This study confirms that family privacy orientations among study participants were associated
with the way that individual family members responded to parental Facebook friend requests.
These orientations, developed by the family over time (Petronio, 2002), illuminated differences
in how families communicated on Facebook. Therefore, family relational ties were related to
individual behaviors among participants when considering whether or not to allow a parental
connection through social media. Young adults in families that valued openness and transparency
were more likely to connect with their mothers on Facebook than families who valued less openness and transparency within the family unit. This finding is valuable as it begins to answer questions about family characteristics associated with individuals’ social media use. Previously,family privacy orientations had not been examined in this particular context (Morr Serewicz et al.,2007).