Reminiscence through the Lens of Social Media

Abstract

Reminiscence is used to support and create new social bonds and give meaning to life. Originally perceived as a preoccupation of the aged, we now recognize that reminiscence has value throughout the lifespan. Increasingly, social media can be used to both support and prompt reminiscence, with Facebook’s Lookback or Year in Review as recent examples. This work takes prompted reminiscence further, asking what forms and functions of reminiscence are supported by social media. Utilizing the online service MySocialBook, we invited participants to curate content from their personal Facebook account to then be transformed into a printed book. We used that book as a prompt for discussion of the reminiscence function of the curated material, using Westerhof and Bohlmeijer’s (2014) reminiscence framework as a starting point. We conclude that this framework is valuable in understanding the role of social media in reminiscence, but note that earlier models, such as Webster’s Reminiscence Functions Scale, are also relevant. We contribute to the reminiscence debate by adding a technological lens to the process of life review, whilst concurring with other researchers in this field that a robust conceptual framework is lacking, particularly when considering the forms of reminiscence that are most salient for younger people.

Has Instagram Fundamentally Altered the 'Family Snapshot'?

“…In other domains, we have seen how people tend to be over-inclusive in their documenting of the everyday and then struggle to make meaningful use of the stored data. Indeed, people will typically reject such images as trivia when they show up in automated or semi-automated biographies such as Facebook's 'Look back' or 'MySocialBook [76]. However, Bamberg & Georgakopoulou [2] have argued that the 'small stories' of everyday living help people create a sense of who they really are, and this identity work is particularly important as part of parenting.…”

A life story in three parts: the use of triptychs to make sense of personal digital data

“…We were interested in the use of photography triptychs as an extension of previous work on 'slow technology'. Examples of work exploring slow technology principles have utilised photographs [14], 'Cow Cam TV' [15], online applications to postpone e-mail delivery [16] and printed social media content [17]. Particularly, in the cases described by Odom et al [14] and Thomas and Briggs [17], work focuses on a purposeful repackaging of digital data-data that can be transformed into something of personal value, to encourage reminiscence and raise awareness of the fleeting nature of social media content.…”

“…The use of digital data to build such narratives and to support personal reminiscence has become commonplace, with examples of services including Timehop, My Social Book, Intel's 'Museum of Me' and Facebook's 'Year in Review'-all of which utilise photographs from social media to some extent. We recognise that there is immense potential here for personal archiving, storytelling and life review [17,19,20] but we also recognise that very few platforms allow users to fully explore the different kinds of personal meaning available in their data. In examples whereby these kinds of platforms have been assessed [e.g.…”

“…Automated social media content from services such as Intel's Museum of Me offer only shallow representations of self [3], but some automated biographical services do allow the transformation of digital data into a physical artefact. In an earlier study exploring this transformation [17], participants were introduced to the online service 'MySocialBook', a platform that enables people to curate Facebook data into a scrapbook which is then printed. The process of building the book encouraged participants to review and sort their social media data and resulted in positive feelings of serendipity regarding the posts they encountered and a deeper appreciation of online support from friends.…”

Online Therapy for Depressive Symptoms: An Evaluation of Counselor-Led and Peer-Supported Life Review Therapy

“…In everyday life, digital technologies play an increasingly important role in reminiscence and life review where they serve as a kind of external autobiographical memory (Westerhof, 2017). Social media, like Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube, allow storing and sharing memories as well as triggering and stimulating processes of reminiscence and life review (Thomas & Briggs, 2016). Digital technologies are increasingly used to promote reminiscence and life review in interventions, for example, in online life story books (Lazar, Thompson, & Demiris, 2014).…”