USING THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO SUPPORT PARENTING PRACTICES: EXPERIENCES OF MOTHERS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
The aim of our study is to describe the experience of mothers who have already used social media and/or the Internet to help fulfil their parental role towards their preschool-age children. Mothers turn to social media and the Internet for support (Jang & Dworkin, 2014; Nolan, Hendricks, & Towell, 2015). They state that they favor private groups of mothers to get information on development and care of children (0-5 years) in order to fulfil their role more adequately. This practice aims at reducing their anxiety. Social media and the Internet contribute to the informational, emotional and social support sought after, but may create pressure to meet the standards of the perfect mother or perfect child through social comparison of their parenting practices or their child’s development. This finding illustrates the performance and perfectionism promoted in our Western societies (Curran & Hill, 2017).