ABSTRACT
The increasing presence of Latinx Millennials in the US, along with fast-paced changes in social media use, have converged with considerable impact—from closing the digital divide to revising family dynamics. Further, historic proportions of Millennials live with parents. This chapter focuses on everyday communication and interaction between Millennials and their local family members, whether or not they share a household. The critical concern is the impact that millennial digital presence, co-presence, and multi-presence have on familial relationships. Latinx have a relatively stronger digital presence than any other millennial group; they more often describe social media and use as motivated by family contact. Familismo, refers to Latinx emphasis on the importance of family, where individual needs are often seen as secondary. Although recent studies show familismo to gradually diminish from generation to generation, it still remains important to how Latinx Millennials express their cultural identity. This chapter draws on journal entries and reflections of 256 Millennial Latinx who avoided all online activity for twelve consecutive waking hours. Data reveal that Latinx Millennials were largely unaware of significant familismo issues prior to their temporary digital abstinence. The term Latinx avoids the gendered Latino and Latina, and the gender binary of Latino/a.
