Physically distanced yet digitally connected: A scoping review and thematic analysis on grief, social media, and COVID-19

Sohal, Pooja R.

Physically distanced yet digitally connected: A scoping review and thematic analysis on grief, social media, and COVID-19

dc.contributor.advisor	Wada, Kaori
dc.contributor.author	Sohal, Pooja R.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Maroney, Meredith
dc.contributor.committeemember	Boynton, Heather
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-09-20T17:54:46Z
dc.date.available	2023-09-20T17:54:46Z
dc.date.issued	2023-09-14
dc.description.abstract	Thanatechnology is a budding field that explores the nexus of technology within grieving rituals and experiences. Previous research indicates that social media has become part of our everyday communication, and has expanded to our grieving rituals. However, the pandemic acted as a catalyst to adapt the tools we had to cope with loss. This thesis comprised two studies to understand grief communication in digital spaces. In the first study, we conducted a scoping review to grasp what has already been reported on grieving on social media. We extracted 47 peer-reviewed articles based on our inclusion criteria. We were able to identify different domains of information including platform characteristics, the types of users, the transformation of the griever’s relationship to the deceased, community interactions, and functionalities of social media connection. Grieving online can provide a connection to other grievers and maintain a connection with loved ones. The scoping review created a foundation of knowledge in digital grieving prior to the pandemic. We then conducted a second study, a reflexive thematic analysis using naturally occurring data to understand the griever’s experiences during the pandemic. Five discussion threads were extracted from a grieving community on Reddit who lost someone because of the COVID-19 virus. We identified that users discussed the COVID-19 virus as an anthropomorphized “Evil Monster” that took away their loved ones. Other themes identified included unfairness from pandemic loss and restrictions, encountering losses despite extensive safety precautions, understanding of unique pain from COVID-19 loss, sharing the grieving experience online, and finding compassion with other members. This research provides a historic snapshot of the grief experience during the pandemic as our communication shifted. The results of this study are timely in relation to the introduction of artificial intelligence and allude to future directions for thanatechnology studies. Lastly, the ethical responsibility of using social media for data collection is addressed.
dc.identifier.citation	Sohal, P. R. (2023). Physically distanced yet digitally connected: a scoping review and thematic analysis on grief, social media, and COVID-19 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/117076
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Grief
dc.subject	Pandemic
dc.subject	COVID-19
dc.subject	Social Media
dc.subject	Thanatechnology
dc.subject.classification	Psychology
dc.title	Physically distanced yet digitally connected: A scoping review and thematic analysis on grief, social media, and COVID-19
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Education Graduate Program – Educational Psychology
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application.