Visualizing, Inscribing and Coping. Dealing with disenfranchised grief through social media

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Visualizing, Inscribing and Coping.

Dealing with disenfranchised grief through social media

Name: Ruben Leenders Student number: 11024496

Thesis supervisor: mw. N. Sánchez Querubín Programme: New Media & Digital Culture

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Acknowledgements

Throughout the writing of this thesis, I have received a lot of support and guidance. First of all, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Mrs. N. Sánchez Querubín, whose insights and knowledge have helped me from the very first proposal until the very last modifications. I also want to thank my family for putting through with me, even when I behaved as a stressful manic. Finally, is it appropriate to thank my friends that have always stimulated me to keep going but who also afforded lots of joyous distractions where needed. During all these library sessions that felt endless, we tried to make the most of it.

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Abstract

It seems that in society not every type of grief is being acknowledged and accepted. This is also known as a form of disenfranchised grief. In his study, the author Kenneth J. Doka (1999) introduces the concept of disenfranchised grief, as to describe it as: “the grief experienced by

those who incur a loss that is not, or cannot be, openly acknowledged, publicly mourned or socially supported” (37). However, the Web and social media seem to emerge as new spaces

for expressing and dealing with this type of grief. Therefore, this thesis aims to determine how disenfranchised grief is expressed online, and more specifically, what it affords. Building on existing work that has studied death and bereavement practices online and offline, this study tries to answer the following question: What does social media affords for people that have to

deal with a type of grief that can be characterized as disenfranchised? To determine this, I have

analyzed three different case studies in the context of social media practices and disenfranchised grief. As for the first case study I have analyzed perinatal loss visualized on Instagram, then for the second case study, I will touch upon the theme of suicidal loss discussed on Reddit. And for the third and final case study, I look at pet grieving practices on YouTube. I have gathered the data and examined the case studies via a research protocol combining digital methods techniques with a qualitative analysis to look at the shared hashtags, images, comments, and posts on these social platforms. Based on the findings I argue that social media is allowing people to visualize, inscribe, and to cope with disenfranchised grief.

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Chapter 1. “Hiding my grief”: disenfranchised types of grief

In the year of 2007, Meg Spinella, a hospital chaplain in a Catholic hospital in Oregon, is fired due to renewed budget cuts. She had fulfilled this role for more than 15 years. After this decision was made, Spinella wasn’t allowed to say goodbye to her patients that were diseased and dying. Spinella explains that for her, losing her job was a form of grief that was hidden and could not be openly expressed. She states: “And there is no place for that grief to go. If you can get help,

do. It is a disenfranchised grief. It’s like you have a live-in partner, and you’re not exactly welcome at the funeral. People expect you to get over it in a weekend” (Lazarus, 2018). Another

example is that of Ruth, Ruth lost her best friend due to cancer. They would meet on a regular basis – keeping each other up to date on what was happening in their lives. After her friend died, Ruth took care of the funeral together with her friends’ older son. On the day of the funeral, their priest told Ruth that her grief was just friendship and that only the grief based on family ties matters. As Ruth explains: “Our priest told me that the only grief that matters is the

grief her grown children are feeling – mine was just friendship. And of course, their grief is intense, and I try to support them” (GriefInCommon, 2019). Michael Zadoorian explains how

he has cried for 16 days straight after his cat died. Besides dealing with this loss, Zadoorian felt ashamed for his grief. As he describes: “I have been hiding it from everyone, including my wife.

The fact that men often hide their emotions is certainly no big news, but there is an extra element here since the object of said emotions is a cat, a small, delicate, furry creature” (Zadoorian,

2017).

What these three different people have in common is that they are all dealing with a type of grief or death that is not legitimatized or understood in society. This is also referred to as a form of disenfranchised grief. The term conveys the idea that certain deaths, grieving practices, and the relationship between the deceased and griever are not acknowledged. For example, as the cases included above illustrate, in Western cultures, family ties are considered more “grievable” than relationships between neighbors, friends, step-children or co-workers. Even though there seemed to be a long-lasting and intensive bond between the two (Doka, 1999, 38-39). For most of these types of unrepresented loss, existing grieving practices are missing. This is also noticeable with the element of social support. Namely, these groups of people are generally ashamed of their feelings. As a result, they tend to exclude their social network in which they end up even more isolated from their environment (Whatsyourgrief, 2019). In some cases, there is no social support, as friends and family don’t take their grief serious or expect that he or she is ready to continue their life. This emphasizes that it is a struggle for this group of people to express their grief and to cope with death. In the midst of these conditions of

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disenfranchisement, the Web and social media are emerging as safe heavens. One finds specialized Facebook pages and YouTube channels with content about otherwise invisible experiences as well as networks of support. Thus, my goal for this research is to understand what social media is affording people whose grief can be characterized as disenfranchised. I will look at existing online social media spaces to understand how they are becoming a medium to create meaning around the personal grieving process. Indeed, what does social media afford

for people that try to fight disenfranchisement? To answer these questions, I build upon existing

literature around the topics of disenfranchised grief, social media and bereavement, and platform studies. I will use the insights of the literature to inform an empirical investigation using mixed methods, namely, I bring together digital methods techniques and a qualitative content analysis. Additionally, I decided to build my research on three different case studies. As each case study is centered on a different type of grief and a distinct platform with a specific research approach that follows the medium.

