.
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Another concern by Rife (2022) is encountering cyberbullies on social
media. She says that people on social media platforms tend to always say
things they don’t usually say in real life because they feel more comfortable
saying them online. Some people would be using social media to say harsh
words about someone. Along with the information, parents then tend to think
social media is negative because of online bullies or cyberbullies.
In social media, there are a lot of cases where users compare
themselves to others (Rife, 2022). Many tend to experience those cases which
then lowers their self-esteem. According to Auld (2019), social media can
trigger someone’s self-esteem and, later on, doubt themselves. The author
continued, a person’s mind is very sensitive and that every little thing we see
on social media can have a great impact on our minds and the way we feel.
She also highlighted that content we see on social media that are toxic can lead
to bad behavior from the users.
Sunter (2021) states that social media can affect one’s sleep schedule.
In the study, it also shows that people, specifically the younger generation
would always stay up late browsing through social media. Rife (2022) further
supported that the light coming from a person’s mobile cellphone tricks their
mind into thinking it is not time to sleep yet. She also stated that adults, including
parents, tend to browse social media immediately after they come home from
work until they lose track of their time, thus, lose their time to sleep as well.
Lastly, Rife (2022) sees social media as a way to let someone encounter
our personal data or information. She believes social media invades a person’s
privacy since it usually asks for our personal information when creating an
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account. Himangi et al. (2021) social media invades the user’s privacy. The
authors found that social media does a certain way to collect data and it is called
“Data Scrapping”. Where the program tracks the user’s activities online,
eventually harvesting the personal matters that the user does. She also
included that this is the process that most advertising companies do. According
to Beer (2019), marketing advertisements in social media have been targeting
older generations, for the past few years now.
In an article by Valente (2019), Parents play an important role as the
target audience for most marketing industries. The authors Blumberg and List
(2021), claim that children are also being targeted by digital advertisers.
According to them, parents should monitor their children’s consumption in order
to protect them from harmful advertisement content that might suddenly pop
up.
Now in contrast with those negative perspectives on social media,
Cronkleton (2022) stated the positive effects of social media. She stated social
media platforms give us a lot of benefits, allowing us to share and gather
information and communicate. Social media offers a lot of engagement, social
connection, and even support from other users. Through social media, users
are able to express themselves and build relationships with other people. This
information is later on supported by Parrack (2022), who provided in his study
some reasons why he believes social media has a positive effect on its users.
Through social media, it is much easier to make friends, according to
Parrack (2022). Because of the rise of technology, smartphones, and social
media platforms became a thing that helped users find a way to connect with
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people and start a whole friendship. According to Jarai (2022), social media can
help boost connectivity, and it also improves communication. Later supported
by Lenhart (2015), social media plays an important role in connecting people to
others, allowing them to learn more about each other and get to know them
better. Clark (2022) also noted in her study that social media enables its users
to find and connect with other users with whom they share the same interests.
Moore (2020) also stated that social media brings people from around the world
together. She mentioned social media has given us many ways to connect with
others, especially, when the same hobbies or interests are shared, then strong
bonds are built.
Clark (2022) continued that social media is also a source of knowledge
and learning. Tobin (2019) also agrees that social media helps in education and
that social media needs to be acknowledged as somewhere people can learn.
The information further explained that with the use of social media, people are
exposed to much useful information from the platforms. Social media aids in
education that expand our point of view on different matters (Sharna, 2023).
Nowadays, people tend to scroll through their social media feeds to find new
sources of information or to find any news Vorhaus (2020) also mentioned.
The author Patel (2019) also listed different reasons why he claims
social media has a positive effect on its users. His given information resumed
that social media has various positive effects on health care, business,
education, and society. He explained further that through social media, users
can have an online consultation with a professional doctor, anytime and
anywhere. Along with that, he also mentioned that social media can help
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promote one’s business on online platforms. And when it comes to education
and society, social media helps users socialize much easier.
Social media also offers kindness and empathy, as reported by Clark
(2022). Social media is not all negative instead, there are people who actually
care about other users. The author continued that in social media, there are
people who utilize it to raise their voices about a certain concern to bring
awareness about the subject. Social media is a powerful medium to share our
concerns and it has the most impact on the users to also come out and share
their other concerns.
Of course, social media is not all about serious information that’s all
about positive or negative issues. According to Clark (2022), social media is the
primary source of entertainment. This includes songs from famous artists,
videos, games, and even movies or series. The author concluded that social
media has both negative and positive aspects, social media has improved the
way individuals do certain tasks. Though social media has negative sides, there
are many positive influences as well. To be precise, social media’s effects all
depend on how it is used. She reminded that social media should be used in
the right way so that negative perceptions about social media can be avoided.
Muir (2017) also supported the conclusion that social media is a
beneficial modern technology that has opened up paths and possibilities that
were unthinkable only two decades ago. It may be incredibly useful and
beneficial to society when combined with other kinds of communication, such
as face-to-face. However, it cannot be used as an alternative. When we place
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too much attention on social media, our relationships are affected, we are less
happy, and we expose ourselves to unwanted potential dangers.
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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the researchers describe the substantial processes done
in order to answer the research questions and achieve the goals of this study.
RESEARCH DESIGN
This study is a Phenomenological design under a qualitative approach
wherein the researchers used the live experiences of the participants as a basis
for gathering the necessary data needed to accomplish the study.
According to Polit and Beck (2008), qualitative research utilizes
naturalistic methods of inquiry that are concerned with the issue of human
complexity. John Cresswell (2014) further explains that the qualitative research
approach uses broad and general open-ended questions and utilizes inductive
reasoning. The data that are being collected in this approach are in the form of
words and are analyzed by the researchers for description and themes. The
final report that is formulated from the data has a flexible structure.
Phenomenology is one of the qualitative research designs that came
from Philosophy and Psychology. In this research design, the researchers
described the lived experiences of their participants regarding a specific
phenomenon. Phenomenology utilizes interviews that are necessary in order to
gather essential data (Giorgi, 2009; Moustakas, 1994).
This study, entitled “Connecting the Unconnected: A Study of the
Struggles and Experiences of Gen X Parents on Social Media”, uses
23
phenomenological research design since it focuses on the life experiences of
Gen X Parents, those who are aged 43 to 58 years old, who lives in Panabo
City, Davao Del Norte. It is the most appropriate design because this study aims
to understand the significance and meaning of human experiences (Cresswell,
1998).
ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER
In qualitative research, the “researcher is the instrument” as Patton
(2002) says. The role of a researcher in qualitative research is to aim to
understand the study's participants' thoughts and feelings. This is a difficult
undertaking since it requires individuals to talk about things that are highly
personal to them (Sutton & Austin, 2015). According to Bhandari (2020), the
primary role of a qualitative researcher is to analyze and interpret the data from
their research participants. Therefore, in this phenomenological study, the
researchers will discuss the rationale of their research by interviewing Gen X
Parents from Panabo City in order to identify and explore the aspects of their
lifestyle and how they overcome the challenges they experienced in the social
media environment. In this way, the data gathered are their basis and the
instrument to answer the research questions. Also, the researchers ensure the
consent and privacy of the participants and adequately inform them of their
participation and role in the study. Lastly, the researchers reviewed and
interpreted the data gathered from the interview to accomplish the study
24
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
According to Cresswell (1998), in the Phenomenological research
design, the participants must be 5 to 25. For this Phenomenological study, the
researchers selected 10 Generation X Parents from Panabo City to be the
participants of this study.
The participants are selected through a snowball sampling to ensure that
the necessary information that the researchers will need will be provided
accordingly. The researchers decided to use the snowball sampling method
since it helps gather participants much more quicker (Bhat, 2018). The
researchers only utilized 10 participants since the researchers are concerned
with the availability of the participants.
Since the researchers utilized snowball sampling, the criteria for
selection will be as follows: (a) The participants must be part of Generation X
parents, those who are aged 43-58 years old; (b) they must be a resident of
Panabo City, Davao del Norte; (c) They must have experienced some struggles
or concerns on social media; and (d) They should be willing to participate in this
phenomenological research. These criteria are necessary to consider ensuring
that all the questions that are asked during the interview are answered.
DATA COLLECTION
The data will be collected through in-depth interviews (IDI). Stein (2017)
supported that in-depth interviews are enough for qualitative research. While
Boyce, and Neal (2006), also suggested that focus groups should be
substituted with in-depth interviews if it is possible that the potential participants

