Study: Social-networking Site interrupts Family Life

Family life is being disrupted because parents and children are overwhelmed by the huge volumes of emails and social messaging updates they are handling each day, according to a new study.

As a result one in three of us are now desperate to cut down our use of Twitter and Facebook as well as emails. Surprisingly the study, by Cambridge University, found children as well as adults preferred to communicate face to face.

More than half of all families said a 'technology-free' time is important and a third of parents said technology had disrupted family life. The findings led family groups to warn that if parents end up spending more time checking emails and social networks than with their children it could have a detrimental effect on the home.

Amongst children aged 10 to 18, who have grown up with new technology, 38% admitted to feeling overwhelmed by the volume of messages. Similar numbers of adults felt the same way, with 34 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds agreeing.

Justine Roberts, founder of parenting website Mumsnet, warned: 'Social media is something we have to keep a watch on because it can eat into your life.'