Have You Ever Blocked a Family Member on Social Media?

From tropical holiday resorts to children’s home entertainment, we are constantly sharing something on social media. According to statistics, 77.5% of Australians are active on Facebook, and 47.2% have a profile on Instagram. But what if you don’t need or want your auntie’s or grandpa’s eye on your social media activity? What if they tag you incessantly in their posts or comments? So we surveyed 1,000 AU residents who use Facebook and Instagram to find out if they have ever blocked their family members on social media, and asked them why.

Facebook, a place for family regroup

According to the results of our study, 40% of Australians have blocked at least one of their family members on Facebook. Diving deeper into this percentage, it turned out that 35% of them have blocked one or more family members right after a family gathering, such as Christmas or any other family event.

The top reason for blocking family members, especially after a reunion or celebration, is because they post too many annoying or irrelevant comments (36.4%), followed by posting hateful things (35.3%). Another 35.3% of respondents, on the other hand, feel estranged from their family. There are also 31.4% of respondents who want to hide their personal activities from their family, mainly out of fear of judgement. Other reasons for blocking family members on Facebook; posting too much political content (23.3%), tagging things respondents don’t care about (21.2%), posting too much religious content (11.3%), or hiding a relationship (6.4%).

Instagram, a Millennials’ territory

Instagram’s user base tends to be a bit younger than Facebook’s crowd. Our study found that only 18.7% of Instagram users have blocked a family member on the platform, while 19.3% of respondents said their family members do not use Instagram. However, 36.1% of them also admitted to having blocked a family member on Instagram immediately after a family gathering or event.

The top reason for blocking on Instagram is to hide personal activities, such as parties or photos that should not be seen by the family (57.1%). Other reasons; posting annoying or irrelevant comments (28.6%), being estranged from family members (25.6%), posting hateful things (18%), tagging in things that respondents don’t care about (16.5%), posting too much political (15.8%) or religious content (9.8%), and hiding a relationship (15%).

Methodology

In January 2023 we surveyed 1,000 AU residents who use both Facebook and Instagram. The average age of respondents was 34 years, with an average annual income of A$109.665.

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