25
will not be included or will not be comfortable speaking candidly in a group or if
you want to identify between individuals (as opposed to group) opinions
regarding the program. Krueger (1994) stated that 5 participants are already
appropriate for an in-depth interview and according to Taylor (2020), an in-
depth interview should last anywhere between 45 to 60 minutes. In this study,
10 participants will be interviewed in IDI and the interview might take less than
the suggested time duration depending if the participants completely shared
their thoughts ahead of time. Before the data collection, the researchers
searched for volunteers who are qualified to participate. The researchers are
aware of the importance of taking steps in the data collection, thus the following
steps were followed:
First, the assigned researcher will contact the target participants by
sending a private message or call.
Second, the researchers will introduce the topic of the study and explain
the objectives and importance of the interview to be conducted. The
researchers will also explain the methods to be done. Then, the researchers
will read the informed consent and ask the participants if they are willing to
participate in the study.
Third, the researchers and the participants will set a specific date and
time for the interview.
Fourth, on the day of the interview, the researchers will send a text
message to the participants if the researchers can already approach them to
start the interview. During the interview, one of the researchers will ask the
26
questions while the others utilize the voice recorder app in order to have a
backup and a comparable source of data.
Fifth, the data received from the recording will be reviewed and saved.
The written data are backed up using a word processing program to be able to
save and provide information to be used for the study.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data that are gathered from the interviews are reviewed individually
in order to ensure that no data is left out or misinterpreted. After the review of
data, it is then duplicated for the members. This is to guarantee that the data is
corrected and right. After re-checking, it is transcribed and translated.
For analysis, the documents are analyzed using the Thematic analysis
for the purpose of the topic of the study, which is about the struggles and
experiences of Gen X Parents in Panabo City. Aside from analysis, the
documents will also be reviewed to state the ideas given by the participants.
The given ideas are explained and relevant citations are taken from the data to
support the participants' ideas and themes.
TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE STUDY
According to Veal (2011), Bryman (2012), and Loh (2013),
trustworthiness has four different components, namely, credibility which is the
validity of the findings, transferability which is the applicability of the findings in
other contexts, dependability which is the reliability of the findings, and
conformability which is the objectivity of the researcher while carrying out the
27
study. These four components together form part of the trustworthiness criteria
which provides a conventional standard for qualitative methodology.
Credibility. The researchers want their study to be as precise and
straightforward. They also want to ensure that the data collection was doing
what it was intended to. The input and effort were made to be as reliable as it
can possibly be. As written by Johnson et al. (2020), to demonstrate one’s
credibility of their research, the reports or the information in the study must be
deeply rooted in honesty.
Transferability. External validity “is concerned with the extent to which
the findings of one study can be applied to other situations” (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary). Transferability is the degree to which the findings of this inquiry can
apply or transfer beyond the bounds of the project (Lincoln & Guba, 1985); it is
the process of generalizing the research and then transferring the results or
context that the researcher provided in the study. If any other study is related,
it can be used to relate the findings of the other researchers to make their own
positions. Lincoln and Guba (1985) present and suggest that it is the
responsibility of the researcher to ensure the contextual information of the study
to enable the reader to make such a transfer. It is also important for the reader
to determine where the information in the study is based in order to ensure its
legitimacy. The carried out context and results of the study must be understood
to know if the assessed information is realistic and legitimate. Also,
transferability is the process of knowing the validity of the research, if the
findings from the researchers are trustworthy.
28
Confirmability. The concept of confirmability is the qualitative
investigator’s comparable concern to objectivity. Here steps must be taken to
help ensure as far as possible that the work’s findings are the result of the
experiences and ideas of the informants. The role of triangulation in promoting
such confirmability must be emphasized to reduce the effect of investigators
bias. Miles and Huberman (1994) consider confirmability is to which the
researcher admits his or her own predispositions. To this end, beliefs
underpinning decisions made and methods adopted should be acknowledged
within the research report, the reasons for favoring one approach when others
could have been taken explained and weaknesses in the techniques employed
admitted.
Dependability. To address the dependability issue more directly, the
processes within the study should be reported in detail, thereby enabling a
future researcher to repeat the work, if not necessarily to gain the same results.
Thus, the research design may be viewed as a “prototype model”. Such in-
depth coverage also allows the reader to assess the extent to which proper
research practices have been followed.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
According to Bryman and Bell (2007), all types of research papers must
consider the following ethical considerations, namely, voluntary participation,
the use of formal and respectful language, privacy and anonymity, and citing
sources. The participants must not be coerced to participate in the study, but
instead, they must voluntarily decide whether to participate or not. The
29
participants must also be informed beforehand about the research topic and
what to expect during the conduct of the study. The usage of offensive,
discriminatory, and vulgar words must be avoided in the course of an interview.
Moreover, the participant’s identity and name must not be stated in the research
paper to secure their privacy. Proper citation and referencing must also be
observed in order to avoid plagiarism.
In this study, the researchers asked for the consent of the participants if
they are willing to participate in the study and the researchers ensured that their
identity is kept confidential. The researchers also observed the use of formal
language during the interviews. Lastly, the researchers followed the specified
citation format and ensured that all works and ideas of the other authors are
cited and given due credit.
To promote beneficence, the well-being of every participant in research
must be secured according to Queiruga (2022). Along with the information, it is
stated that the researchers of a study should consider constructing research
protocols so that the participants can obtain what they desire with all the support
that the researchers give. The researchers of this study assured that the
participants are interviewed in the preferred place they wanted to be
interviewed, for them to freely express their thoughts in a comfortable
environment.
To promote consent, Manti and Licari (2018) believes that the
participants should be provided with a detailed description about the study they
are going to engage with. That is why the researchers handed the participants
30
the form of consent that includes the information of the study before they fully
give us their consent and are asked the interview questions.
To promote confidentiality, the participants’ identity should remain
anonymous, and the researchers of the study should not be collecting any direct
leads to the participant’s information (Holland & Linvill, 2019). In this research,
the participant’s identity is held secure and anonymous by the researchers.
To promote justice, King (2018) stated that the participants must be
selected based on the research needs and ideals rather than convenience. The
participants who are involved in this study are made sure that they fit in the
inclusion criterion so that they can relate to the questions given and so that they
can share what they are asked.
31
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
This chapter, presents the experiences, coping mechanisms, and
insights of Generation X parents from Panabo City on social media which were
collected from in-depth interviews.
Research Questions
1. What are the experiences of Gen X parents on social media platforms?
2. What coping mechanisms do Gen X parents do when they encounter
problems on social media?
3. What insights do Gen X parents have regarding social media?
This chapter is divided into parts where: Part 1 shows the research
participant’s information, part 2 shows the exhibition of thematic analysis
including the themes created from the results of the in-depth interviews and
lastly, in part 3 shows the summary of the participant’s responses.
This section indicates the straightforward answers by the participants
regarding their experiences, their coping mechanisms, and their insights on
social media and the themes that aroused from their answers.
32
TABLE 1: PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS
Participants Age Sex Residency
Participant A 51 years old Female Brgy. New Visayas
Participant B 48 years old Male Brgy. San Francisco
Participant C 43 years old Female Gamao
Participant D 54 years old Female Brgy. New Visayas
Participant E 44 years old Female Brgy. San Francisco
Participant F 45 years old Male Brgy. San Francisco
Participant G 43 years old Female Brgy. Cagangohan
Participant H 47 years old Female Brgy. San Vicente
Participant I 57 years old Female Brgy. Cagangohan
Participant J 56 years old Female Brgy. San Francisco
Participants
The participants were gathered through snowball sampling and they
were chosen based on the inclusion criterion which includes that they have to
be part of the Generation X parents, specifically those who are born between
1965 and 1980 who experience or experienced troubles on social media and
must also be a resident of Panabo City. As indicated in the table above, some
participants are from the same Baranggay since some of them are neighbors.
33
Research Question No. 1. “What are the experiences of Gen X parents on
social media platforms?”
Incomprehension
A theme generated from Gen X parents’ answers is incomprehension.
They shared that they experience a lack of understanding of social media. One
of the experiences that some parents encounter on social media is not knowing
or understanding what to do when they want to attain a certain goal on social
media or when they come across some situations on social media.
Participant A shared:
“Ahh.. kanang.. naay mga dili angay nga

