Have you lost a loved one who was also a friend on #socialmedia? We wondered how social media helps and hurts the grief process for young people who have experienced this kind of loss.
A thread on our new study: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XWCS4HJB86R7P6FNSKNG/full?target=10.1080/15325024.2020.1820227">https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XW...

In our survey of 1,119 people, 415 (37%) identified as grievers-those who have lost someone in real-life who was also a friend on social media. We found no socio-demographic differences between grievers and non-grievers, suggesting this affects a wide variety of young people.

We asked qualitative ?s about pos/neg effects.

Positive influences of social media on grief:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="1⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 1" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 1"> support
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="2⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 2" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 2"> sharing memories
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="3⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 3" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 3"> comfort from old account
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="4⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 4" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 4"> useful dissemination of information

Negative influences of social media on grief:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="1⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 1" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 1"> reminder of death
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="2⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 2" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 2"> negative comments
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="3⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 3" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 3"> insincere messages
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="4⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 4" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 4"> lack of privacy
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="5⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 5" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 5"> unwanted propagation of information

Suggests emotional support derived via SM while grieving may be different than in-person support.

What do these findings suggest?
1. #healthprofessionals should explore with ANY young adult patient who has experienced a loss how he/she is using SM.
2. #SoMe companies should build in options for memorializing accounts with input from users

This study is especially important in light of #COVID19, which has shifted many #bereavement activities traditionally held in person to #online spaces. It will be important for us to think of ways to maximize the positive and minimize the negative.

Further questions raised by our investigation:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❔" title="Weißes Fragezeichen Symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes Fragezeichen Symbol"> How does relationship to deceased and time since death affect influence of social media on grievers?
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❔" title="Weißes Fragezeichen Symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes Fragezeichen Symbol"> What is the long-term influence on the grief process?
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❔" title="Weißes Fragezeichen Symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes Fragezeichen Symbol"> How does it affect the risk for complicated grief?

I& #39;m so thankful that I had the opportunity to present on preliminary findings at @BehavioralMed and now see this work through to being published in the Journal of Loss and Trauma. Shoutout to my amazing coauthors, @ashensa, @cescobarv, @jaimesidani, Liz Miller, and @brianprimack.