Tech Brings Families Together For Christmas

BigPond has revealed that almost two thirds of Australians will spend Christmas Day apart from their family this Christmas, with distance and financial reasons cited as the major contributors to keeping them from one another.

According to a research conducted by BigPond, 61 per cent of Australians will spend Christmas Day apart from immediate family members this year, while 49 per cent have family members currently living overseas.

With Christmas just around the corner, the research found that nine out of ten Australians plan to use technology to stay in touch with family and friends, with the phone being the most popular way, followed by email, text message, social networking and video calls.

Social Commentator Mark McCrindle said, “The number of Australians living and travelling abroad during the festive season is quite remarkable, with BigPond’s research indicating that almost half of all Australians have at least one family member living overseas. This can make for a potentially isolating Christmas, so it’s a good time for families to consider using technology to bridge this distance, no matter how many kilometres are between them.”

The BigPond research has also uncovered that four out of five Australians believe one of the joys of Christmas is watching their loved ones unwrap presents on Christmas Day.

Telstra Consumer Executive Director, Ms Jenny Young said this provided a timely reminder of how technology, including broadband and video calling, can help families be “face to face” while not being located in the one place.

“By combining affordable and easy-to-use technology such as phone, broadband and video calling, you can share special moments and catch up with loved ones throughout the festive seasonit’s the next best thing to being there. International Value Packs and capped STD rates also make long distance calling easy, so you can feel confident you’re getting great value for money.”

Other key findings include:

• 69 per cent of Aussies wish to feel closer to family during the festive season. 
• 61 per cent of Australians will spend Christmas Day apart from immediate family members this year. 
• 49 per cent have family members currently living overseas. 
• 61 per cent claimed it was their greatest wish to feel closer to family members during Christmas. 
• At 53 per cent, distance is by far the biggest reason keeping families apart this year and is followed by financial reasons (14 per cent). 
• 62 per cent of those live at least1500 kilometres away, with 31 per cent living over 16,000 kilometres away. 
• 90 per cent rely on technology to stay in touch when living apart. 
• 48 per cent use technology to stay in touch as much as every week and 19 per cent use it every single day. 
• 86 per cent reach for the telephone and 85 per cent email most often, also proving popular is using texts/sms (54 per cent) and social networking (36 per cent). 
• Only 11 per cent of us still write hand written letters. 
• 86 per cent believe one of the joys of Christmas is watching their loved ones unwrap presents on Christmas Day.