mga butang…mo kalit og gawas…habang
mag scroll scroll ko sa facebook.. di ko
kabalo unsa..unsay buhaton.”
(Archive####P1)
(“When there are inappropriate things that

suddenly pop out while I’m just scrolling on
social media, I don’t know what to do.”)
Participant B stated:
“Ahhh..as a generation X parent

ahh..posible is ang gap between sa akoa ug
akong mga anak is..layo, so sa pag sabot
daan ug pag gamit sa..electronic or software
base nga social media is medyo lisod
kay..ahh.. daghan na mn gug improvement
nga which is.. sa amoa nga side, mga
parents, is dili kaayo mi, dili kaayo ko…
updated unsang mga bag-o nga program
labin na karon nga nay gina tawag nga
timeline, unsa patong di kayo nako ma
sabtan.” (Archive####P2)
34
(“The gap between my children and I is far,
so when it comes to understanding and
using electronics or software-based social
media is quite hard for me because there are
many improvements (on social media) in
which for us, parents, are not that updated
with the new programs, especially what they
call nowadays a timeline and other matters I
don’t quite understand.”)
Participant F also mentioned:
“Una sa tanan! Lisod… mag open ug mga

new applications ug site nga.. dili ka
familiar.” (Archive####P6)
(“First of all, it’s hard to open new

applications and sites that you’re not familiar
with.”)
Participant I then supported:
“Kanang… naay mga bag-ong update sa

social media… dili kaayo nako masabtan…
unsaon pag-gamit.” (Archive####P9)
(“Like new updates on social media, I can’t

quite understand how to use it.”)
Deceivement
Another generated theme from the shared experiences of Gen X parents
is that some of them underwent getting approached by scammers.
Deceivement is the act of fooling someone or to put it simply, the act of tricking
someone for negative purposes. They experience getting tricked or deceived
by other social media users.
35
Participant H shared that:
“Struggle…….. uhh…... kanang kuan naay

mga mag- mag chat nga mga scammer,
labin na naay mga foreigner so akong gina
buhat, gina block nako.” (Archive####P8)
(“When there are scammers who chat,

especially foreigners, so what I do is block
them.”)
Participant I also shared:
“Uhhh… potiential risk…akong na-

experience… sa social media…kay kanang
dali ma-iscam… hapit ko ma-iscam that
time… naay nag-message sa akoa.. sa
messenger… abi lang nakog akoa tung
amiga…pero… lahi na diay to nag-gamit…
so medyo delikado.” (Archive####P9)
(“Potential risk that I experienced on social

media is easily getting scammed, I almost
got scammed that time someone
messaged me on Messenger, I thought it
was just my friend, but it was somebody
else using it (social media account). So it is
dangerous.”)
Participant J also stated:
“… somebody to scam me also from my

Facebook account try to get my personal
information to fake my account… and that’s
all.” (Archive####P10)
(“Somebody also tried to scam me by trying

to get my personal information to fake my
account, and that’s all.”)
36
Parental Anxiety
Another theme generated from the experiences of Gen X parents is
parental anxiety. Parents also went through parental anxiety from their
experiences on social media. As their experiences triggered their parental
instincts, they are also concerned about what their children might experience
on social media.
Participant A mentioned:
“Ahh kuan…syempre as a mother, maguol

ko nga…maabot tung mga butang nga di
maayo sa mga anak nako.”
(Archive####P1)
(“Of course as a mother, I’m worried that

those inappropriate things might reach my
children.”)
Participant F also mentioned:
“Sa…potential risk gyud siya mga…. maka

open… og maka access… og mga website
ang mga minors nga dili appropriate sa
ilang mga edad. Ahh… dali ra kaayo maka
sulod sa mga... in-ana.. mga site. Mao ng
delikado siya.” (Archive####P6)
(Minors can open and access websites that

are not appropriate for their age. It’s very
easy to enter those sites. That is why It is
dangerous.”)
Participant G stated that:
“(Clears throat) The… potential risk…that I

experience in social media is… (Clears
throat) something in social media, some
37
child, they… imitate what they... seen in
social media.” (Archive####P7)
(The potential risk on social media is some

children might imitate what they see on
social media.”)
Participant H then added:
“Ahh.. dili malikayan na ma worry ka or..

ahm… ma- maano ka sa…. sa… imohang
mga anak kay syempre open kaayo labin
na ang… s- facebook, open kaayo so ma-
dili nimo ma… maiwasan na maguol ka kay
ma- makita sa imohang mga anak.”
(Archive####P8)
(We can’t help but worry about our children

especially because Facebook is very open,
we can’t help but worry about what our
children may see.”)
Participant I also added:
“Usahay maguol ko… na ma-

impluwensiya… impluwensiyahan ang mga
minors… maglisod naman gud ta ug
monitor sailaha karon.” (Archive####P9)
(“I am terrified sometimes, that it will

influence minors because we are having
difficulties monitoring them nowadays.”)
Participant I continued by saying:
“Uhhhh… kanang maguol ko… na kaning

mga scammer kay maabot… o…
mabiktima sad nila akoang pamilya.”
(Archive####P9)
38
(“ I am concerned that these scammers will
come or they victimize also my family.”)
TABLE 2
EXPERIENCES OF GEN X PARENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
ESSENTIAL THEMES THEMATIC STATEMENT
● Gen X parents experience
INCOMPREHENSION confusion when using social
media.
● Gen X parents are not familiar
with some features of social
media.
● Gen X parents find it hard to
navigate new social media
updates.
● Gen X parents do not know
what to do in some situations
they experience on social
media.
● Parents experience getting
DECEIVEMENT deceived by social media
scammers.
● Gen X parents believe that
social media also has potential
risks.
39
● Gen X parents are commonly
deceived through messages.
● Gen X parents’ experiences
PARENTAL ANXIETY on social media affects their
thoughts on how social media
might influence their family.
● Gen X parents experienced
anxiety about inappropriate
content their family might see
on social media.
● Gen X parents are concerned
about what their children might
consume on social media.
● Gen X parents find it difficult to
monitor their children’s social
media consumption.
● Gen X parents are also
worried about their families
getting targeted as victims of
scams.
40
Research Question No. 2. “What coping mechanisms do Gen X parents do
when they encounter problems on social media?”
Seek Digital Natives
Seeking digital natives as a way to cope with experiences on social
media. One solution that some Gen X parents usually do when they encounter
some troubles on social media is by asking for help from those who know more
about navigating devices, to be exact, those who are digital natives. They seek
digital natives for help when they experience problems on social media.
Participant A stated:
“Sa tinood lang wala jud ko kabalo unsay

buhaton, mao ng…. tawagon nalang nako
akong anak, aron madali ug kahuman
ang…. problema.” (Archive####P1)
(“To be honest, I don’t know what to do

