Parenting and digital media: from the early days of the web to contemporary digital society.

Parents have accessed websites, online discussion forums and blogs for advice, information and support since the early days of the World Wide Web. In this article, we review the literature in sociology and related social research addressing the ways in which digital media have been used for parenting-related purposes. We begin with the longer-established media of parenting websites, online discussion forums, blogs, email, mobile phones and message and video services and then move on to the newer technologies of social media and apps. This is followed by a section on data privacy and security issues. The concluding section summarises some major issues arising from the review and points to directions for further research

Supporting the Complex Social Lives of New Parents

One of the many challenges of becoming a parent is the shift in one’s social life. As HCI researchers have begun to investigate the intersection of sociotechnical system design and parenthood, they have also sought to understand how parents’ social lives can be best supported. We build on these strands of research through a qualitative study with new parents regarding the role of digital technologies in their social lives as they transition to parenthood. We demonstrate how sociotechnical systems are entangled in the ways new parents manage their relationships, build (or resist building) new friendships and ad hoc support systems, and navigate the vulnerabilities of parenthood. We discuss how systems designed for new parents can better support the vulnerabilities they internalize, the diverse friendships they desire, and the logistical challenges they experience. We conclude with recommendations for future design and research in this area

Online Information-Seeking Behaviours of Men Experiencing Fertility Difficulties

This thesis aims to understand the online information-seeking behaviours of men and how they make sense of and find meaning during their fertility journeys. This research contributes to understanding how online digital tools can support men to fulfil their sense-making and meaning-making needs when they experience fertility difficulties. Research that explores support for pregnancy planning and fertility has predominantly focused on women, and men’s views and experiences are often excluded. A review of existing literature revealed that men were likely to seek digital sources of health-related information for ease and privacy. However, it is yet to be understood how digital tools can best support this population or the opportunities where digital tools would be preferred and used by men. Therefore, this thesis used a qualitative approach to investigate men’s needs when they experienced fertility difficulties and how these needs could be fulfilled using digital tools. Men were found to mainly want information and both practical and emotional support during this time, which led to an instantiation of the ‘finding a new normal’ model based on the analysis of online forum data. Further analysis revealed that this model is also relevant for men outside online forums. Findings from the interview study led to the development of a novel presentation of the fertility journey represented by 9 stages from trying to conceive to conception, through interactions with health services as experienced by men. I highlight how men’s information needs evolve along their fertility journey and how they make sense of and find meaning in information to support the acceptance of a new normal. Participants identified their preference for information to be presented and made available through digital means; therefore, men’s needs were translated into requirements for a digital tool. An evaluation study found that existing digital tools do not completely fulfil men’s evolving requirements for information and support and there is an opportunity for digital tools to be better designed to support men to make sense of, and find meaning in, online information when they experience fertility difficulties

Fathering in the city : diverse masculinities and care giving practices in New York City

This thesis is about primary caregiving fathers in New York City. It aims to explore the changing nature of masculinities in relation to fatherhood. Starting with the premise that not all masculinities are equal, it asks whether, and if yes, how, differential access to resources and choices and discourses as men is reproduced in the realm of parenting, shaping their lives and experiences as fathers.The literature on primary caregiving fathers is emerging, where sociological studies have focused on white, heterosexual, middle-class, married, stay-at-home fathers. Moreover, analyses often privilege one axis of differentiation –gender–, when other identity positions are often relegated to second position, thus obscuring the nuances and complexity of the men’s experiences. Using an ethnographic approach, I spent 11 months in 2016 following 15 fathers from different backgrounds, meeting with them and interviewing them, meeting their families and friends, meeting other fathers along the way, as well as interviewing 5 professionals working with fathers. This thesis combines men and masculinities and intersectionality theories to draw attention to the social inequalities that exist between men.My research findings show that masculinities inform the kinds of father the men are. Masculinities are relational, they are performances undertaken in particular contexts, and intersect with other social categories, such as class, race, sexuality and faith, shaping their fathering experiences, the meanings assigned to fatherhood, and their experiences as men. I argue that race, as an organizing system of difference, is the most important axis of differentiation in parenting for these men. It has profound implications on the men’s lived experiences and on the ways in which they are fathers to their children

Close Knit: an investigation of the therapeutic consumption tribe

This thesis interrogates the nature of and meanings behind consumption practices in a femaleled and -dominated consumption community, specifically Knitters. Informed by the data, the study focuses on the therapeutic nature of such a group. The literature on consumption communities has grown extensively in recent decades. However much of this literature has, in effect, focused on male-led and male-dominated communities. Furthermore, many of the major studies in the area of consumption communities have taken place in environments described as ‘hyper-masculine’ (Martin, Schouten and McAlexander, 2006). Rather than consider women in ‘a man’s world’ as in Martin et al. (2006), here female and feminine consumption is considered in a ‘feminised sphere’ (Jantzen, Ostergaard, and Vieira, 2006). The issue of whether female- or feminine-orientated communities of consumption manifest characteristics and orientations different to those of male-dominated communities had not previously been examined. This thesis gives the results of a longitudinal, ethnographic study, based on participant observation, depth interviews and netnographic research. The broad nature of the research question supports an emergent design approach with an iterative and continuous transition between analysis and data collection, gradually narrowing the scope of the work. The key finding of this study is that there exists a further type of therapeutic consumption, distinct from those described by compensatory consumption (Moisio 2007, Woodruffe 1997, Woodruffe-Burton 2001, Woodruffe-Burton and Elliot 2005) and the spiritual-therapeutic model (Moisio and Beruchashvili 2010). This has been termed therapeutic group consumption. Further, there exists a new typology of consumption community, with characteristics distinct from the Consumer Tribe (Cova and Cova, 2002), the Subculture of Consumption (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995), and the Brand Community (Muniz and O’ Guinn 2001); the name suggested for this community is the Therapeutic Consumption Tribe. While sharing similarities with the Consumer Tribe (Cova and Cova 2002), the Therapeutic Consumption Tribe is neither playful nor transient; rather, members display a deep socioemotional commitment to each other. Therapeutic well-being is a key benefit of the female-dominated contemporary craft community with some members clearly articulating this as their primary motivator for involvement in the community. Socioemotional support (or socioemotional helping) and tangible assistance, features of a therapeutic support group, emerge as key features of the communit