A review of existing literature, focused on the relationship between the grieving process, technology, and social media, highlights that social media is becoming just as imperative a method for displaying grief as the funeral and the erection of the memorial, and should thus be given equal value (Huang, 2016; Lee, 2016; Melnick, 2017; Wilson, 2017; Veale, 2004). Research conducted by Roberts (2004) places societal emphasis on the mid 1990s and the correlated emergence of online memorials and virtual cemeteries, designed specifically for virtual commemoration. This demonstrated the ways in which the Web was being framed as a new medium for the bereaved to come together, in an informal setting, to express and share in their grief. Moreover, as society became increasingly digitised, there was an increasing number of memorialised profiles appearing on social media platforms and, in turn, an increased interest in the digital mediation, memorialisation, and commemoration of death (Williams & Merton, 2009). This led to an increase in literature exploring how grief, and the social and psychological support that surrounds the bereaved, was beginning to be manifested in online networks, effectively reworking existing user profiles into commemorative pages (Marwick & Ellison, 2012; Stokes, 2012).
Additionally, research carried out by Hutchings (2012) and Walter et al. (2011) highlights that the appropriation of existing social media profiles specifically for memorialisation purposes, integrates with traditional mourning practices and continuing social relationships. It is common for individuals to continue to visit and post messages and photographs on the profiles of the deceased and thus maintain a social attachment (Williams & Merton, 2009; Carroll and Laundry, 2010). These carefully constructed memorial pages continue and scale through articulate networks in tailored ways that enable distributed and collective representations of the deceased to be constructed necessitating curation (Marwick & Ellison, 2012). Similarly, Hutchins (2012) argues that the implications of these developing, articulated representations include the deceased having a social life and digital imprint that exists beyond their biological life; essentially a construction or collective intersubjective memory.
In a similar vein, contemporary literature emphasises the connection between memorial culture and augmented reality, a technological experience in which a virtual world is superimposed over a physical world, in such a way that allows both realms to be visible at the same time (Melnick, 2017; Wilson, 2017). Augmented reality technologies have the ability to transform society into a multiverse of overlapping of realities and, through the correct lens, allows users to alternate between worlds, or even create their own. Research confirms that an increasing number of people now choose to pay their respects, using digital technology, by creating virtual headstones and placing them anywhere within an augmented environment (Melnick, 2017; Huang, 2016).
Comparatively, Huang’s (2016) research indicates that, in addition to augmented reality, virtual reality, a fully immersive computer simulated environment that provides its users with the illusion they are part of that environment, is becoming more popular in the funeral arranging process. In particular, China has rapidly adopted such technologies in order to help families chose their funeral home, and make funeral arrangements, without having to actually step foot in one (Huang, 2016). Furthermore, Lee (2016) maintains that in the age of social media, people’s digital footprints live on following their passing, and digital artefacts are now being used in order to create futuristic funerals and aid people in planning their digital afterlife. Many funeral directors now offer the opportunity for memorial jewellery to be constructed with video images, as a way of encompassing digital data and making people feel more connected to the deceased (Huang, 2016; Lee, 2016). Likewise, Sanders (2009) highlights that many funeral industries are enthusiastically embracing technology, offering services that include Web based memorials, digital scrapbooks, visual tributes, and digital memorials.
To conclude, there is a large body of literature that explores the ways in which bereavement is being addressed in the online sphere (Williams & Merton, 2009; Moss, 2004; Brubaker & Jays, 2011). What has also become clear is that the digital footprints of the deceased do not remain static but continue to evolve through the participatory construction of memorialisation and remembrance. Likewise, literature has shown that social networking sites, like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Myspace, frequently have profiles and walls that belong to people who are deceased, and these effectively provide a locus for networked publics to converge and interact (Hutchings, 2012; Walter et al, 2011). It is common practice for these profiles to be memorialised after death, helping to create a communal and lasting place for mourning and commemoration. Despite there being research that explores the relationship between social media and mourning, it seems that little academic attention has been placed on the ability for these sites to intersect with physical spaces, such as crematoriums, cemeteries and funeral parlours, and the traditional mourning practices that occur there. Thus, a knowledge gap has emerged, inviting research to shine a light into these emerging digital platforms and explore how we can assimilate wider cultural practices within the digital realm.
Written by Ashton Kingdon
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