that’s why I just call my children to help me
so that the problem is dealt with already.”)
Participant B shared:
“Okay sa potential risk, labin na

tong..mausab imong password is..ahh
patudlo kay naa manay security…security
prog- program bana o.. naa banay
security….nga mga items nga pwede
nimong gamiton nga ma curve ng mga in-
ana nga mga problema sa facebook o sa
social media so..naay mga
security..measures sila nga gina butang, so
tun-an to siya and then, careful lang pud sa
mga sites nga gina sudlan, labin na mga
sites nga mag sig pangutana ug mga
information labin na personal..information
41
nga dili dapat unta e….pagawas nimo sa
public.” (Archive####P2)
(“When the password was changed, I ask

someone to teach me, because there are
features that can curve that kind of problem
on Facebook or in social media. There is a
security measure that indicates there so we
have to learn that and then, we have to be
careful as well in sites where we enter,
especially sites that keep on asking for our
personal information that we aren’t
supposed to share with the public.”)
Participant B continued:
“So kato, nag patudlo sa mga bata kay sila

may mas…hawd o mas taas ang panahon
anang social media og unsaon tong mga
settings nga..pwede nato gamiton nga..ma
pugngan ng mga security risk.”
(Archive####P2)
(“So I asked the younger ones to teach me

because they are the ones who have more
experience on social media.”)
Participant G also said that:
“When... I experience struggle (Clears

throat) in social media, I will ask to those
who knows or I will ask my daughter if I…
don’t know, so that they teach me how to
do this and to… make this.”
(Archive####P7)
(“When I experience struggles on social

media, I ask those who know more about
social media or I would ask my daughter to
teach me how to do a certain thing on social
media.”)
42
Participant I then sates:
“Magpatabang… ang… sa mga

bata…kay… sila man jud ang daghang
nahibal-an aning social media.”
(Archive####P9)
( “Seek help to the children, because they

are the ones that know a lot about social
media.”)
Quality Time
Another generated theme from the answers of Gen X parents regarding
how they cope up with the troubles they experience on social media is quality
time. Gen X parents also choose to spend more time with their family as a way
to cope with their experiences on social media. For some Gen X parents, quality
time with their family is their way of coping with the troubles they experience on
social media.
Participant C said:
“Watch movie, hatag ang time sa pamilya

dili lang sa soc- sa social media.”
(Archive####P3)
(“Watch movies, give time to our family not

just on social media.”)
Participant E uttered:
“Less time in social media, og ihatag ang

focus sa pamilya.” (Archive####P5)
43
(“Spend less time on social media and
focus more on our family.”)
Participant F also stated:
“Aww... dali rapud kay na siya, dili ka kaayo

mag focus anang social media. Make time
to your family, importante gihapon ang
quality time para ma open ang mga
problema, nga wala mapansin tungod kay
sa ka busy sa pag open sa social media.”
(Archive####P6)
(“That’s easy, don’t focus too much on

social media. Make time for your family
because quality time is still important so
that we can open up to our problems that
weren’t noticed because of social media.”)
Circumvent
Some of the Gen X parents shared how they just circumvent or find a
way around the problems they encounter on social media. They mentioned that
they cope with their experiences on social media by exploring the platforms or
their devices all by themselves. They try to look for a way on social media until
they find what they are looking for.
Participant D shared:
“Akoang gina palong ang cellphone, unya,

on napod og balik.” (Archive####P4)
(“I turn off the cellphone, and then turn it

back on.”)
Participant D continued:
44
“Makakita ra mn pud ko ug pama-agi,
unsaon pag ayo.” (Archive####P4)
(“I can just find a way to fix it.”)
Participant G also shared:
“(Clears throat) I… face… the potential rist

I encounter in social media is… I’m trying
hard to… to search or to... to know… in
social media.” (Archive####P7)
(“I face the potential risks I encounter on

social media by trying hard to search or
learn in social media.”)
Restraining Social Media Usage
Restraining from social media as a coping mechanism. Some Gen X
parents choose to avoid social media usage as a way to cope with the problems
they experience on social media. Some of them try to refrain from using social
media to avoid encountering the problems they experienced.
Participant H said:
“Uhmm… kung naa koy makita na mga

struggles sa social media uhh.. koan,
uhh... dili sa ko mag ofen sa akoang…. FB
para dili ko ma stress ato na mga makita
nako nga mga post nga mga maka sad”
(Archive####P8)
(“When I see struggles on social media, I

refrain from opening my Facebook so that
I wouldn’t get stressed and sad from the
sad posts.”)
45
Participant I shared:
“Dili lang kaayo mag-sigeg gamit…sa

social media… aron dili sad kaayo ma-
expose atuang lifestyle.” (Archive####P9)
(“Just don’t use that much social media, so

that our lifestyle won’t be too exposed.”)
Participant I continued:
“I learned na… dili dapat mag-sige nalang

ug scroll… dili na kaayo ko ga social
media.” (Archive####P9)
(“I learned that, we shouldn’t always scroll,

I don’t use social media that much
anymore.”)
Disregard
Another theme generated from Gen X parents’ coping mechanisms for
the problems they encounter on social media is they disregard the problems.
Some Gen X parents would just choose to disregard or ignore the problems
they experience on social media as a way to cope with the problems they
experienced on social media.
“Wala lang, padayon lang og gamit.”

(Archive####P1)
(“Nothing, just continue to use it.”)
46
Participant C also stated:
“Dili lang pansinon…dili lang…dili lang sa

mag active sa soc med.” (Archive####P3)
(“Just don’t mind it, just don’t be active on

social media.”)
TABLE 3
COPING MECHANISMS OF GEN X PARENTS ON THE PROBLEMS THEY
EXPERIENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
● Gen X parents are not afraid to
SEEK DIGITAL NATIVES ask for help from those who are
younger than them.
● Gen X parents would ask for
help from those who know
social media better.
● Gen X parents call their children
to help them with something
they are confused about in
social media.
● Spending quality time with
QUALITY TIME their family is important for
Gen X parents.
47
● Gen X parents find quality time
as a coping mechanism when
they encounter problems even
on social media.
● For Gen X parents, less time
on social media means less
experience with social media
problems.
● When Gen X parents come
CIRCUMVENT across some unfamiliar
situations on social media,
they would play around with
their devices as a way to deal
with it.
● When some Gen X parents
don’t know what to do,
sometimes they just search for
a way on their own.
● Gen X parents explore social
media as a way to cope with
the problems they encounter
on social media.
● Gen X parents are eager to
learn how to solve the
48
problems they experience on
social media on their own.
● Some Gen X parents think that
RESTRAIN SOCIAL MEDIA USE avoiding social media will
solve the problems they
encounter on social media.
● Gen X parents also refrain
from using social media to
avoid exposing their lifestyle
too much.
● Gen X parents don’t open their
social media accounts to avoid
problems on social media.
● Some Gen X parents don’t
DISREGARD mind the problems they
encounter on social media.
● Some Gen X parents are not
worried about the problems.
● Gen X parents ignore the
problems as a way to cope
with them.
49
Research Question No. 3. “What insights do Gen X parents have regarding
social media?”
Beneficial
A theme generated from the Gen X parents’ thoughts or insights on
social media is that it is beneficial. They say social media is beneficial in many
different ways. They think that social media offers various advantages for them
as a parent based on their experiences with using social media platforms.
“Makatabang diay ang social media

kay ma-… isa pa, maka…balo ka sa
mga… balita. Basta minaayo lang nga
pamaagi.” (Archive####P1)
(“Social media can help especially

because you can be updated about the
news. As long as this is used in a good
way.”)
Participant C shared that:
“Daghan tag ma kat-unan sa social

media.” (Archive####P3)
(“We can learn a lot from social

media.”)
Participant E also shared that:
“Nagahatag kini, og mga ideas sa mga

ginikanan unsaon pag diskarte sa
kinabuhi.” (Archive####P5)
50
(“It gives ideas to parents on how to
approach life.”)
Participant F said:
“Ahh new ideas, ang… akong na learn

nga… maka tabang sa adlaw-adlaw
nako…sako pung panarbaho, labin
diay sakong panarbaho.”
(Archive####P6)
(“I learned new ideas that can help with

my everyday life, especially in my
work.”)
Participant G stated:
“(Clears throat) My conclusion in...

