Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T01:03:35.181Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Grief Grapevine: Facebook Memorial Pages and Adolescent Bereavement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2014

Mardi Frost
Mardi Frost*
Affiliation:
St Andrews Lutheran College — Counselling, Tallebudgera, Queensland, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Mardi Frost, St Andrews Lutheran College — Counselling, 175 Tallebudgera Creek Rd, Tallebudgera QLD 4228, Australia. Email: mardif@salc.qld.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

How adolescents use the social networking site Facebook to express grief is a growing area of research. In reviewing current literature, it is evident that many questions still remain unanswered. Additionally, this ever-evolving platform for grief, mourning and bereavement may hold many implications for educators, policy developers and school counsellors and how they manage and support adolescents dealing with the sudden death of a peer. This article explores the reasons why Facebook memorials may appeal to a grieving adolescent, conventions in online grief, and challenges for schools in the context of policies for social networking.

Keywords

Facebook memorial pagesadolescent griefmourning ritualsconventions of online griefsocial media policy in schools
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , December 2014 , pp. 256 - 265
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Australian Academic Press Pty Ltd 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Communications and Media Authority. (2013). Cybersmart. Retrieved from http://www.cybersmart.gov.auGoogle Scholar
Brendtro, L.K., Brokenleg, M., & Van Bockern, S. (1992). Reclaiming youth at risk: Our hope for the future. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service.Google Scholar
Brubaker, J.R., Kivran-Swaine, F., Taber, L., & Hayes, G.R. (2012, June). Grief-stricken in a crowd: The language of bereavement and distress in social media. Paper presented at the International Conference Weblogs and Social Media-Twelve Dublin, Ireland.Google Scholar
Casey, S. (2011). Melbourne Girls Grammar break new ground with introduction of social media policy. Retrieved from http://www.handeye.com.au/images/home/news/news24.pdfGoogle Scholar
Church, S.H. (2013). Digital gravescapes: Digital memorializing on Facebook. The Information Society, 29, 184–189. doi:10.1080/01972243.2013.777309Google Scholar
Crowe, N., & Watts, M. (2013). Editorial feature. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 18 (1), 1–4. doi:10.1080/02673843.2012.757018Google Scholar
DeGroot, J.M. (2009). Reconnecting with the dead via Facebook: Examining transcorporeal communication as a way to maintain relationships (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ohio University, Athens, OH.Google Scholar
DeGroot, J.M. (2012). Maintaining relational continuity with the deceased on Facebook. Journal of Death and Dying, 65, 195–212. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/OM.65.3.cGoogle Scholar
De Zwart, M., Henderson, M., Lindsay, D., & Phillips, M. (2011). Teenagers, legal risks and social networking sites (Report). Monash University, Melbourne, Australia: Monash University.Google Scholar
Ellis-Gray, S. (2010). The diversity of mourning practices. Lancaster, UK. Retrieved from http://www.dotrural.ac.uk/digitalfutures2012/sites/default/files/digitalfutures2012papers/Papers/Session2ASocialPerspectives/Gray_MourningOnline.pdfGoogle Scholar
Espiner, D., & Guild, D. (2011). The circle of courage in transition planning. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 20 (2), 44–49.Google Scholar
Facebook. (2013). What happens when a deceased person's account is memorialized? Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143Google Scholar
Fearon, J. (2011). The technology of grief: Social networking sites as a modern death ritual (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/Google Scholar
Friedman, E. (2007). Logging on and letting it out: Grieving online. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3318765&page=1Google Scholar
Garde-Hansen, J. (2010). Measuring mourning with online media: Michael Jackson and real-time memories. Celebrity Studies, 1, 233–235. doi:10.1080/19392397.2010.482299Google Scholar
Gifford-Smith, M., Dodge, K.A., Dishion, T.J., & McCord, J. (2005). Peer influence in children and adolescents: Crossing the bridge from developmental to intervention science. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 255–265. doi:10.1007/s10802-005-3563-7Google Scholar
Jamieson, K.H., & Campbell, K.K.. (1982) Rhetorical hybrids: Fusions of generic elements. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 68, 146–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaleem, J. (2012). Death On Facebook now common as ‘Dead Profiles’ create vast virtual cemetery. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/death-facebook-dead-profiles_n_2245397.htmlGoogle Scholar
Kasket, E. (2012). Continuing bonds in the age of social networking. Bereavement Care, 31 (2), 62–69. doi:10.1080/02682621.2012.710493Google Scholar
Kidman, A. (2012). Just how many Australians use Facebook, Lifehacker. Retrieved from http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/02/just-how-manyaustralians-use-facebookGoogle Scholar
Klass, D., & Walter, T. (2001). Processes of grieving: How bonds are continued. In Stroebe, M., Hansson, R., Stroebe, W., & Schut, H. (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping and care (pp. 431–448). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Kubler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2005). On grief and grieving: Finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Levitt, L. (2012). Posting grief on the wall using Facebook to grieve and offer support after a tragedy. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 3 (1), 78–86.Google Scholar
Lopez, S.A. (2011). Culture as an influencing factor in adolescent grief and bereavement. Prevention Researcher, 18 (3), 10–13.Google Scholar
Marcell, A.V. (2007). Adolescence. In Kliegman, R.M., Behrman, R.E., Jenson, H.B., & Stanton, B.F. (Eds.), Nelson textbook of pediatrics (18th ed., pp. 60–65). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders.Google Scholar
Marwick, A., & Ellison, N.B. (2012). ‘There Isn't Wifi in Heaven!’ Negotiating visibility on Facebook memorial pages. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56 (3), 378–400.Google Scholar
Phillips, W. (2011). LOLing at tragedy: Facebook trolls, memorial pages and resistance to grief online. First Monday, 16 (12). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3168/3115Google Scholar
Pfohl, B. (2012). Social media and crisis response. Communique, 40 (8), 36. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA295433787&v=2.1&u=laureate12&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=a21536e747401893afd57ad38d9aeffcGoogle Scholar
Noppe, I.C., & Noppe, L.D. (2004). Adolescent experiences with death: Letting go of immortality. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 26. 146–167.Google Scholar
Roberts, P. (2012). ‘2 people like this’: Mourning according to format. Bereavement Care, 31 (2), 55–61. doi:10.1080/02682621.2012.710492Google Scholar
Small, N. (2001). Theories of grief: A critical review. In Hockey, J., Katz, J., & Small, N. (Eds.), Grief, mourning and death ritual (pp.19–48). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Sofka, C., & Gilbert, K.R. (Eds.). (2012). Dying, death, and grief in an online universe: For counselors and educators. New York: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Stone, E. (2010). Grief in the age of Facebook. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 56 (25), 20. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/grief-in-the-age-of-facebook/64345/↱Google Scholar
Vicary, A.M., & Fraley, R.C. (2010). Student reactions to the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University: Does sharing grief and support over the Internet affect recovery? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 1555–1563. doi:10.1177/0146167210384880Google Scholar
Walter, T., Hourizi, R., Moncur, W., & Pitsillides, S. (2011). Does the internet change how we die and mourn? Overview and analysis. Journal of Death and Dying, 64, 275–302. doi:10.2190/OM.64.4Google Scholar