Internet is poorly evaluated in family relationships and political debate, says Datafolha

How about living in a world without internet? The hypothesis arouses a range of bad feelings in 80% of Brazilians interviewed in a national survey by Datafolha. For this huge contingent, the scenario is unthinkable and synonymous with delay, regression, lack of information and chaos. Only about 8% think life could be better, calmer, “normal” and with more time to talk.

A good part of these, however, adds to the percentage of the 96% who consider that the global network has brought advances, whether in all aspects of life (50%), or in some of them (46%). Women, in general, are a little less enthusiastic than men.

In summary, for Brazilians, the network has greatly improved the way they do business (88%), get information (86%) and learn (84%). Approval drops significantly in aspects such as relationships with friends (64%), fun (62%) and the exposure of personal opinions (57%), but only two items suffered rates below half: family relationships (49 %) and political discussion (45%).

On the family issue, female approval is not only lower than male approval (42% among them, 56% among them), but it is frankly unfavorable to the role of the network, with 48% of disapproval (them, 35%). It’s not the only group. The negative evaluation is repeated between the two younger groups (16 to 34 years old), the most educated, the ones with the highest income and those who live in the Southeast.

Not by chance, these are the segments that tend to have a greater presence on social networks and/or live with family members who use social networks. It is mainly there that people air their views on divisive topics such as partisan preferences, ideology, abortion, etc.

“Social media always intervenes in some way in established norms, destabilizing or reinforcing ties”, says Letícia Cesarino, a professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina and a PhD in anthropology from the University of California.

Cesarino recalls that the dynamics of the family is opposite to that of the echo chambers of social networks, which operate as a bubble of values ​​in which personal expression is a way of identifying affinities, reinforcing identity and marking territory. If the family nucleus, which is based on genetic and affective ties, cannot protect itself against polarization, the clash of values ​​ends up weakening the bonds, especially in the extended family circle, formed by uncles, cousins ​​and aggregates.

Before the internet, political differences arose in specific periods and, after the elections, eventual conflicts remained dormant until the next vote. Now, when 97% of Brazilians say they are connected, disagreements are permanent, in family groups and on social networks.

“In Brazil, 2018 was a milestone in the politicization of personal relationships in electoral contexts, and many ties that were broken by politics were never restored”, says the anthropologist, for whom it is already possible to identify a movement to restructure relationships.

To avoid conflicts, families are rethinking the way they relate, with some choosing to moderate content in groups and remain silent on more flammable topics. “Even the exposure of privacy has been partly normalized, partly rethought.”

UNDERSTAND THE DATAFOLHA RESEARCH

• ​The survey that gives rise to the materials in this special section was carried out by Datafolha and had two modules, with two different surveys, one on Brazilians’ favorite brands for services involving the internet and another on their online behavior.
• The brand survey reflects 1,500 interviews conducted between March 21 and 28, 2022, with Brazilians aged 16 and over, from all social classes and regions in Brazil, who access the internet every day. The survey’s margin of error is three percentage points, and its reliability is 95% – this means that if 100 surveys like this were done, in 95 the results would be within the margin of error.
• The survey on Brazilian online behavior reflects 2,064 interviews conducted between March 16 and 24 with Brazilians aged 16 and over, from all social classes and regions of the country. The margin of error is two percentage points, considering a confidence level also of 95%