Exploring Young Millennials' Motivations for Grieving Death Through Social Media.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Digital Humanities

Background:

• Thanatology research has limited exploration of young millennials' motivations for social media grief.
• Social media platforms are increasingly utilized for expressing and processing loss.
• Understanding digital grief practices is crucial in contemporary thanatology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the specific motivations of young millennials in using social media platforms for grieving death.
• To identify the key themes influencing digital bereavement practices among this demographic.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 14 individual semi-structured interviews with young millennials.
• Employed thematic analysis, following the framework by Braun and Clarke (2013), to analyze interview data.

Main Results:

• Identified four primary themes: online influence, announcing the death, personal benefit, and hypocrisy of online mourning.
• Online influence and perceived personal benefits (e.g., continuing bonds) emerged as significant motivators.
• A notable finding was the hypocrisy in how young millennials perceive their own online grief expressions versus those of others.

Conclusions:

• Young millennials' social media grief is shaped by external pressures and internal benefits, alongside a critical self-awareness of online mourning behaviors.
• Findings highlight the complex interplay of social dynamics, personal needs, and perceived authenticity in digital grief.
• Further research is needed to explore the long-term implications of digital bereavement on coping mechanisms and social support.