Play or reality: Discourse analysis of Facebook support groups for parents of pre-school children

Social support has always been considered as an important resource in coping with stress. The current study focuses on the normative stress associated with the early years of parenting and with the unique type of social media support- Facebook support groups. In Israel, as in the rest of the world, there are special Facebook groups for parents, that enable a common conversation about parents' experiences and difficulties, consultation and sharing information. Parents' groups deal with a wide range of topics such as infants' sleeping habits, toilet training, motor development, medical consultation, vaccinations, etc. The current study examined the discourse's pragmatics in one of those Facebook groups using a combination of psycho-dynamic and sociological theories.

The group examined is a closed Facebook group (anyone who wants to join can apply), which defines itself as a support group for parents on various issues related to raising of children. The group was created on March 2014, consist of 10,585 members and managed by six admins (five women and one man). Data collection has been done by passive observation on the discourse that occurred inside the group. The study examined posts of parents of young children (0-6 years old) parents who dealt with various repetitive themes in the group (such as medical consultation, sleep, toilet training, behavior and nutrition). Out of the 118 posts that were uploaded during May 2018 in the group, ten were analyzed. These posts dealt with five of the key themes we found during the data collection. The rule for inclusion was that the posts were written by early childhood's parents and was looking for support/information from other parents. The discourse's content analyzed independently by two judges.

The findings of the research show that many parents use the facebook groups to get information, support, empathy and reinforcement from other parents that deals with similar dilemmas. The discourse within the group suggests the need of the parents to meet their peers, sharing the same parental point of view. The first theme dealt with group and individuals defense mechanism. One could see that like the face to face group, one can find the existence of defense and resistance to the therapeutic/group process. In this chapter we have distinguished between mechanism that may appear within the face to face group: for example, humor or escaping outside the group boundaries (fight or flight), as well as unique mechanism   of the virtual reality such as using emojis. The second theme deals with the way the group copes with having “foreign” contents within the group and the threats that these contents have on the group as a whole. In this chapter we dealt with the way the group defines its boundaries and the way the group maintaining these boundaries.The third theme deals with the differences between the internet group to the one existing face to face and is focused on the way group members “uses” others to their needs; the immediacy that characterize the virtual group; as well as the phenomenon we chose to name as “false empathy”. The fourth and last theme deals with “The parental rules guide”. We have tried to find the consensual terms penetrating the parental discourse. In addition, the theme aims to answer the question: who stands in the center of the discourse –  the parents, or their children?

The research regarding Facebook groups in general and parental Facebook groups in particular is in its first steps, hence there is a great importance for that kind of research. The findings of the research illuminate the roll of the Facebook groups in parent’s life and the way that the existing discourse within these groups often replace the use of parent in other professional bodies of knowledge.

On the theoretic level, the research contributes in the way it manifests the world of virtual groups, by using the language and terms taken from the psychoanalysis and discourse fields. In addition, the research has a practical importance, by assisting to better understand the rules of parental support within a virtual world enabling directing of therapeutic resources into the virtual space. The research also exposes therapists to the defense mechanism exist within the virtual network, enabling closeness and better understanding through the familiarity with additional world of content occupying their patients. Finally, the research sheds light on how the Web design, behind the scenes, the public agenda.