How Loved Ones Express Grief After the Death of a Child by Sharing Photographs on Facebook

Abstract

Marja has conducted a long time research into the phenomenon of grief.

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

“…Findings in the literature attest that the main motivations to share negative emotions are to support one's coping skills and to reduce one's emotional load [44]; the reported choices to publish the photo on a particular day seemed to corroborate the second motivation rather than the first. The findings of the third thematic area (choice of photography) corroborated the results of Keskinen and collaborators [10], by indicating that the photographs were posted to preserve the emotional-relational bond with the deceased (coded as "continuing bond"). The majority of the participants in both samples had "no expectations" for the responses they anticipated receiving about their postings.…”

“…In the 21st century, the birth of social network sites (SNSs) [5] has enabled grief to become more communal and has brought death back into everyday life [6]. The collective funeral celebrations of public personalities [7] and the individual commemoration of deceased loved ones on specific support online groups [8][9][10] has increased considerably and has been extensively studied. Looking at Facebook in particular, it is possible to ascertain how the two-way communication typical of new media has allowed anyone to participate in someone's grief, normalizing what would once have been regarded as a rude invasion of immediate family mourning [11].…”

“…From a historical perspective, the use of postmortem photography, also called memento mori photography, was widespread in the United States during the 19th century [30]. This practice, particularly with regard to parents posting pictures of their deceased children, is an online manifestation of this earlier behavior [10]. The few studies published on this "iconography of grief" have indicated that the photographs are useful for coping with grief over missing persons presumed dead, and the intense grief over deceased children (31,32).…”

“…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.…”

The COVID-19 Disappeared: From Traumatic to Ambiguous Loss and the Role of the Internet for the Bereaved in Italy

“…This strategy takes the form of remembering and being remembered (15). Studies have underscored the importance of the use of photographs in the management of grief and mourning, both in real life (16,17) and on the internet (18).…”