Social media is a part of everyday life for millions of Americans. They post, they connect, they like and they comment. Sometimes the topics are mundane and other times they are hot button issues that get people fired up.
It’s become such a staple of everyday life that many people now announce a loved one’s death through social media. And guests that aren’t able to make a funeral or memorial in-person can set up a memorial page on their preferred platform as a way to pay tribute. If the deceased used social media you can memorialize their accounts.
Needless to say, in the last few decades social media has had a lot of influence over how we discuss death. Here’s a quick look at how conversations about death offline are impacted by online interactions.
A Lot More Online Conversation, Not Any More Comfortable Talking about It
Something that can be said about social media is it’s helping expand the discussion about death, but these are online interactions. Some conversations are simply more meaningful in person. And no matter how much you discuss it online, rarely does that make it more comfortable when you’re confronted with death in real life.
If anything, social behavior experts are concerned that some people are having less real world interactions as opposed to online ones, and it’s impacting their ability to connect with others in real world settings. There are positive attributes to online communication. However, for some time now, research has supported that interacting with others primarily online can have a negative impact on in-person conversations.
The Emojification of Death
Over the centuries, there have been a lot of phrases for death. There’s a whole vernacular around it that has evolved. Each culture at different points in time have shaped the conversation in their own way.
Social media has again made its imprint, this time through the use of emojis. There’s the skull, a symbol that has long had a cryptic meaning. Then you have the coffin, which may become outdated now that cremation is more common than burial. And black is the heart color that’s used to express sadness and grief, often because of a death.
It’s actually kind of like circling back around to Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Egyptians are famous for their post-death mummification and funeral rituals. Death hieroglyphics included the scarab beetle, the God of Death Anubis in the form of a jackal and mwt (the abbreviation for death). But the most famous Egyptian symbol for death is the skull and crossbones, later adopted by pirates everywhere to signify certain death.
How Social Media Algorithms and Censors Affect the Conversation About Death
Something that is easy to overlook is that there’s always a third party in social media discussions about death. Each social media platform has algorithms that deliver up personalized content based on your previous actions. They also have regulations about what can and can’t be said on the platform.
In these ways the social media platform is directly affecting conversations about death. Many platforms will even flag and remove posts just because it contains the word homicide or suicide. As a result, people are finding workarounds by calling death by new names to avoid having their post removed.
If you need to talk to a professional about arranging direct cremation services Direct Cremate can help. We can be contacted by phone or text any time of day.