The first case study will be centered around the visual representation of perinatal loss as a type of disenfranchised grief on the platform of Instagram. In doing so, I will be following a digital methods approach to collect a dataset around the hashtag’s perinatal loss, miscarriage, stillbirth, and abortion. Then I will perform a visual discourse analysis. To do this, I built upon the theory by Kenneth J Doka (1999), that introduces the term disenfranchised grief, in which he defines this type of grief as the grief experienced by people who cannot express their loss openly and are not publicly acknowledged (Doka, 1999, 37). I also draw from the feminists’ writings on pregnancy assembled in the book Interrogating Pregnancy Loss by Emily R.M Lind and Angie Deveau (2017). An example in this book is an essay on pregnancy loss by Nancy Gerber, whereat she argues that the women body is characterized as “reproducing containers” (48). I ask, how are women who have experienced perinatal loss using Instagram to deal with their

grief? Furthermore, I align this case study with the work done by Tiidenberg and Baym (2017).

In their study, Tiidenberg and Baym implement a discourse analysis of hashtags, images, and captions related to motherhood to analyze the pregnant perform on the platform of Instagram. The authors propose the concept of “intensive pregnancy”, in which they distinguish three different discourses used by this group of women. I thus also ask; how does the idea of

intensiveness apply to pregnancy loss? I argue that Instagram is helping women visualize

perinatal loss by subverting idealized and stereotype motherhood images as a way to deal with their grief and to fight disenfranchisement.

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The second case study looks at the notion of suicidal loss as disenfranchised and the platform Reddit dedicated to this topic. Therefore, I will be following a digital methods approach by repurposing Reddit’s ‘medium methods’ to organize the analysis. I look at the most engaged content to create an account of suicidal loss as a subject in the making. To better understand this ‘making’. I align my work with the theory on “cyber-nursing” introduced by Salzmann-Erikson and Eriksson (2013), who emphasize the idea that through the rise of forums and platforms, new experts can emerge (336). Moreover, I will be building on the theory by Chapple and Ziebland (2011), in which the authors refer to the Internet as a new space for grieving. In addition, they argue that sharing personal experiences with others can help to cope with death (14). Finally, I use the insights of the theory by the authors Shohet (2010), Pietrobruno (2013) and Gehl (2009) who describe platforms as a new kind of archive and means to inscribe the experience. The third and last case study is centered around pet grief presented on the platform of YouTube. In order to do so, I will implement a digital methods approach in combination with an interpretive analysis based on the uploaded videos and the attached comments. Also, I built on the theory by Zinner (2016), Hewson (2014), and Clements et al. (2003) who emphasize the importance of the creation of pet grieving rituals. Moreover, I align myself with studies that focus on distinguishing characteristics typical for pet grieving (Chur-Hansen 2010, Clements, Benasutti, and Carmone 2003). Ultimately, I argue that these social media platforms are being used as a way for people who suffer to visualize, inscribe and cope with disenfranchised grief. In the following chapter (chapter 2), I offer my theoretical and methodological framework in which I delve into the concept of grief as an object of study in the humanities and new media studies and to position my work. I argue that while existing literature has focused on four themes immortality, memorial, support, and grief -disenfranchisement in relation to social media remains understudied. This is a gap my work seeks to address. Then in chapter 3, I explain my methods, that is how I plan to bring the concept of disenfranchisement to the study of social media. Thereafter, I elaborate on my main findings by presenting each case study. In chapter 4, I present my first case study that looks at how perinatal loss and grief is expressed and visualized on Instagram. Then in chapter 5, I present my second case study by analyzing the theme of suicidal loss on Reddit. The third and final case study will be presented in chapter 6, as I touch upon the theme of pet grief practiced on YouTube. And finally, in chapter 7, I will reflect upon my main findings in the discussion and present certain limitations throughout this research.

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Chapter 2. Death and grief as cultural objects of study

There are two clear phenomena that every human being will experience, that of being born and that of dying. [regardless of the universality of the latter the meaning and rituals around it are culturally contingent and has been subjected to many studies]. Death is a cultural experience — with specific discourses, practices, and technologies — that are currently intertwined with social media.

2.1 Death and grief as objects of study

The concept of dying and death can be characterized as a rather broad and vague concept in which distinct fields of study can come into play. As for example, Anthropology tends to focus on studying elements and practices that can be attached to the topic of death and examines how they differ across cultures. Such as rituals, self-identification and historical shifts (Robben, 2004). Additionally, within the field of cultural studies, the notion of death can be identified as an extensive object of study with different meanings and conceptualizations depending on cultural discourses. The reason for this multidimensional concept is due to the fact that the perception of death and its corresponding funeral and mourning practices are widely varying across different cultures. This depends on dominant religions, contemporary rituals and so on (Gire, 2014, 3). As in present Western society, when an individual is in mourning or is attending a funeral, it is common to wear black. As this serves as a general symbol for grief and functions as a social element to collectively pay respects to the deceased (Wonderpolis, 2019). Yet, on the other hand, wearing bright colors in South-America refers to honoring a hero. Or the color red in South Africa and the color purple in Brazil and Guatemala are characterized as symbolic and spiritual colors for grief (Funeralzone 2018).

