Tech Trade-offs in Time Zone Challenged Families

Before moving to California, I lived in the moderately named "Central Standard" time zone in the United States. One hour off the east coast, two off the west was not a drastic difference to communicate with anyone I knew in the country. However, I find my phone inundated with text messages from friends who moved to the East coast in the mornings when I wake up due to the three hour time difference. Time zones alter the regularity of communication between friends and family.

Researchers Xiang Cao et al published an article in 2010 titled "Understanding Family Communication across Time Zones." Through interviewing a small sample of families living in different time zones, they found that families favor synchronous communication (communication in real-time, like phone and Skype calls) over asynchronous communication (message-based, time-stamped communication such as instant messaging, email, and text messaging). Families prefer synchronous communication because it most closely resembles the mode of communication the family may have had when living together. Especially with internet call programs like Facetime, Skype, or Oovoo that provide the personal element of video, this can make it almost seem like a family is in one place. Unfortunately, greater time differences often render synchronous communication less practical, for example, the researchers note a difference of 8 hours matches up with either work or sleep for either side of the conversation. These families rely on occasional emails and sparse sessions of synchronous communication.

In the conclusion of the paper, the authors propose a timed-release message system for emails, video messages, or voicemail to make the experiences of separated families more relevant to each other. However, I believe seeing a time stamp that says your daughter emailed you fifteen minutes ago provides false hope of presence, when in reality she emailed you fifteen hours ago from the other side of the globe.

Synchronous communication requires careful coordination based on knowledge of daily schedules. In cases where the communication window was very tight, the researchers noted that IM status was helpful in determining whether a family member could be contacted. IM status usually limits the options to "available," "offline," "busy," or "idle" to indicate availability to talk, and custom statuses may share too much when considering unrelated online friends. Use of a shared, online family calendar would indicate more than these nondescript statuses. The computer calculates the time zone conversion, and families can see exactly what was on each other's agendas for the day, week, and months ahead in terms of their own day, ameliorating the complications of scheduling time to talk. In addition, families would have a greater sense of what goes on in each other's lives in terms of the other's, furthering a sense of connectedness from far away.

A few online family organizers exist, like Cozi and Famundo, and even Google Calendar has a shared calendar feature. Families can share as much as they like and reap the benefits of feeling involved in a family schedule.