Social media has become our modern way of showing the world who we are, but with it comes the challenge of how to balance our public personas and our identities within our families. We surveyed 1250 people from all 28 states in India to explore how social media impacts family ties. The results were striking – over one third of respondents have blocked a family member on social media. Based on an adult population of 969 million (2021), we can extrapolate that 350 million Indians could have blocked a family member on social media -that’s more than the whole population of America! But what are the reasons behind this trend? Let’s dive into the study findings to explore why people are choosing to block their loved ones.
Headline findings
- More than one in 10 people have stopped talking to a family member because of a post on social media! We were surprised about this one (16% of all respondents said this)
- Over one third of Indians have blocked a family member on social media (36%)
- Half of Indians that blocked someone want to hide their private life from family (49%)
- Almost one in five people wanted to hide who they were dating from family (16%)
- Only young people responded about hiding who they were dating (under 35)
- Men and women have different motivations for blocking family members
- Aunties and uncles are most likely to get blocked
Reasons for blocking family (Facebook and Instagram)
| Reason for blocking | Percentage of total |
|---|---|
| Sharing fake news | 3% |
| Sharing too much religious content | 4% |
| Sharing hateful posts | 5% |
| Can’t know who I’m dating | 16% |
| Too many comments on my posts | 7% |
| Embarrassed of my family | 8% |
| Religious family wouldn’t approve of my posts | 4% |
| Need to keep my private life hidden | 49% |
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Methodology
In November 2022 we surveyed 1250 Indian residents on Facebook and Instagram. The average age of respondents was 26.75 years.