Are youth suicide memorial sites on Facebook different from those for other sudden deaths?. Issue 12 (1st December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Scourfield, Jonathan; Evans, Rhiannon; Colombo, Gualtiero; Burrows, Daniel; Jacob, Nina; Williams, Matthew; Burnap, Pete
• Is Part Of: Death studies. Volume 44:Issue 12(2020)
• Page Start: 793
• Page End: 801
• Publication Date: 2020-12-01
• Subjects: Death -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; Terminal care -- Periodicals; Death -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Periodicals; 306.9
• DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2019.1614109
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0748-1187

Abstract

Abstract: To explore possible distinctive features of online memorials for youth suicides, amid concerns about glorification, we compared public Facebook memorials for suicides and road traffic accident deaths, using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software. People who posted on memorial sites wrote at greater length about suicides, using longer words and more quotation marks. Words suggesting causation and achievement were more prevalent in suicide memorials. Thematic content for the two types of death was more similar than different. Suicide memorial posts had more tentative words, non-fluencies, and question marks, suggesting that people were struggling to make sense of these deaths.