Liang, Angelina Grace, Tan, Kayla Hui En, See, Jia Ching, and Kuek, Jonathan Han Loong (2025) A scoping review on the use of social media for personal grief. Death Studies. (In Press)

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Abstract

The emergence of social media (SM) has transformed grief expressions from a private to a public experience, with digital platforms facilitating remembrance, social connections, and communal grieving. This scoping review aimed to explore SM usage when experiencing death-related grief, determine the impact of SM usage on the bereaved, and the study designs used to analyze such studies. We adopted the 5-stage framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. Seven databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles related to SM and grief published between 2010 and 2025, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, resulting in 61 studies being included. The review resulted in five core themes: cry for help, maintaining continuing bonds with the deceased, digital memorialization and rituals, developing and maintaining a sense of community, and emotional expression tool. This review highlighted the emerging role of SM in shaping grief experiences while identifying significant gaps within the existing literature.

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