The ways in which death, bereavement, and memorialization are expressed and experienced have begun to take on historically unique forms due largely to the widespread permeation of the Internet and social media within Western culture. Mourning and the memorialization of the deceased are increasingly being expressed in an online capacity through the mediums of social networking websites such as Facebook. This study endeavors to uncover the ways in which newly emergent, technologically mediated forms of bereavement and memorialization occur, how these online practices differentiate from conventional offline grieving procedures, and in what ways they impact the cultural visibility of death in society. A mixed-method research design incorporating both a content analysis of existing Facebook memorial pages as well as interviews with those who have engaged with them was conducted in order to elucidate the various ways in which the relatively new phenomena of online mourning and memorialization occur on Facebook. / Graduate

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