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Social Media Perceptions of Legacy-Making: A Qualitative Analysis
Leonard L Sokol1,2, Sarah R Jordan3, Allison J Applebaum4
1The Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Palliative Medicine Reports
|July 5, 2021
Summary
Digital legacy-making helps individuals with life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones. Capturing a person's essence, rather than minutiae, aids in avoiding prolonged grief and supports psychosocial well-being.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Digital Humanities
Background:
- Individuals with life-limiting illnesses benefit from sharing life histories.
- Preserving life stories offers psychotherapeutic advantages.
- Barriers exist for individuals with cognitive impairments in legacy-making.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore perceptions of legacy-making among individuals facing life-limiting illnesses.
- To understand the scope and methods of digital legacy creation.
- To identify themes related to preserving life histories in a social media context.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative descriptive study using content analysis.
- Analysis of comments from an online social media forum (Slashdot).
- Examined 527 replies to a user's inquiry about preserving memories of a loved one with a life-limiting illness.
Main Results:
- Three key themes emerged: capture essence, live in the present, and recognize mutual benefits.
- Users emphasized preserving the individual's core essence over minor details.
- The process of legacy-making was seen to help avoid prolonged grief.
Conclusions:
- Social media users value capturing the essence of loved ones for posterity.
- Digital legacy-making can help mitigate prolonged grief.
- Findings inform the development of psychosocial interventions and digital legacy applications.
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