These different fields of studies all underline that rituals, symbols, and practices related to death and grief are not unambiguous, as they are intertwined with cultural habits and shaping of identity (Valentine 2006, Gire 2014). Not only does this affect the general perception of death but also other aspects such as the creation of funeral practices, the expression of grief, and questions on what is considered a “good” or “bad” death in society (Seale 2004, Van der Geest 2004). Within different cultures, the notion of a good or bad death differs, depending on dominant norms and values. As a previous study compared the cultural understanding of a good or bad death between the United States and Japan. The study revealed that there are parallel cultural scripts of what can be considered a good death or bad death between two cultures, such as the influence of timelessness and socials roles (Long, 2004, 926). Additionally, Long

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emphasized that historical shifts can create new perceptions of what constitutes a good death, such as the shift from seeing the priest towards seeing a doctor, or trusting on medicine instead of religion (Walter, 2003, 218). Interesting is that even within the Japanese culture, there are subtle but important differences apparent such as the distinction between men and women and the way that they should express their grief. As Japanese men tend to hide their grief even in private situations compared to Japanese women who tend to express their grief more in private environments than in public (Kim, 2015, 22). Kim states that the reason for this is that within Japanese culture family solidarity, reinforcing social status, and maintaining social relationships are of more value than experiencing individual or collective grief (30).Historians emphasize the fact that cultural practices and rituals are constantly changing and fluidly moving across time and as a result influence and shape new understandings of death and grieving practices (Gire 2014, Palgi and Abramovitch 1984). In addition, when exploring studies that have looked into funeral practices, noticeable is that again the influence of a particular religion and the dominant community have a great influence on the way that funerals are taking shape within society. and how they are shaping the processes of identity and community building (Bonsu, 2008, 695). Even though the concept of death varies between cultures, one thing that they have in common is that they all acknowledge its social aspect. As most of the funeral and grieving practices bring family and friends together, such as attending the funeral, collective memorial after the funeral, and providing support among relatives (Gros-Werter, 2016). In addition, some scholars argue that funeral and mourning practices reinforce elements of community building and self-identification. An example is the concept “the consumption of death”, discussed by the author Bonsu. He argues that this term underlines the notion that the living is trying to make meaning of death and loss through associated rituals, their community, and self-identification (Bonsu, 2008, 695).

Media scholars have similarly explored the expression of grief in the digital realm. Such as with television studies, scholars have studied how television became part of existing rituals and practices, and thus how death in itself turned into a mediated experienced. An example is the element of live-reporting on celebrity funerals or more specifically, the funeral as a live media event on its own, such as in the case of Princess Diana (Turnock, 2000). Another example is the theme of AIDS and the way that it has been represented in movies and television programs, as previous research tried to examine how this disease is framed and can be understood by analyzing new media such as in news broadcasts and contemporary movies (Hart 2014, Lupton 2013, Cheng 2016). With the popularization of the web and later on the extension to social media, new media scholars have studied this subject of death and grief in terms of its

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representation and rituals but have also looked into more relevant questions concerning the evolving media environment and personal data. People take selfies at funerals (Gibbs et al. 2015), create online memorials (Krysinska and Andriessen 2015), dedicated playlists, streamed funerals (Dowling, 2016) the creation of social media protocols for what happens with one’s data after they pass away (Salim, 2019). Additionally, some of these studies have looked at practices that have built upon existing rituals in the physical world like memorials sites (Wagner, 2018), others tend to focus more on questions related to data security and privacy (Papailias 2016) or future opportunities for grief that help challenging cultural assumptions and norms (Giaxoglou and Döveling 2018). A most recent phenomenon that grows with interest among new media scholars is the purpose and use of one’s data after death, in which questions emerge concerning concepts of “digital immortality” (Hartman 2012, Kera 2012) and the “digital afterlife” (Carroll and Romano 2010, Wright 2014, Hopkins 2013). There are four main themes that dominate the study of online grief. These four themes that have dominated the study of grief and the web (virtual immortality, online memorial sites, online grief support, and online mourning) deserve some more attention as they will allow me to situate my own work on disenfranchisement. In fact, I argue that the creation of practices and bonds that normalize what otherwise is disenfranchised represent actually a fifth theme in the study of grief and new media. While as I will demonstrate that there are numerous instances in which disenfranchised grief in relation to social media and grief practices remains understudied. And through my own study, I want to show that this is actually happening, that it is an important theme that normally people wouldn’t look at.

2.2 Grief and death on the web: adding a fifth theme

As online spaces are becoming more embedded within ordinary life, it seems logic to explore how existing grieving rituals and practices can be understood in the light of New Media studies. As this opens up new questions on how contemporary technologies and the web reframe existing mourning and death practices. Additionally, one recurring theme within this field of research is the idea of virtual immortality as this refers to the remaining data when somebody dies (Humphries, 2018). The authors Graham, Gibbs, and Aceti argue that through the use of the Internet, people’s lives can be extended, prolonged and transformed by the circulation, recontextualization, and repetition on contemporary platforms (Graham, Gibbs, and Aceti, 2013, 133). In order to grasp this abstract phenomenon of data and death, previous scholars have come up with various concepts to refer to this point of interest, such as one’s “digital footprint”, “digital afterlife” and “uncanny archives”. In addition, these studies all tend to focus on this idea of immortality, as they underline how one’s digital footprint and online persona

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can roam forever in these online spaces (Moreman and Lewis 2014, Kera 2013, Graziano 2013). One can think for example of remaining search engine queries, medical information that is being shared in online communities or one’s personal browser history (Miller 2016, Frost, Vermeulen and Beekers, 2014, Fishleigh, 2015, ). Furthermore, it is also interesting to think of one’s digital inheritance in relation to material and more traditional objects for grief. For instance, someone’s Spotify list can be of just as much meaning as a piece of furniture of the deceased, or the visual representation of someone’s Facebook account can be of similar value as someone’s physical photo album. However, scholars also underline that this raises new questions of ownership and policy-making online (Gibbs et al. 2015, Öhman and Watson 2018). An example that underlines this need is the organized event called “Digital Death Day”, as they discuss questions and developments concerning this theme. This yearly gathering takes place on the 6th_{of October in which entrepreneurs, scholars, computer scientist, funeral employs, and} Second Life community members are invited to discuss practical and cultural implications of death, mourning, and memorialization in our technologically mediated society (Digitaldeathday, 2019).

