Grieving College Students Use of Social Media

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of social media among grieving college students. A total of 508 students participated in a survey about their experiences with grieving a loss, the grief effects they experienced, and their use of social media. Approximately 79% of participants experienced a loss within their lifetime and reported having emotional, cognitive, and physical grief effects. Of these participants, 43% used social media to communicate their grief. Participants who reported emotional, cognitive, and physical grief effects were more likely to communicate their grief on social media. Furthermore, 108 open-ended comments about social media use were analyzed and categorized according to The Bereavement and Social Media Use Continuum. Findings indicate that 60% of participants reported using social media in a limited capacity followed by 39% of participants who used social media in a vast capacity. Implications and recommendations for future research are also provided.

How People Express Grief by Sharing Photographs on Social Networks: A Comparative Study between Italy and the United States of America

“…Starting from the first thematic area (reasons for showing or not showing pictures), both samples showed a strong tendency not to share anything concerning a deceased loved one, to protect their privacy, and because this practice was perceived as intrusive and excessively public [35,37,41]. Furthermore, Americans seemed to make greater use of the communicative potential of social media and the "collapse of the context" [42] to report deaths [18].…”

“…Based on the literature which makes use of visual material as a valid source of information [34][35][36][37]10,3], an analysis of the visual content for coping with the death of another that was shared online, comparing Italian and U.S. users of social media became the focus of the present study. Postings from both Italian and U.S. users of social media helped to further understanding of the cultural context of this grief iconography.…”

Sadness, despair and anger when a patient dies alone from COVID-19: A thematic content analysis of Twitter data from bereaved family members and friends

“…29 Attitudes to using social media to express grief will also vary among bereaved people, with some avoiding it completely and others using it extensively. 30,31 Despite these caveats, social media provides insight into feelings and perspectives among its users, and our findings provide a unique perspective on experiences of bereavement during the pandemic. Synonyms for COVID-19, such as 'coronavirus', were not included in the search due to Twitter's API 60-character limit.…”

Mídias sociais e práticas de luto online: uma revisão integrativa

“…Quando os autores enfatizam a necessidade de manter o acesso à página de um amigo após a morte, eles podem ser entendidos como desejosos de uma plataforma para a exibição contínua de cuidados (Varga & Varga, 2021). Essas exibições podem, ainda, ser lidas como abrangendo rituais privados e públicos de luto, onde há interesse tanto em arquivar registros anteriores de cuidados sinalizados, quanto em ter um espaço para o luto coletivo, enfatizado por Cupit, et al, (2021) como uma fase crítica do luto.…”