social media is… the social media is
very useful…. useful for us.”
(Archive####P7)
(“My conclusion on social media is that

social media is very useful for us.”)
Connects
Another insight that Gen X parents have concluded about social media
based on their experience is that it helps connect people. Gen X parents think
that social media aids in connecting them with people who are far from them.
Participant B said:
51
“Ahh…conclusion drawn from social
media is…making people closer..to
each other, labin na tong mga amigo,
mga parente, o mga kaila nato sauna
nga..for example, tong elementary o
high school, pina-agi sa social
media…makita nato unsa na sila, unsa
ilang progress o asa sila karon kay
sauna igo ra man ta..makabalita sa
isturya. Karon, makita na gyud nato,
asa sila kay naana may picture, maka
post na man, naapa gani video. And
then, kung unsa imong pangutana,
unsay mga interaction, maka tubag
dayun kay rela time na man ang social
media kay…tungod sa connected na
ang mga tao, so…mayo siya nga
experience, kana lang kay ang mga
risk, imo lang gyung
koanon…bantayan nga dili pud ka
ma..ma magka problema.”
(Archive####P2)
(“Making people closer to each other.

Especially our friends, relatives, or
acquaintances. For example, in
elementary or high school, through
social media, we can see how they are
doing, how they are progressing, or
where they are now because before,
we can only know about their life by
hearing about them from others. Now,
we can really see, where they are
because there are pictures, even
videos. And then, when you have
questions, it can be answered right
away because social media is now
functioning in real-time. People are
connected, so... it’s a good experience,
however, we just have to look out for
risks to avoid problems.”)
Participant D also said:
“Daghan man, kanang maka tabang

diay…ang social media para maka-
52
isturya nimo ang lagyo.”
(Archive####P4)
(“I learned a lot, that social media can

help you communicate with those who
are far.”)
Participant I mentioned:
“…pero ang social media… kay

makatabang man sad sa atoa…na
maka-connect ug maka-istorya ang
nasa layo…in real time.”
(Archive####P9)
(“Social media helps us connect and

talk to people from far, in real-time.”)
Participant I continued:
“Ummm… magamit nako ang social

media sa pag-connect... sa uban
natong mga kaila… ang importante
diay… maka-update sad ka sa ubang
butang sa kinabuhi.” (Archive####P9)
(“I use social media to connect to other

people we know, the important thing is
we can update from other things in
life.”)
Essential
Another theme generated from the insights of the Gen X parents is that
understanding social media is essential. According to them, understanding how
to use social media is important for them. They think that knowing how to use
or navigate social media is required in their lives.
53
Participant G shared:
“I think… it is important to... understand

on how to use on.. social media, specially,
uh… stay connected with you family,
even… they are in.. other country and…
most especiall- imp- most important is
you know the situation of your … uhh..
children in school or where they go your
daughter or your son.” (Archive####P7)
(“I think it is important to understand how

to use social media, especially because it
can help us stay connected with our
family who is in a different country, and
you can be updated with the situation of
your children at school”)
Participant H mentioned:
“Uhhmm…yes..dapat mabal-an jud nimo

kung unsa ang pag-gamit sa social media
labi na sa mga..facebook ana.. kay
para..uhmmm…una una as..as user or
anang..o user sa social media..makabalo
ka unsa imong responsibility as user..
ana...” (Archive####P8)
(“Yes, you need to know how to use social

media, especially Facebook, so that as a
user of social media, you know your
responsibilities.”)
Incommodity
Social media is also a source of inconvenience. Some Gen X parents
shared how social media also has a downside. They believe that social media
also has a negative effect or a negative side based on what they have
experienced.
54
Participant H shared:
“Conclusion nako sa kanang… kanang

makita nako sa social media nga…
conclusion nako na makita nako sa
social media kanang sa pag gamit nako,
labin na sa FB kay… dili tanan na mga..
koan, dili tanan na makita nimo diha sa
os- sa social media na mga legit, naa
man guy uban dinha na mga ahh.. mga
fake lang so make sure na i-check nimo
kung.. kato ba imong gi- nakita is legit ba
so dili ka mag- magpataka ug tuo-tuo
dayun kay basin ba ug kanang ma scam
lang ka.” (Archive####P8)
(“My conclusion is not everything you

see in social media is legit, there are
some that are fake, so make sure to
check if what you’re seeing is true, don’t
just believe because you might get
scammed.”)
This participant continued to share that:
“Uhhh… ang ma-advice lang nako sa

parents…labi na sa kanang mga anak
nato…na… dili.. kung ilahang edad..na
minor pa sila..kung pwede iwasan jud sila
na..maka open na sila sa social
media..kay dili man gud tanan na nasa
social media kanang naa kay makuha na
maayo..kay sa karon daghan najud kaayo
sa social media na mga..dili dapat makita
or ma.. ma.. makita saimong mga
anak..labi na sa mga minor na dili
maayo..so..as advice sa mga parents..na
kung pwede..dili sajud sila ipa.. ipa-open
sa social media kay lisod kaayo nga
minor pa sila..dili sila kasabot tapos ma-
open na nila.. mao mana karon na mga
bata pa kaayo sayo kaayo manga-minyo
kay kana..daghan na kaayo silag makita
na dili dapat unta.. so kung naa nay..naa
nay.. facebook or tek..tiktok ba ang
inyong mga anak..uhhh…I-guide lang
gyud sila pirmanente na dapat dili
55
magpataka-taka ug open ana mga link..
kay dili maayo..naay dili mga maayo sa
social media. I-check lang gyud sila
always na ma-guide sila para makabalo
pud sila.” (Archive####P8)
(“The only advice I can give to parents,

especially for those children of ours, is not
their age… they are still minors... if they
can avoid them, they can be open on
social media because not everyone is on
social media. It's good to get what you
have... because nowadays there are a lot
of things on social media that should not
be seen or seen by your children...
especially minors who are not good so as
advice to parents... if possible They
should not be made to open up on social
media because it is very difficult when
they are still minors, they do not
understand after they have opened up,
that's why now they are too young to get
married too early because they have seen
so much that it should not be so if your
children already have Facebook or
TikTok. Just guide them at all times so
that they should not wander and open
those links because there are bad people
on social media. Just check them always
and they will be guided so that they will
know.")
Participant I mentioned:
“Dili lang tanan tao… sa social

media…kay dapat nimong tuohan…”
(Archive####P9)
(“Not all people on social media are

