In my earlier work, fathers suggested that they do not discuss sensitive parenting issues like vaccinations and sleep training on real-name social media sites (e.g., Facebook). Enter Reddit, a pseudonymous predominantly masculine platform. In my analyis of parents' use of Reddit, I found that these topics are discussed on three main parenting subreddits - r/Parenting, r/Daddit, and r/Mommit. Some discussions on Reddit warranted the use of the more anonymous throwaway accounts on parenting subreddits. For example, divorce and custody battles, abuse, special needs, and pregnancy loss are more likely to be discussed using throwaway accounts on Reddit. I found that throwaway comments are more likely to receive responses, receive more responses, which are longer on average, and have a higher average karma score. This indicates that Reddit can provide a supportive environment for parents who make potentially stigmatizing disclosures which might counter hegemonic parenting expectations.

Social media provides a space for people to explore and redefine their social roles. In my research, I found that fathers looked for support from other fathers facing similar challenges on social media. Social media also provided the space for fathers to craft a new parenting social role, whilst still maintaining traditional masculine identities. Fathers share do-it-yourself (DIY) projects that allowed them to work on traditionally feminine tasks like cooking by framing their labor as “hacking the kitchen.” Fathers also “hacked” new parenting communities for dads online (e.g., LifeofDad) since most parenting communities online (e.g., Babycenter.com) are designed for and primarily used by mothers.

In 2012, dual earner families constituted 60% of two-parent families, rising from 25% in 1960. Additionally, more parents are caring for elderly family members as well as their children. With the rising expectations of parents in dual earner families, I studied how the adoption of technology changes family routines and the interactions between family members. I found that mothers take on a third shift to manage the entanglements between new technologies, privacy and security needs, and other family members. Similarly, I found that one parent assumes the responsibility for managing the use of voice assistants like Amazon Alexa at home. For example, parents managed family boundaries by creating shared family calendars whilst also maintaining separate private calendars for each family member.

Nearly 40 million Americans live with a disability. Persons with special needs and their families face social stigma associated with their conditions. Parents of children with special needs (PCSNs) grapple with significant social role changes when their child’s condition is first identified. Given these challenges, I studied how PCSNs use social media to cope with their new social roles and to advocate for their children. I found that social media provides a space that is more supportive for parents than their offline interactions - including interactions with close family members and professionals like doctors. PCSNs used social media to access information, organize, and advocate for change. This advocacy took shape using different social media sites. For example, parents used closed Facebook groups to organize and articulate their political messages. They relied on Twitter and public Facebook Groups/Pages to advocate for change and push their message to the public.