Besides scholars that focus on data in terms of regulation and immortality, it seems that they similarly try to understand if digital media is reconfirming concepts of loss and mourning. One of the concepts that relate to this theme is the idea of “cybermourning” (Hartman 2012, Campbell, Kenneth, and Kim Smith 2015). As new online environments are being created to express grief, such as memorial websites and memorialization practices on social media. An example is the memorial site ForeverMissed.com that has been studied by Huberman (2017). She argues that these new online environments reshape the relationship between the living and the dead. Moreover, Huberman states that online memorial sites have a commemorative and communicative function, in which the Internet provides alternative ways to maintain and connect with the deceased (92). Therefore, new questions arise of how online grief practices reframe the idea of grief and death. And more especially, how the use of the web challenges more traditional ways of memorialization and loss. Dilma c ̧ states that through the development of modern technologies new rituals emerge, such as the development of virtual tombs and memorial webpages. As a result, concepts of time and space, and the element of interaction have to be reviewed in the light of new media and bereavement (Dilma c ̧ 280). Maddrell similarly states that death and grief become vibrant and dynamic processes, based on the uploading and editing of text, music, gifts, and images. Not only has the Internet developed itself as a “normal” place for remembering the deceased it is also influenced by popular culture (Maddrell, 2012, 46). The central argument that the author makes is that the web establishes a

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new therapeutic environment for grievers – by offering a space for action, creation of meaning-making, and continuing bonds with the deceased (Maddrell, 2012, 46). Another important element that Maddrell emphasizes, is the creation of virtual communities free from the public arena of social norms and views in the physical world (50). However, Walter et al. argue that the web enables that dying and grieving practices becomes a public and social process. This is for example reinforced by the use of social media in the grieving process, as private communications with the deceased become part of everyday life and take place beyond the immediate family and friends but instead on public platforms (Walter, 2012, et al. 275). The Internet can also provide a space for support and community building as bereaved individuals can find like-minded people to interact with. Previous studies have looked at online grief support and its effectiveness on the grieving process. It appears that the key motivation for turning to online support communities is because there are no restrictions in comparison to the real world (Paulus and Varga, 2015, 447). Varga and Paulus argue that visitors of online support groups are generally looking for validation, as they feel that their grief is not “normal” (447). In this online environment bereaved visitors share unusual stories of their loss, describing intense emotions, and physical states they experience (Varga and Paulus, 2015, 443). In addition, these discursive patterns reinforce the resistance of normative practices and values that exist offline (443). Segerstad and Kasperowski argue that the elements of a closed group, similar experiences and emotions, and accessibility can help to cope with death (25). The authors state that these aspects were not accessible before and that certain characteristics of social media have become vital for the grieving process (Segerstad and Kasperowski, 2015, 25). One of these features is the element of public communication. Previous scholars have tried to analyze how the omnipresence of social media transforms traditional mourning practices. The authors Carroll and Landry argue that traditional mourning practices were ones private and individual conversations, but the establishment of new online spaces have blurred the line between interpersonal communication and mass communication (Carroll and Landry, 2010, 341). In addition, Wagner states that topics of death and loss become intertwined and shaped by the influence of others. The author adds that individuals who express their grief on social platforms are influenced by existing norms and challenges on how to participate in online spaces (Wagner 1). The central argument that Wagner makes is that existing norms for grief are consistently changing and reframed between users and stem from traditional norms (6). Therefore, online mourning practices have an adaptive and adjusting character (Wagner, 8). The authors Brubaker, Hayes, and Dourish similarly compared online memorial practices in

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mourning by their expanding, spatial, social, and temporal character (152). Noticeable is that a lot of these studies base their research on the platform of Facebook, as an alternative space for memorialization (Carroll and Landry 2010, Brubaker, Hayes and Dourish, 2013, Church 2013, Marwick and Ellison, 2012, Frost 2014). These scholars argue that grieving expressed on Facebook can be understood by its temporality. They underline that this process is not bound to one particular place, as the visitors can express their loss through the use of posts, comments, photos or status updates (Brubaker, Hayes and Dourish, 2013, 159). Moreover, they conclude that Facebook expands the grieving process in three ways. First, the element of temporal expansion, in which they refer to the nature of the medium. Visitors of the platform can read and post content from the past, present and about the future. Therefore, the authors state that: “As a result, we see the interweaving of death and grieving into the everyday, rather than in

the temporally bound settings of traditional funerals and memorials” (Brubaker, Hayes and

Dourish 160). The second element is that of spatial expansion. Facebook enables users to connect at a distance and as a result death and bereavement practices can be broadened and are not limited to a particular place (Brubaker, Hayes and Dourish, 2013, 159). And finally, the last element that the authors describe has to do with social expansion. Facebook allows its users to connect with separate social networks. Thereby, all kinds of social relationships get clustered based on different contexts. This could be for example the relation between the mourner and the deceased, but also the between relatives of the deceased with others on the platform (Brubaker, Hayes and Dourish, 2013, 160).

