Social Media Grief

Traditionally when an individual passed away, people would send flowers, baked goods and cards to the family of the deceased as well as attend the funeral to pay their respects. Now it seems when there is a death, people pay their respects by writing a message on the Facebook , posting on the family of the deceased about their condolences, or their own personal Facebook timeline as well as other social media websites. Social media has made a sufficient impact on the way many people deal with grief, whether it’s their grief own or someone else’s.

Some individuals have a difficult time trying to find the right words to offer when someone is dealing with pain, therefore writing a message over a social media website eliminates the fear of awkwardness

“If you were lucky enough to be in close proximity to the family of the newly deceased, there were visits that came wrapped in hugs and tears, and deliveries of food and beverages to feed all the weary souls. Insert social media. All of those courtesies still occur, but there is a new layer of grief expression - the online tribute in form of Facebook posts, Instagram photo collages, and short tweets” (Johnson, 2016). In today’s society, social media has taken over when it comes to people interacting and communicating with one another. Most of the time, individuals choose to communicate their loss by telling people over the phone (texting or calling). Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. People offering their condolences by taking the effort to contact or see those who are grieving is a very personal approach which makes it evident that the person cares for the individual and they are willing to take the time to offer their time. However, some people would prefer social media to share their condolences as that approach is more comfortable for them as well as the person offering their condolences. “As more of my peers turned to social media to express their grief, it made me see the value in being open about the death of someone close to you. One superficial benefit for me would be avoiding the awkward conversations that I have had, with more to come;