‘We do it to keep him alive’: bereaved individuals’ experiences of online suicide memorials and continuing bonds

Bell, Jo; Bailey, Louis; Kennedy, David

Abstract

This paper presents draws on interviews with individuals who have experience of creating, maintaining and utilising Facebook sites in memory of a loved one who has died by suicide. We argue that Facebook enables the deceased to be an on-going active presence in the lives of the bereaved. We highlight the potential of the Internet (and Facebook in particular) as a new and emerging avenue for the continuation of online identities and continuing bonds. Our study offers unique insight into survivors’ experiences of engaging with the virtual presence of their deceased loved one: how mourners come and go online, how this evolves over time and how the online identity of the deceased evolves even after death. We discuss how Facebook provides new ways for people to experience and negotiate death by suicide and to memorialise the deceased, highlighting the positive impact of this for survivors’ mental health. Finally, we describe the creation of tension amongst those who manage their grief in different ways.

Citation

Bell, J., Bailey, L., & Kennedy, D. (2015). ‘We do it to keep him alive’: bereaved individuals’ experiences of online suicide memorials and continuing bonds. Mortality, 20(4), 375-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2015.1083693

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Sep 21, 2015
• Publication Date: Oct 2, 2015
• Deposit Date: Dec 15, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2017
• Journal: Mortality
• Print ISSN: 1357-6275
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 375-389
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2015.1083693
• Keywords: Facebook; Suicide; Memorialisation; Internet; Continuing bonds; Grief; Bereavement; Online identity
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/382715
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13576275.2015.1083693
• Additional Information: Copy of article first published in: Mortality, 2015, v.20, issue 4.
• Contract Date: Nov 23, 2017