Besides studies that have focused on the remaining data and the creation of new mourning practices online, there are also some scholars that tend to look at the mourner itself. What are the main reasons for them to express their grief through social media? The author Gibson analyzed how YouTube is being used by young people who have experienced parental death. He states that these kinds of platforms are used primarily because they can open up certain types of grief that otherwise would be hidden for others (Gibson, 2015, 642). In addition, he states that YouTube creates a socially mediated type of mourning, based on story-telling done by vloggers. The people in these kinds of videos share personal stories with strangers in which this generates a visually intimate scene for grief (Gibson, 2015, 642). Gibson calls this deprivatizing of hidden grief (642). Moreover, Segerstad and Kasperowski’s emphasize that mourners express their grief through social media because of its timelessness aspect. They explain that on platforms, different stages of bereavement can be discussed and shared. As a result, individuals can share similar emotions and struggles, in which they can learn from each other as to how their own grieving process could might develop (Segerstad and Kasperowski,

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2015, 37). In addition, these social platforms provide the assurance that there is always someone to connect or communicate. And thus, social media facilitates community building based on shared experiences (Segerstad and Kasperowski, 2015, 35-37). The specific dynamics and features of platforms have similarly been studied to understand how they influence and shape the general grieving process. One of these examples is the study done on the use of funeral and death related hashtags on Instagram (Leaver and Highfield 2018, Meese et al., 2015). As Meese et al. note, the “selfie” has become a culturally embedded practice that can be positioned in wider rituals and memorization in society (1828). Moreover, Leaver and Highfield state that the used and shared hashtags reflect what a user wants to send out to its followers (40). They conclude that Instagram provides a new way of dealing with grief that is based on clarifying the mourner’s emotional state in own online environment, rather than memorializing the deceased (Leaver and Highfield, 2018, 44). Thimm and Nehls argue that rituals don’t necessarily have to be based a spiritual or religious aspect, like on the platform of Instagram new mourning rituals are being created by the users based on collective behavior perform on the platform (346). However, besides the creation of new rituals and opening up a new space for grief, scholars also emphasize that there are some challenges to acknowledge. One of these risks is that users on the platform are vulnerable for negative reactions or “trolling” (Phillips 2011, Kern and Gil-Egui 2017). In this line of thought, the authors Rossetto et al. argue that misinformation and depersonalization are two somewhat negative characteristics when expressing grief through social media (980-981). In addition, they underline that social platforms are not specially designed for grieving practices in which traditions, practices, and rituals are being openly shared with a wide range of users (Rossetto et al. 2015, 991). Also, the user does not always have control over the information that he or she is sharing, as this depends on the particular privacy settings on that platform. As the authors state: “Furthermore, what is

shared and seen on Facebook is not under the complete control of users, even given the ability to control privacy settings, thus taking away their agency in their grieving process” (Rossetto

et al., 2015, 991).

2.3 The fifth theme: disenfranchised grief

In the year 1989, the author Kenneth J. Doka publishes his book Disenfranchised Grief:

Recognizing Hidden Sorrow. He is the first author to introduce the term disenfranchised grief

(Doka 1989). With this concept, Doka underlines the importance of social acknowledgement within the grieving process. Ten years later, Doka expands his theory on disenfranchised grief. According to the author, grief can be identified as disenfranchised when there is no social

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or that the grief itself is not accepted (Doka, 1999, 37-38). In his revised work, Doka distinguishes five different types of disenfranchised grief, namely: 1) the relationship between the griever and deceased is not socially acknowledged because he or she is not part of a close family tie. Thus, based on a non-kinship relationship such as step-parents and neighbors (38). 2) When the death itself is not being legitimatized, including perinatal loss and pet loss, 3) when the griever is not recognized at all, as often the youngest and oldest in the family are being refused to participate in the funeral ritual (Doka, 1999, 38). And, 4) when the cause of death is not accepted within society such as the examples of death through AIDS, drug-overdose or drink-driving (Doka, 1999, 39). And finally, 5) when individual grief is not validated as this may involve characteristics related to gender or cultural variations (Doka, 1999, 38-39). The main argument that the author makes in his study, is that grief is interwoven with elements of social support and acknowledgment in society. As Doka argues: “Disenfranchised grief can be

defined as the grief experienced by those who incur a loss that is not, or cannot be, openly acknowledged, publicly mourned or socially supported” (37). Other bereavement scholars

started to align themselves with Doka’s work and continued to study the relationship between social influence and the shaping of policies of grief. As some scholars argued that the grieving process greatly depends on existing norms and behavioral codes (Robson and Walter 2013, Neimeyer, Klass, and Dennis 2014). They argue that these kinds of codes and normative rules tend to generate social pressure among people that grief. And thus, a proper and acceptable way of grieving is being formed and presented, in which society is expected to live up to (Neimeyer, Klass, and Dennis, 2014, 496). In addition, Walter argues that one of these conditions of grief is based on the element of time. It reflects the idea that “normal” grief is something that individuals get over shortly. He states that one is expected that his or her grief is not expressed in a work-related environment, as it is often characterized as embarrassing or inconvenient for their colleagues to deal with their struggle (Walter, 2006, 74).

