Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026
04:36
Setup and Execution of the Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice Death Notification Curriculum
Published on: August 5, 2020
Digital mourning: Revisiting COVID-era #funeral discourse on Twitter
Meiko Makita1, Glenys Caswell2, Amalia Mas-Bleda3
1School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Death Studies
|August 15, 2026
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic altered funeral practices globally. This study analyzed Twitter data, revealing how online discourse reshaped public grief, mourning rituals, and funeral service adaptations during the crisis.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Public Health
- Digital Communication
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic imposed significant public health restrictions worldwide.
- These restrictions profoundly disrupted traditional funeral practices and mourning rituals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To retrospectively analyze funeral-related discourse on Twitter (now X) during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To examine public expressions of grief, ritual disruption, adaptation, and concerns surrounding funeral services amidst the crisis.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-methods content analysis was performed on a random sample of 900 English-language tweets.
- Tweets containing the #funeral hashtag, posted between February 2020 and January 2021, were analyzed.
- The analysis focused on themes of grief, ritual changes, and professional roles.
Main Results:
- Four overlapping discourses emerged: disrupted rituals, distant mourning, politicized mourning, and funeral economies.
- Public expressions revealed adaptations in funeral practices and mourning behaviors.
- The study identified unequal recognition and contested mourning experiences online.
Conclusions:
- Online platforms like Twitter reconfigured, rather than transformed, established mourning practices.
- Funeral-related experiences were made visible, circulated, and contested in the digital public sphere.
- The pandemic's impact on funeral services and mourning was shaped by online discourse and adaptation.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication
Since the early 2000s, computer-mediated communication (CMC) has grown rapidly, playing a crucial role in self-development. A key distinction between CMC and real-life interactions is the lack of a physically present partner. This absence makes non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, body language, and paralinguistic signals unavailable in CMC platforms like email, instant messaging, or social media. The lack of these cues can create ambiguity and complicate how feedback is interpreted.The...
01:21Kubler Ross's Stages of Dying
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross significantly advanced psychology's understanding of the process of dying with her influential book, On Death and Dying (1969). She focused on studying terminally ill individuals and outlined five stages commonly experienced when coping with death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
In denial, individuals reject the reality of their condition, often thinking, "This isn't true; I feel fine," as a way to protect themselves from emotional distress. Anger...
In denial, individuals reject the reality of their condition, often thinking, "This isn't true; I feel fine," as a way to protect themselves from emotional distress. Anger...
01:17Bonanno's Theory of Grieving
Grieving is a complex psychological and emotional process that varies significantly among individuals. George Bonanno's research on bereavement identified four distinct patterns of grieving, offering a nuanced understanding of how people cope with significant loss, such as the death of a spouse, over extended periods. These patterns — resilience, recovery, chronic dysfunction, and delayed grief — highlight the diversity in emotional responses and adaptive mechanisms.
Resilience
The resilience...
Resilience
The resilience...
01:29Coronavirus
Coronaviruses, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), are enveloped viruses characterized by their single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome and helical nucleocapsid structure. The hallmark of these viruses is their club-shaped spike (S) glycoproteins that protrude from the viral envelope, facilitating attachment to host cells. Typically, coronaviruses infect the upper respiratory tract, often causing mild or asymptomatic disease. However, certain strains like...
01:30Overview of Cell Death
Cell death is an essential process where the body gets rid of old or damaged cells. Cell proliferation and death need to be balanced, as an imbalance between the two may lead to cancer or autoimmune diseases.
Cell death was observed in the early 19th century, but there was no experimental evidence to prove it. In 1842, Carl Vogt first discovered cell death in a metamorphic toad; however, it was not termed ‘cell death.’ Scientists discovered different cell death pathways only in the 20th century...
Cell death was observed in the early 19th century, but there was no experimental evidence to prove it. In 1842, Carl Vogt first discovered cell death in a metamorphic toad; however, it was not termed ‘cell death.’ Scientists discovered different cell death pathways only in the 20th century...
01:18Autophagic Cell Death
Christian de Duve discovered “autophagy,” a process in which cellular components are engulfed by membrane-bound organelles called autophagosomes. The autophagosomes then fuse with lysosomes to digest the enclosed contents. Autophagy is generally activated in cells to prevent cell death. However, cell death is triggered when the damage is beyond repair.
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and pro-apoptotic...
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and pro-apoptotic...