people that you should trust.”)
56
TABLE 4
INSIGHTS OF GEN X PARENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA BASED ON THEIR
EXPERIENCES
● Gen X parents believe social
BENEFICIAL media is helpful for them as a
parent.
● Social media gives Gen X
parents new ideas on how to
manage life.
● Gen X parents use social
media in their everyday lives.
● Social media allows Gen X
CONNECTS parents to connect with their
loved ones who are away from
them.
parents to keep in touch with
their friends.
● Gen X parents realized
through social media that
communicating with others is
important.
57
parents to communicate with
friends and family in real-time
● Gen X parents believe that it is
ESSENTIAL important to know how to
navigate social media.
● Gen X parents think they
should understand social
media for them to be
responsible social media
users.
● Gen X parents believe social
media is essential to
understand since it helps with
many responsibilities.
● Gen X parents recognize
INCOMMODITY social media’s downside.
● Gen X parents know that they
should not easily believe what
they see on social media.
● Some Gen X parents say
social media consumption
among children should be
monitored.
58
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION
This chapter discusses the related literature of the generated
themes that the researchers have come up with from the in-depth interviews
(IDI) they conducted with Gen X parents from Panabo City. It also includes the
implication for educational practices, recommendations for future research, and
the conclusion of the generated themes.
The main purpose of this study is to comprehend that there are some
who struggle to utilize social media despite living in a digitally active generation
and to explore the social media experiences of Gen X parents from Panabo
City, including their coping mechanisms when they encounter problems on
social media, and as well as their insights about social media.
This research utilized a phenomenology qualitative approach to enable
us, the researchers, to come up with detailed results and descriptions of the
experiences, coping mechanisms, and insights of Gen X parents toward social
media. By analyzing the data collected from in-depth interviews (IDI), we have
come up with essential themes that organize the answers or the data that we
collected.
10 Gen X parents who are from Panabo City were asked to participate
in our study and were selected through a snowball sampling method. They were
asked about their experiences and struggles on social media, how they cope
with the struggles they experience on social media, and their insights on social
media based on their experiences on social media.
59
The researchers of this study will be discussing the essential themes that
were generated from the answers given by the participants regarding their
experiences, coping mechanisms, and insights on social media as part of Gen
X parents. Within the experiences that they have shared, they indicated:
Incomprehension, Deceivement, and Parental Anxiety.
Under the coping mechanisms they shared, they: Seek Digital Natives,
Quality time, Circumvent, Restrain Social Media Use, and Disregard.
And lastly, the insights that they have shared indicated that social media
is: Beneficial, Connects, Essential, and Incommodity.
EXPERIENCES OF GEN X PARENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Incomprehension
The Gen X parents mentioned different experiences they have
encountered on social media and one of them is incomprehension. They shared
that sometimes they do not know what to do in some situations they encounter
on social media. They also shared how they are often unfamiliar when it comes
to understanding and navigating social media.
Understanding the complexity of social media activity has grown
increasingly complex (Treem et al., 2016). Due to the rapid progress of social
media, Gen X has a complex relationship with social media (Melendi, 2020).
According to McClure (2019), because of the constant updating and
enhancements of social media platforms, social media users have a hard time
keeping up with social media. There is a large number of parents who did not
grow up with social media in their childhood and now, they are struggling to
understand and navigate social media apps (Kelly, 2021).
60
Deceivement
Another common experience that the participants shared was getting
scammed or deceived. Gen X Parents have encountered false information on
social media multiple times already based on their responses. They shared how
they experienced scammers trying to deceive them.
According to Huddleston (2023), the elderly are a favorite target of
scammers. They will target people of all ages, for sure. But because they
believe that seniors are more gullible, more vulnerable, and less likely to report
being cheated, con artists frequently prey on this demographic. Rosenblatt
(2022) also stated that scammers know that many older adults are more trusting
than the younger, presumably more internet-savvy generation. They
understand how to manipulate a person's emotions.
Regarding Fake News, individuals seek out and consume news via
social media due to its low cost, ease of access, and quick transmission of
information (Shu et al., 2017). Many people are worried about the implications
of incorrect information ("fake news"), which is mostly spread through social
media (Gentzkow, 2017). However, technology has also made it possible for
fake news, or news that contains purposefully misleading information, to spread
widely, which has had a tremendously detrimental impact on society (Shu et
al., 2020). Before the Internet was even a thing, there were hoaxes and fake
news. Fake news on the Internet is generally defined as "fictitious articles that
have been purposefully created to deceive readers'' (Aldwairi & Alwahedi,
2018).
61
The growth of false news draws attention to how institutional defenses
against disinformation are being undermined in the digital era. Concern
regarding the issue is widespread. However, there is still a lot that is unclear
about how susceptible people, organizations, and society are to manipulation
by bad actors (Lazer et al., 2018). Less has been written about the harm that
fake news poses to interpersonal relationships, despite the fact that it has been
widely denounced as an assault on democracy.
As social networks have grown more and more popular for sharing news,
they have also provided a fertile environment for the spread of fake news (Duffy
et al., 2019). This distinction is crucial because, even though it may be thought
of as a societal benefit, spreading news that turns out to be false might harm
interpersonal connections (Tandoc et al., 2019). Although different researchers
have different definitions of fake news, most agree that it is false or misleading
material that is disseminated with the goal to mislead readers (Allcott &
Gentzkow, 2017; Vosoughi, Roy, & Aral, 2018).
Parental Anxiety
In this point, Gen X Parents usually experience Parental Anxiety in
diverse forms, wherein, parents usually go through a temporal stage of anxiety,
of the fear of their children accessing malicious sites that are passed through
the Social Media Platform.
Parental worry and social media use are positively correlated, according
to several research (Glowacki et al., 2019; Hampton et al., 2017). Gen X
62
Parents who use social media more regularly report feeling more anxious,
especially concerning the safety and well-being of their children. According to
one study, parents who used social media more often were more likely to worry
excessively about the well-being and safety of their kids (Hampton et al., 2017).
Parental self-efficacy is the notion that a parent has faith in their capacity
to raise their children well. According to research, using social media might
negatively affect parents' self-efficacy (Jenkins-Guarnieri et al., 2019). Limiting
social media use, getting support from others, and using social media mindfully
are just a few of the coping mechanisms that have been suggested to assist
parents to manage their anxiety on social media (Glowacki et al., 2019). More
than one in ten of those surveyed claimed that rather than fostering a
welcoming "online community," such websites can actually make new parents
feel lonelier (Priory, 2017). It is advised that social media campaigns be
carefully planned to take into account individual differences in developmental
stages and psychological vulnerabilities because social media use is
widespread and there is a chance that false rumors will lead to incorrect
behavioral actions and/or excessive stress and anxiety (Drouin et al., 2020).
COPING MECHANISMS OF GEN X PARENTS ON THE PROBLEMS THEY
EXPERIENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Seek Digital Natives
One of the similarities of how Gen X parents cope up with the problems
they encounter on social media is they seek digital natives or ask the younger
63
generations who are born in the abundance of digital media to ask for
assistance regarding the problems they experience on social media.
Eshraghi (2019)’s statement claims that generational status influences
how social technologies are used for sharing one’s knowledge and interaction
in organizational contexts. The author continued that previous studies have
highlighted the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants in how
they understand and interact with social technology. Given that digital natives
grew up with advancements in technology, they can help digital immigrants
understand how to use, navigate, and utilize the overall effectiveness of
technology (Riegel & Mete, 2017). Digital immigrants can provide digital
natives with knowledge about utilizing, troubleshooting, and operating without
technology (Riegel & Mete, 2017). Particularly, digital immigrants can instruct
digital natives on how to transport when technology fails. Digital natives, those
who were created in the digital era, depending on the accessibility of digital
tools like Wi-Fi, applications, websites, etc. (International Society for
Technology in Education [ISTE], 2017). By utilizing familiar technology in
instructive ways, digital natives may educate digital immigrants on how to
encourage and engage younger generations as well (Riegel & Mete, 2017).
Quality Time
Gen X Parents consider Quality Time to their Family as a way to escape
the arduous experiences and influences of Social Media. Gen X Parents view
quality time as a way to reduce their anxieties and incomprehension on Social
Media.
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Social media can also lead to negative effects on parent-child
relationships. For example, a study by McDaniel and Coyne (2016) found that
parents who spent more time on their smartphones had more negative
interactions with their children, including being less responsive to their needs
and less emotionally available. Quality time has also been associated with
better literacy development in children. For example, a study by Sénéchal et al.
(2017) found that parents who engaged in joint reading activities with their
children had a positive impact on their vocabulary and comprehension skills,
even after controlling for other factors such as socioeconomic status. Parents
who prioritize structure saw it as scheduled family activities, parents who place
a strong emphasis on their children saw it as heart-to-heart conversations, and
parents who prioritize efficiency saw it as all of the time they spent with their
kids as quality time (Snyder, 2016). At the moment, it's unclear if interactive
technology improves or degrades the quantity and quality of time spent together
by parents and their kids (Vaterlaus, 2019).
Circumvent
Gen X Parents utilize the influence and vast range of Technology and
Social Media. When Gen X Parents see their situations behind the rock, they
tend to explore and discover more about the further utilities and technologies
of Social Media.
According to Burke (2016), The stigma attached to requesting help is
one of the biggest obstacles parents experience when seeking assistance for
problems with social media. A first step for parents and others to learn more
65
about social media's potential as a networking platform is to delve deeply and
extensively into its features (Spyer, 2017).
Restrain Social Media Use
This Point asserts that Gen X Parents restraining or reducing Social
Media Use, Gen X Parents see spacing themselves from Social Media as a
breaking point to reflect on the other aspects of life, such as leisure and family.
Gen X Parents want to restrict themselves in Social Media Use to prevent
Addiction in the forms of Social Media Platforms.
According to McDaniel and Coyne (2016)’s study, women who used
Facebook more often felt distant from their children. A lack of parental
participation in children's life brought on by excessive usage of social media
may have a detrimental effect on their relationships (Anderson & Jiang, 2018).
Addiction and a lack of self-control are two detrimental tendencies that parents
who use social media excessively may be modeling for their kids (Burke et al.,
2019). Parents who used Facebook excessively reported higher levels of
tension, worry, and negative feelings than parents who used it less frequently,
according to a research by Kross et al. (2013). According to a study by
Anderson and Jiang (2018), parents who use social media excessively are
more likely to reveal information and upload pictures of their kids which might
jeopardize their safety and privacy.
Oladipo (2022) mentioned, social media may also be addictive.
Addiction to social media is defined as "an uncontrollable urge to log on to and
66
use social media, as well as spending an excessive amount of time and energy
on social media that negatively impacts other areas of life”. The author
continued saying that taking a step back from social media, even if only for a