In most Western cultures, the grieving practice is identified as an individual and private process. However, various scholars underline that this image is often misleading. This relates to the concept introduced by the author Tony Walter, who states that disenfranchised grief can be seen as a somewhat complicated form. He acknowledges the differences between cultures and dominant discourses (Walter, 2006, 75). In addition, Walter states that complicated grief, or in other words, grief that is not being understood by the general public, can be identified as resisting a dominant discourse of grief (76). This connects to the study done by Neimeyer, Klass, and Dennis on grief and meaning. In which they argue that the expression of grief is being judged under the watchful eyes of their social network and/or other religious and political

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influence (Neimeyer, Klass, and Dennis, 2014, 493). Additionally, Harris states that in Western cultures there are social and cultural expectations of how one should grief, in which as a result the human response to loss becomes normalized (243). Feelings of shame and repression are developed through external social constraints. Therefore, stigmatized responses and isolation can emerge (Harris, 2016, 243). Harris distinguishes four different types of socially related grieving rules that are common in Western societies. First, the element of permission, as this implies the general acceptance that one can be identified as bereaved. This has the do with the relationship that one had with the deceased and if society validates the loss. For example, if there are recognized policies in the workplace (Harris, 2016, 245). Second, the duration of grief. According to Harris, after one takes permission from their job for attending a funeral, they are generally expected to return after three days. As this is the case with a close family member (245). Third, is the way that grief should be practiced an expressed. As Harris argues the following: “Gender socialization and stereotyping are strong social forces that shape the

expectations of how individuals should grieve” (245). And finally, if the cause of death is

considered as “acceptable” or instead has to deal with social stigma (Harris, 2016, 245). Thus, these previous studies on disenfranchised grief underline how the grieving process can be understood as a complex practice influenced by various societal and cultural elements. In addition, scholars have also looked at the particular characteristics of disenfranchised grief and compared how “normal” grief support relates to more unusual types of grief. Even though, these authors tend to discuss a lot of similarities, there are some recognizable differences to distinguish. One of these examples is the study on homicidal grief (Piazza-Bonin et al. 2015, Armour 2003, McDevitt-Murphy 2012) and grieving over suicidal loss (Jo Bell, Louis Bailey & David Kennedy 2015, Silvén Hagström 2017, Young et al. 2012, Clark 2001) as by both examples the cause of death is characterized as disenfranchised. However, another aspect that they have in common is the element of the family organization. As both with homicidal grief as with suicidal grief, the loss tends to have a great impact on the family structure. Yet, Armour describes that with homicidal loss, the grief becomes centered around the element of “meaning- making”. Armour argues that the family cooperates together to express their grief through action, as he describes this as “the intense pursuit of what matters” (534). In this way, making sense of this post-homicide experience functions as a coping mechanism for the bereaved (Armour, 2003, 525). Miller describes that unlike losing a family member due to a progressive illness, experiencing homicidal loss is characterized as bereavement by a sudden and unanticipated violent loss (68). Miller builds upon the theory by Armour, to underline that the

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grief alone without any institutional support (68). In addition, Armour and Umbreit argue that there are eight different factors that influence the grief of homicidal survivors namely: intentionality, stagnation, reckonings, factors in the criminal justice system that help or hinder, the role of time, faith, family and friends, and injustice (Armour and Umbreit, 2012, 74). Regarding suicidal loss, this kind of grief is mainly centered around feelings of guilt (Andriessen et al., 2015, Pompili et al., 2013). Pompili et al. argue that suicide bereavement victims often express feelings of self-blame, rejection, worthless, embarrassment, depression, and unlovability (14). The authors add that these survivors feel abandoned by the deceased, in which this results in feelings of worthlessness and rejection. Therefore, they get isolated from any type of support or help (Pompili et al., 2013, 15). In addition, another characteristic that is usually experienced is the element of social stigma. In his study, Cvinar argues that suicide survivors in relation to the experience of “normal” bereavement, have to deal with a lot more social stigma (14). As the author illustrates: “Whatever its origin, in current study, stigma

remains an integral part of the suicide bereavement process and has a significant influence on psychological well-being following the suicide event” (Cvinar, 2005, 20). In their study

Feigelman, Gorman, and Jordan argue that social stigmatization can influence and even damage the healing and grieving process of suicide survivors (603). Moreover, the authors conducted 200 interviews with suicide survivors in which they conclude that there are three recurring themes can be identified. First, “the wall of silence”, in which family and friends deliberately avoid any conversation about the deceased (Feigelman, Gorman, and Jordan, 2009, 603). Second, “the absence of caring interest”, where significant others don’t ask or care about the well-being of the survivor. And lastly, the notion of “unhelpful advice”, this implies ignoring the long-term and transformative nature of the grieving (602). By saying, for example, something like: “Isn’t time to start working again?” (Feigelman, Gorman, and Jordan, 603). These examples illustrate that the theme of grief, and more especially, the concept of disenfranchised grief is an interesting and relevant topic to look into. In the coming analysis, I will then try to answer the following key questions: How do we study disenfranchised grief online? And how is this type of grief expressed online? How are people dealing with it? Are they fighting against it? Or is it similar to the way that is dealt with in the physical world? Thus, answering these questions will help explore what social media is affording people that are dealing with disenfranchised grief. In the following chapter, I will try to bring the study of social media to the theme disenfranchisement to understand how we can study the two phenomena together. Also, I will discuss my research methods and the ethical considerations that I had to make.

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Chapter 3. Grief and social media platforms as objects of study

As I mentioned before, the central object of study is disenfranchised grief but how can we bring this study into social media? My proposal is that when we study social media, and more specially, social media platforms, we need to look at their technical infrastructure (how content is being organized and formatted) also, how this participates in cultural processes, look at their content, and their affordances.

