• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, June 6, 2016

With Father’s Day coming up, millions of Americans are preparing to phone in an ambivalent display of affection for the male head of the household, who is – let’s face it –just not as nice as mom. But moms have Mother’s Day and everything has to appear equal in our silly society, so now we’ve got this stupid holiday too.

But what do dads think about it? asked no one ever. Actually, someone did ask: Social Media Link surveyed 1,189 members of social consumer influencer community Smiley360 to get their take on Father’s Day, dads and social media. The survey found that younger dads are indeed heavy social media users, with much of their usage relating to parenting, including product recommendations from other dads.

According to Social Media Link, 91% of survey respondents said they use Facebook weekly, while 60% use Twitter and 49% use Instagram weekly. Much of this usage is apparently inspired by dadhood, with 61% saying they use social media more now than before they had children, and 45% saying the use social media to be “friends” with their children or follow their social media accounts (never have the quotation marks been so appropriate).

On that note, 65% also said they use social media to share content about their children, including 70% of these who share content about kids on social media at least a couple times a month. Asked what kind of content they share, 91% said they share photos, 80% brag about their kids’ achievements, and 70% share interesting or (supposedly) entertaining things their kids say.

A good number of social dads are also connecting with other dads online for the purpose of discussing dad things: 61% said they’ve had conversations or learned things on social media that made them better parents, 44% connect with other dads on social media, 40% have shared parenting advice, and 31% have asked other dads parenting questions.

The sharing extends to product recommendations, as 44% said they have received a rec for a product or service via social from another dad. Within this group, 70% said they receive recs for the whole family, 71% receive recs for products or services for kids, and 37% said they have actively sought advice or recs on products and services from other dads. Dads also connect with brands online, with 77% connecting with electronics or gadget brands, the same proportion connecting with food or beverage brands, 63% with men’s grooming, 62% with auto, and 40% with fashion.

And yes, we dads are fully aware that the holiday is kind of a farce: two-thirds of social dads acknowledge that the holiday doesn’t receive as much media attention as Mother’s Day.