Mums all over the UK should have had a peaceful and enjoyable day yesterday - Mother's Day, of course (hope you didn't forget!). Many of the nation's Mums will have received flowers and chocolates, of which a sizeable proportion will have been ordered online. Indeed, without online florists and present delivering services, many Mums in Britain might have gone unloved yesterday.

However, new research shows that we are now living in a world of "divided Mums". Some mothers, according to The Observer newspaper are now dependent upon the Internet to help them survive as parents. Not only do they find useful advice for being a Mum, the social aspects of the Internet can often help them feel less alone.

But, at the same time ,we discover from a study commissioned by Post Office Broadband that nine out of ten women aged over 50 are afraid of the Internet. Many of those over-50s will be Mums, of course. So, on the one hand they use the Internet for parenting information and social support, yet on the other hand they are scared of it.

It looks, from the data, that this is an "age thing". The Mums most scared of the Internet are those who are older. Younger Mums appear confident and more accepting. Almost certainly this is about anxiety induced by lack of familiarity. We are always more worried about those things which are least familiar with. So, what does this mean for those of us who use the Internet daily? It means the best Mother's Day present you could have given would have been a lesson in using the Internet. It would have reduced your Mum's fears of the online world - and allowed her to gain those social benefits of the Internet. Even better - it's cheaper than flowers. Have you seen their prices....?

Labels: internet psychology

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