‘2 people like this’: Mourning according to format

Abstract

Memorials to the dead on the world wide web are increasing in number and variety. Each venue comes with its own advantages and drawbacks. This paper is a first exploration of how the formats of three frequently used venues (web cemeteries, webrings and social networking sites) affect the experience of web memorialisation – both for those who created the memorials and their visitors. Although all web memorials can benefit the bereaved, format affects: control over the narrative, number and type of visitors, and the ways that visitors interact with the site and each other. It is hoped that the issues raised in this paper will be considered both in the design of new sites and in guiding the bereaved to existing venues that best meet their needs.

Keywords:

• Web
• memorial
• bereavement
• SNS
• cemetery
• webring

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Eric Matsuno, whose searches of Myspace yielded the memorials described in this paper, and to Alex Hattick, who patiently explained Facebook to me (over and over again) and located the Facebook memorials that are portrayed here.