title: You don't de-friend the dead: an analysis of grief communication by college students through Facebook profiles.
abstract: This research examined how various members of a social network interact with the Facebook (FB) profile page of a friend who has died. From 43 in-depth qualitative interviews, FB friends of deceased FB users maintained their FB connection with the deceased. Most participants who visited the profile found it helpful to look at pictures; a few wrote messages to the deceased as a coping mechanism. In some instances, a spouse or parent controlled the profile, which respondents universally viewed as having a negative effect on their ability to cope with their loss.
authors: Communication Studies Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7574, USA. natpen@ku.edu
authors: Natalie
authors: N
authors: Pennington
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D060756:Social Networking; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*