You might think that Facebook games are an enormous distraction and getting loads of requests from your friends on FB are really very annoying.
Well, think again. Because a team of scientists at Concordia have published research that suggests playing these time wasting games can actually improve family life.
In an unlikely turn of events, researchers at Concordia said that if you play Farmville on Facebook along with your mummy, your daddy or your auntie Carmen, you strengthen the bonds within the family.
Mia Consalvo, Canada Research Chair at Concordia claimed that social network games (SNGs) “offer family members a meaningful way to interact and meet social obligations”.
The researchers polled a number of people to see what SNGs do for a family. Apparently “these online games offer families a common topic of conversation and enhance the quality of time spent together”.
Well, we’ve all come across situations where people in families don’t talk to each other.
The researchers said: “It’s not just siblings in their early 20s using SNGs to connect. Grandfathers are playing online games with granddaughters, mothers with sons. These multi generational interactions prove social networks are tools that break down both communication and age barriers.”
Goodness.