3.1 Defining a social media platform

When coining the term social media platforms and defining its meaning, different understandings and interpretations can come into play. Nowadays, the notion of a platform found its stable ground within everyday media and society, but a clear coherent definition of these contemporary media intermediaries and its particular infrastructure is something that various studies and authors tried to explore (Bogost and Montfort, 2009). When trying to define the term ‘platform’, noticeable is that it brings together different aspects such as its social, political, and economic element (Helmond, 2015, 2). In addition, Gillespie’s work similarly examined how this multifaced term is understood within different contexts (Gillespie, 2010, 349). As the author illustrates this with the term “platform politics”, in which Gillespie separates the material-technical perspective on social media platforms from the more social and network interpretation (347). To move from a more general definition of a platform towards underlining its social element, the author Van Dijck (2012) defines social media platforms as a characteristic of Web 2.0 (141). In this view, platforms can be described as active mediators between users, technologies, and content (Van Dijck, 2012, 142). Van Dijck describes this as “connectivity”– as technology shape and are shaped by its users and content (142). As the author argues: “The emergence of social media platforms is at the heart of a shifting dynamic,

where agents of different nature (human and non-human, material and immaterial) and varied size (individuals, groups, collectives, societies) are building a connective space for communication and information” (Van Dijck, 2012, 142). In his study, author David Beer

(2009) builds upon the work done by Scott Lash, who coins the term “new media ontology”, in which information becomes an active factor in shaping lives and environments (987). Beer states that the transformation to Web 2.0 enabled that users became more involved in the sharing and creation of content (985). Additionally, the author adds that we have to think of our lives as constituted or embodied by information and software (Beer, 2009, 987). To add, Helmond (2015) coins the term “platformization”, to describe the expansion of the platform’s infrastructure, as it has become rooted into other spaces online (5). As its technological

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framework turned into a process for connection that thrived other platforms and apps (Helmond, 2015, 8). Therefore, for my own work, I mix the definitions introduced by the authors Gillespie, Van Dijck, and Beert to understand what a social media platform entail, and to acknowledge its technical infrastructure, its connective and social element, and its influence on other online spaces.

Besides defining a platform and its characteristics, existing research has also looked at the content itself, that is being produced and shared by the platform users. Studying visual and textual content, and its patterns can help to understand current phenomenon, such as it can reflect political, social or religious views and behaviors (Kharroub and Bas, 2016, Ging and Garvey, 2018, Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2018). One of these examples is the study on Instagram, as this platform can be understood as a space where photographs are used as a tool for communication (Geurin-Eagleman and Burch, 2016). In addition, Jang et al. (2015) have studied the online behaviors of teens by analyzing their Instagram use. As they found out that teenagers posted more images based on self-expression by manipulating them in order to receive more likes (4042). They argued that Instagram images serve as an instrument for establishing self-validation and presentation to the public (Jang et al., 2015, 4042). Interesting is that Souza et al. (2015) took the concept of the “selfie” as central object of their study within today’s online culture. They underline that the selfie reflects dominant power dynamics and representation as this depends on a specific cultural context (Souza et al., 2015, 220). Another example is the study done by Locatelli on breastfeeding images on Instagram. It turns out that Instagram is used as a space for personal communication in which new representations concerning breastfeeding can emerge (Locatelli, 2017, 12). Also, Locatelli emphasizes that this platform is used to raise awareness around this topic and to fight stigmatization. As she concludes: “Instagram was shown to be a means to promote awareness of breastfeeding with

the aim of destigmatizing and normalizing this practice by publicly sharing images of breastfeeding or showing public moments of breastfeeding” (Locatelli, 2017, 12).

Finally, one can study platforms in terms of its affordances. As existing norms and values, or dominant discourses online can be studied through their particular characteristics (Stanfill, 2015, 1059). As Stanfill states: “Examining websites as elaborated by this article makes it

possible to parse which ideals, assumptions, and norms underlie design and shape the ‘correct’ or easiest way to use a site” (Stanfill, 2015, 1071). To look at these underlying norms and

ideals, Stanfill underlines that a discursive interface analysis can open up these affordances, as it functions to study the productive power in design (1061). The author distinguishes three

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different types of affordances, namely: functional affordances, sensory affordances, and cognitive affordances (Stanfill, 2015, 1065-1069). The study by Bucher and Helmond (2017) aligns with this line of thought by aiming that a platform and its specificities can be understood as a socio-technological space (30). As the platform connects different users together based on the affordance of certain actions (Bucher and Helmond, 2017, 30). For my own research I will align myself with the definition of Stanfill on platform affordances to examine norms and values that are present on social media platforms.

3.2 A digital methods approach for research

As I said before, for my own research I want to study social media platforms as a whole and deal with their complexity. Not just solely the content or the interface, but also the medium methods and how these social media platforms organize their own content. In order to be able to accomplish that, I combine a qualitative analysis (looking at the images, the captions, and so forth) through digital methods techniques. These techniques allow me to take into account to follow the medium, as I will use this in my own research. Therefore, the methodological challenge for this thesis is to bring the concept of disenfranchisement and grief to the study of social media. Indeed, how are people using social media (such as affordances and content) to fight disenfranchisement? And, how can we reinterpret social media activity as an activity for fighting disenfranchisement and grief? In my thesis, I address this methodological challenge by on the one hand following a digital methods approach. In addition, deciding to follow a digital methods approach allows me to look at how online devices treat data, as it approaches the Web as a dataset, in which digital methods techniques are used to retrieve data on the basis of shares, likes, tweets and so forth (Rogers, 2015, 2). In doing so, Rogers argues that cultural and societal changes and behaviors can be analyzed and used for research (1). Thus, by following the medium, its logic, and the way that their methods handle Web data, questions about societal change and issues can be answered (Rogers, 2015,1-2). In addition, Weltevrede (2016) notes that platforms should be considered as methodological devices, as they produce and allow access to large amounts of data (3). As she argues: “They may function as an entry point into

the connection between digital media, their cultures of use and the research apparatus including research questions, tools, data collection, analysis and findings” (Weltevrede, 2016,

