Hello, and welcome to “The Story of Us”, a bespoke social networking application designed to unite people in their grief. Society’s approach to grieving is not immune from the impact of technology, and digital culture has progressively influenced the ways in which people mourn and memorialise the death of a loved one. As a result of this expansion, the Web can no longer be considered a supplementary space for rituals that were once manifested solely offline. In addition to the Web, the advent of social media and rise in platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, have shown that there are alternative outlets for people to display their grief and for individuals’ virtual presence to live on, even when they cease to exist in the physical realm.
The emerging and interwoven nature of technology, in relation to an ever-expanding memorial culture, is beginning to challenge the conventional societal constraints that once encompassed the nature of mourning. Equally, social media has transformed the connection individuals can have with those who are facing death as, before the Web, communication with the dying was restricted by geography, time, and familial connections. However, as society embeds itself within the digital realm, the traditional hierarchies that once encompassed the grieving process are beginning to disintegrate, thus enabling a new level of intimacy for those who want to remember a loved one.
As the virtual world reveals itself as a haven for online support groups, memorials and celebrations of death, more individuals are finding it easier to express their loss and grief through these forums. Thus, our proposal is to build a social networking application that will be both mobile and Web based, designed to bond those who are grieving, whilst enabling them to continue the story of their loved one within a specifically tailored community. This application will be designed not only to coincide with advances in technology, but also to correlate with the progression of society’s relationship with grief, helping people to cope with loss day by day and find comfort by expressing themselves in a virtual community.
Written by Ashton Kingdon