brief period of time, offers several advantages, that includes: Reduces stress,
improved well-being, and reduced depression and loneliness.
Disregard
Gen X Parents that have gone through our qualitative research
interviews asserted also that they disregard problems and difficulties in Social
Media. Some Gen X Parents chose to ignore their problems with social media,
considering the fact that these Gen X Parents haven’t approached a Digital
Native to assist them with their longing struggles with Social Media.
Lambert (2016) says that it is impossible to fully ignore or disregard a
problem that one encounters. The author continues that even when
disregarding a problem, it can still cause stress, anxiety, and even depression
since the problem is not really gone. We push a problem to the back of our
minds when we ignore it. But it hasn't left our thoughts; rather, our subconscious
still retains them.
According to Pirton (2022), In order to help institutions, build and/or
improve their parent-focused strategies to incorporate social media activities,
the research's goal was to provide light on the social media platforms being
utilized by other methods, how they are used, and why. When trying to grasp
modern technologies, parents frequently turn to social media, frequently without
67
taking into account how the cutting-edge features of these platforms could alter
parents' experiences (Kane et al., 2016).
INSIGHTS OF GEN X PARENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA BASED ON THEIR
EXPERIENCES
Beneficial
One of the common insights that the participants shared is that social
media is beneficial. These Gen X Parents see and describe Social Media as
beneficial to them in their everyday utilities and leisure. Gen X Parents raised
the assertions of Social Media being a help in hand for their everyday usual
living.
Social media may give parents a practical and adaptable approach to
keeping in touch with and being involved with their families (Duggan & Brenner,
2016). Further, social media can offer parents a way to stay in touch with their
kids, especially as they get older and become more independent. Networks like
Facebook and Instagram allow parents to swiftly share updates and photos with
friends and family, even if they are unable to be onsite (Pew Research Center,
2021). Social media may be used by parents to rally support for social change,
spread knowledge of issues impacting kids and families, and connect with other
activists and groups (Bartlett, 2019).
According to parents, social media is a source of parenting knowledge
(Common Sense Media, 2018). Despite the growing worries about kids and
teens using social media, research has proven that there are some advantages
for parents as well (Liu & Yang, 2021). The current study intends to investigate
68
how young people and parents perceive social media use in terms of online
danger and online connections (Gillespie-Smith et al., 2021).
Connects
These Gen X Parents mentioned that connecting with their families,
friends, and colleagues was also made through the utilization of Social Media.
Gen X Parents said that it allows them to connect and communicate with people
that are far from them, and that they are able to talk and interact in virtual real
time.
As stated by Leonard (2022), One of the most significant advantages of
social media includes the ability to interact with individuals from all around the
world freely. This is useful if one has relatives who have gone overseas. Where
people can message them on Facebook or Twitter, and they can answer
promptly no matter where in the world they are. The author continued, social
media can help strengthen and sustain personal interactions with those who
live far away.
In recent years, social media has grown in popularity as a means for
communication (Hoffman & Fodor, 2017). And one of the most common kinds
of connection in people's Facebook relationships is close friends and family
members, both new and old (Duggan et al., 2015). Polanco-Levicán and Salvo-
Garrido (2022) also supported that the evolution of our society has been related
to technical advances and have become an integral part of people's lives. And
that social media is extensively used by many communities, crossing territorial
and cultural barriers and connecting the global to the local.
69
Essential
Another theme that emerged from the insights of the Gen X parents is
that social media is essential to understand. According to them, it is important
to understand social media. Especially, now that they have acknowledged the
benefits they can attain from social media.
According to Duggan et al., (2015), a large number of parents considers
social media to be a platform where they can gather general information from.
The authors continued that parents who have used social media now see social
media as a useful information source, specifically information about parenting.
Basit (2021) wrote that social media has become an integral part of each and
every one of our lives over the past years. We can't deny the significance of
social media in every aspect of our lives. In our digital age, it appears that social
media has a major impact on every detail of life. Social media platforms have
grown to be a vital component of our way of functioning, whether in our personal
lives or at work (Sharma, 2022).
Furthermore, it is unusual nowadays for a person to spend their day
without using or even just checking social media as stated by Sharma (2022).
Since digital technologies are integrated into parts of social life, such as families
and interpersonal relationships, labor, government, and political engagement
(Polanco-Levicán & Salvo-Garrido, 2022).
Incommodity
Lastly, Gen X parents shared how they are aware of the precautions or
harms that social media can expose them and their family with. They mentioned
70
that social media does in fact have a negative side that can affect them and
their families.
Lin et al. (2019) mentioned that because of the negative aspects of social
media, some parents view social media as a negative source. Parents believe
that social media has a negative effect, especially on their children (Parenting
Teens in the Age of Social Media, 2020). Duggan et al. (2015) stated that
previous studies concerning teenagers and technology have revealed that
parents of teenagers are both supportive as well as concerned about their
child's usage of the internet, social media, and cell phones. Along with the
information, parents of children who are younger are the ones who are much
more sensitive about the negative sides of social media.
Wilcon and Stock (2021) identified some of the negative aspects of
social media including shared false information; unfavorable aspects becoming
obvious; users unsatisfied with social assistance available online; concerns
about trusting people online and knowing how much to share; and being
displeased by negative contents shared in the platform.
Implications for Educational Practice
The Themes generated from the experiences of Generation X Parents
include Incomprehension, Seek Digital Natives, and Beneficial. These attached
themes signify the experience, coping mechanism, and insight of Generation X
Parents on Social Media from their angle.
Based on the results of this study, the researchers want to emphasize
the following individuals to work to address this issue appropriately:
71
For the Gen X Parents, they should reflect on how their struggles are
similar to other parents even for different generations. The effects of parental
social media use on educational practice are profound. The influence of social
media on parental participation and involvement in their children's education is
something that adults need to be aware of. Parents should get instruction from
experts on how to utilize social media sites responsibly. Discussing privacy
settings and safe online conduct is part of this, along with urging parents to
connect in a positive and courteous manner. Social media may be a tool for
educators to engage parents. Creating social media profiles for schools and
posting significant information about occasions, institution news, and student
accomplishments are examples of this. Teachers need to be mindful of the
possible harm social media may do to parental participation. Social media may
be a wonderful tool for parents to interact with their kids, but it can also be a
distraction and take away from the time that parents might be spending with
their kids. Teachers ought to advise parents to minimize their social media
usage and value spending time with their kids.
In general, parental usage of social media has significant effects on
educational practice. Teachers can support parents in their role as their child's
first and most important teacher and encourage positive parental engagement
in their children's education by educating parents on the proper use of social
media, using social media as a tool for parent engagement, providing resources
for parents, and being aware of any potential negative effects.
72
Recommendations for Future Researchers
This Phenomenological Research focuses on the struggles,
experiences, and sentiments of the 10 Gen X Parents who have undergone In-
Depth Interviews (IDI). It could not be generalized to all Gen X Parents in other
localities; further investigation and exploration might be done in a different
setting yet have similar purposes of distinguishing the experiences of Gen X
Parents in Social Media.
The Researchers would like to recommend to future researchers that
Gen X Parents who experience diverse struggles in social media would go
through more immense discoveries and explorations in Social Media Platforms.
Identifying Gen X Parents’ difficulties are a starting step on where they should
more focus on exploring to specifically understand the means of Social Media
Platforms.
The Researchers would like to also recommend the usual reasons and
factors to consider why Gen X Parents experience hardships and struggles with
Social Media Platforms. The neophyte side of Gen X Parents appears when it
comes to interacting immensely with Social Media platforms, these Gen X
Parents instead used diverse ways as their coping mechanism.
In Addition, The Researchers would like to recommend discovering and
dig deep more on the other experiences of Gen X Parents, who were not
possibly mentioned in our phenomenological research study.
Concluding, the researchers recommend identifying more Gen X
Parents’ diverse difficulties, the considerations of Gen X Parents in Social
Media, and the immense study of experiences of other Gen X Parents whose
experiences were never mentioned in our research study.
73
Concluding Remarks
We as Researchers, we hope that this Phenomenological Research
Study will help Technology and Social Media Advance, wherein former
generations are able to cope up with the current generational technologies. This
Research Study enlightened our minds as researchers, on the silent sentiments
of these Gen X Parents, wherein we as researchers, discovered the distinct
experiences, struggles, coping mechanisms, and insights of every Gen X
Parent that we have interviewed through In-Depth Interviews. We hope that this
research will broaden the minds of every future researcher that will cover the
same phenomenology as ours. Through Thematic Analysis, we have
discovered the voices that we were seeking to hear from our participants.
We heard from our Gen X Parents that Incomprehension of Social Media
Articulations is what they see and read in Social Media, wherein the arduous
parts of social media, bring incomprehension and ambiguity to our Participants.
We heard from our participants the deceivement of news and information
spreading around the distinct Social Media Platforms, wherein our Participants
were once victimized by Fake News or being Deluded by people who share
news that are uncertain. We also heard the assertion of Parental Anxiety, when
Gen X Parents are concerned and anxious about what their children might be
seeing on social media, considering the toxicities and malicious content that
appear in social media.
In these way, they were able to cope up with various difficulties. They
asserted that Seeking Digital Natives is a paved way to cope up with the
difficulties that they come up in the way in Social Media Platforms. They uttered
that Quality Time is a mechanism that will cope them up when they experience
74
struggles in social media. They uttered also being Circumvent in difficulties in
Social Media. Wherein they chose to explore and indulge more in social media
to solve their own struggles with social media. They further said also to restrain
social media usage, the specification that they would restrain social media use
to prevent themselves having difficulties in social media. They asserted that
Disregarding Social Media Problems as the way to alleviate usual social media
problems that arise in your accounts in various platforms.
Lastly, considering their Insights, they believe that Social Media is
beneficial in many aspects because they are able to utilize Social Media in their
everyday matters. They also sighted that Social Media is a medium of
connection, where Gen X Parents are able to foster relationships through social
interaction of Family, Friends, and Colleagues. They asserted also the essential
means of social media, as Gen X Parents asserted, they think it’s important on
how to navigate social media because it will help them with their specific needs
and gratifications. Lastly, Gen X Parents said that its incommodity is when their
children abuse the capabilities of Social Media; Concluding this statement, this
phenomenological study is put up to let the silent voices of our Gen X Parents
be heard and let their hidden sentiments be given solutions. Letting other Gen
X Parents know that they are not in this battle alone.
75

