A community for grieving: affordances of social media for support of bereaved parents

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to study bereaved parents' use of a closed peer grief support community on Facebook and the features of the community that are important to them. The death of a child is an uncomfortable subject in most contemporary societies. This limits the exploration of experiences and possibilities for coping with grief. However, with the introduction of social media, this has changed. Theoretical perspectives on parental grief recognizing the importance of continued relational bonds with the lost child are used, together with the ontological assumption that social media enhance the dissolving of private/public and time/space. This study is based on questionnaire, interviews, and content from the closed peer grief support community, to which the research team has insider access. The community encompasses a diverse range of experiences and stages of grief, independent of the time elapsed since the loss of a child. Bereavement of children of all ages and from all conceivable causes of death is distributed among the members. The results show how the affordances of social media become vital resources for coping with grief in ways not available previously, comprising aspects of the closed nature of the group, shared experiences, time, and accessibility.

Affordances supporting mothers’ engagement in information-related activities through Facebook groups

“…As the findings demonstrate, the Facebook group provided members with the ability to connect with a large network in the host country, facilitating their access to diverse and suitable information and support resources. Due to the large audience and the real-time interaction available through the group, there were always many people available and likely to respond quickly to requests for information (see also Hård af Segerstad and Kasperowski, 2015). The large number of group members increased the information-seeker's possibilities of finding relevant information in the group.…”

“…Indeed, research now shows that many user groups (for example, grieving parents, stay-at-home fathers, immigrants and patients) join Facebook groups to meet others, discuss information of mutual interest, support one another, and overcome societal stigmas and taboos (for example, Ammari and Schoenebeck, 2016; Hård af Segerstad and Kasperowski, 2015; Lupton et al, 2016). These groups seem to have grown in popularity as information resources due to the diverse (and often similar) and relatable experiences available within them (Ellison and Vitak, 2015; Smock et al, 2011).…”

“…Previous research reports, for instance, that parents use Facebook groups to support one another and exchange first-hand experiences about pregnancy and early motherhood (Gibson and Hanson, 2013; Lupton, 2017; Morris, 2014), breastfeeding premature newborns (Niela-Vilén et al, 2015) and being a stay-at-home father (Ammari and Schoenebeck, 2016). Additional topics covered include raising children who have special needs (Ammari and Schoenebeck, 2015; Ammari et al, 2014; Roffeei et al, 2015), raising children in a foreign information environment (Mansour, 2020; Mansour and Francke, 2017; Mudliar and Raval, 2018), raising children as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) parents (Blackwell et al, 2016) and grieving a deceased child (Christensen et al, 2017; Hård af Segerstad and Kasperowski, 2015).…”

Visualising the ends of identity: pre-birth and post-death on Instagram

“…Finally, while not featured in the analysed media, the two hashtags featured here are not necessarily mutually exclusive. An ultrasound may end up being the sole image of record of an unborn child, and could potentially be used as part of a grieving process as well as a more celebratory announcement (for more discussion of social media and parental grief, see af Segerstad & Kasperowski, 2015).…”

Worrying About Death: An Initial Analysis of Young Adult Cancer Patients' Needs

“…10 Research in palliative and bereavement care has shown that peer support in its various forms often serves as an important resource for coping. 11 In an Australian study, YAs with cancer reported that the opportunity to belong to a peer support group was one of the largest unmet needs during treatment. The same study also showed that peer support groups are valuable for managing emotional stress, and that peer support should be offered to all who need it.…”