Connecting The Unconnected FINAL

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CHAPTER 1

environment is not going anywhere, instead, it will continue to grow and is

older generations fully understand how social media works is by identifying

understand and access social media better.

Social media is present everywhere (Lin et al., 2019). The world is

continuing to develop, and so is social media, there are billions of parents

specifically with Facebook (Licsi, 2022). Especially because of the recent

Covid-19 pandemic, quarantine occurred, Filipino parents were then intrigued

and social media, on average (Drouin et al., 2020)

of Panabo residents in social media marketing (Dagohoy et al., 2021) but we

X parents in particular. As a result, we, the researchers of this study chose to

Norte with their struggles on social media.

Although there are many studies conducted on social media usage

focusing on the struggles of Generation X parents on social media. Thus, the

of Generation X parents should be conducted.

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research is to

determine the struggles and experiences of Panabo City's Gen X parents in

relation to social media. Knowing that, by identifying their struggles, we can

navigating their created software.

1. What are the experiences of Gen X parents on social media platforms?

2. What coping mechanisms do Gen X parents do when they encounter

problems on social media?

3. What insights do Gen X parents have regarding social media?

Social media has become an important platform for communication,

information sharing, and social interaction. Theoretical frameworks have been

how it is used by individuals and groups (Wills, 2017).

The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), authored by Albert Bandura,

explains how personal experiences, other people's conduct, and environmental

circumstances affect a person's health habits. Through instilling, expectations,

boosting self-confidence, and using observational learning and other reinforces

a theoretical framework that may be used in a variety of contexts and groups.

It is widely applied to help treatments that modify behavior. In rural areas, it

(Rural Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Toolkit, 2018).

Social network theory, by William N. Dunn, has made major contributions

focuses on people, groups, and organizations, as well as the web of

interpersonal connections that both limits and facilitate human behavior in

various social systems, is referred to as social network theory (Nimmon et al.,

particular media to meet particular needs. UGT is a method for comprehending

mass communication that is audience-focused (Wikipedia, 2022). The uses and

gratifications hypothesis is a method for comprehending how and why people

hypothesis, individuals actively consume media and are driven to choose

particular media in order to satisfy particular requirements (Sridharan, 2022).

A theory posed by Karl Mannheim in 1928, The Generational Theory. It

influenced by their youth's socio-historical context, giving rise to social classes

Davis and Francis (2023) lately discussed that Generational Theory

considers variations between generations. Along with their information, they

the views and actions of individuals of two different generations. In particular, it

by younger generations contrary to the older generations (Hayes et al., 2022).

The different generations are already living in completely different online

disengagement (Culley, 2021). In relation to this research, the author Moore

(2020) stated that Social Media is creating or opening a Generation Gap

between Gen Z (Born between 1997-2012) and the older generations

(Millennials, Gen Y, Gen X, etc.). Lately, the younger generations tend to

disapprove of the practices of the older generation on social media like;

the younger and older generations’ preferences; teenagers nowadays, prefer

generations share personal information about them, and sometimes including

their family, on social media in exchange for likes or clout.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This Phenomenological Research aims to broaden the knowledge of parental

mostly Facebook. This study will benefit to the following:

knowledge of issues, dilemmas, and misconceptions about social media. This

research will be beneficial to parents who experience the same experiences