3). I align myself with the work on digital methods done by Esther Weltrevrede as she defines new media devices as both objects and methods of study (6). She acknowledges that digital media can be understood as an object of study, and at the same time as a particular process in the frame of digital research (Weltevrede, 2016, 6). Moreover, Weltrevrede builds upon

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influenced by societal, historical, and cultural elements (3). Therefore, it important to keep in mind that not all web data is useful and ready to analyze. As Thelwall, Vaughn, and Björneborn (2005) already noted, analyzing Web data can create various problems such as the interpretation of the actual content or dealing with domain specifications (81). They state that Web data can be correctly handled and useful for research if it is combined with non-Web data to validate the findings (Thelwall, Vaughn, and Björneborn, 2005, 81).

If we follow the medium, then each platform invites different techniques and ways of studying it. Therefore, as each of my three case studies involves a platform, I will be using digital methods techniques and digital method ways of thinking, that are appropriated for the platform that I will be studying and the sub-questions that I have set out. Because choosing the most appropriated method, reflects also to some extent what people on the platform experience. As an example, it would make less sense to go to Reddit and to choose only the content produced this week. Instead, it is more meaningful to look at the content popular this week. As this aligns the true essence of what digital methods is about. For two of the three selected social media platforms, I will be using a Digital Methods Initiative tool to collect the data. In addition, for the three case studies, I am taking into account that the content exists in this societal and cultural influenced environment. Therefore, I organize my analysis in a way that it follows a platform’s logic, as a way of collecting and engaging with the data, and as a way of how the analysis is informed. In addition, as each dataset is different I am going to analyze them in the service of the specific sub-questions that each type of disenfranchised grief involves and organize them for my own analysis. For the first case study, I center my research around Instagram and the theme of perinatal loss. This platform can be understood as an image and video-based network application that enables me to examine how perinatal loss is represented and visualized on this social media platform (Moreau, 2019). In addition, I organize my analyses by using the Instagram scraper tool based on a co-hashtag query design. This allows me to look at images, captions, hashtags, and Instagram accounts related to this topic. For the second case study, I will be looking at Reddit and the expression of suicidal grief. This platform can be described as a large message board in which the users can submit links and take care of the curation of the content themselves by the upvoted and downvoted feature on the platform (Silverman, 2012). For this analysis, I chose to collect the data by repurposing Reddit’s engagement features and organizing a small sample. Therefore, I decided to select the 100 most “trending” posts and comments voted on by the users themselves. And finally, I built my third case study on YouTube and pet grief. Additionally, YouTube can be characterized as an uploading and sharing platform for amateur videos (Webwise, 2019). I used the YouTube Data Tool and

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selected the Video List feature to retrieve the first 100 videos based on the query “pet grief”. Thereafter, I selected the Channel Info feature to analyze the comments under the videos. The tools have helped me to collect the data, reorganizing the data, repurposing the metrics, and to create a sample. However, for the actual content, I will be looking at it in a qualitative way, informed by the theory. My interpretation is based and formed by the discussed theory in reference to each specific type of disenfranchised grief. Hence, this study is following a mixed methods approach using digital methods techniques together with a qualitative analysis (see figure 1).

(Figure 1- Illustration of the research protocol)

Case study I. Instagram - Perinatal loss Instagram Scraper Visual analysis Critical discourse analysis

Mixed methods approach Digital Methods approach + qualitative

analysis

Case study II. Reddit -Suicidal loss

Interpretative textual analysis

Case study III. YouTube- Pet loss YouTube data tools Visual and textual analysis

Studying disenfranchised grief on social media Disenfranchised grief + Social Media

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3.3 Ethical considerations for studying grief and social media

To make claims and statements regarding the data, it is important to be aware of the delicate and personal aspect of studying social media. I decided to solely focus on publicly available images, posts and accounts for this thesis. Additionally, expectations concerning privacy are dynamic and ambiguous. As individuals perform in public spaces they acknowledge that their communication is public, but the particular context in which it is happening can imply restrictions on how that information is used by others (Markham and Buchanan, 2015, 7). As I mentioned earlier, I retrieved most of my data with the use of digital methods techniques as this resulted in the availability of solely public content. However, Boyd and Crawford have touched upon the issue of ethical implications for big data use (Boyd and Crawford, 2012, 672). The authors underline that: “Just because content is publicly accessible does not mean that it was

meant to be consumed by just anyone” (Boyd and Crawford, 2012, 672). Thus, for this thesis,

I acknowledge the fact that with the themes related to grief and death, and more specifically disenfranchised types of loss, ethical decision making becomes crucial and essential. In order to protect the privacy and anonymity of the platforms’ visitors and their profiles, I have chosen to remove any visible names and photos, by blurring and removing them. In addition, in the Reddit, I decided to quote the users posts and reactions to guarantee their privacy. As for the content retrieved from Instagram, I used a similar research approach as the study on motherhood done by the authors Tiidenberg and Baym (2017) by blurring and editing the Instagram images (3). I used the two apps called Blur Photo and My Sketch on IOS (iPhone Operating System). Yet, for the case study centered around YouTube, I used a slightly different approach. As this platform is primarily organized as a public and open network for the sharing and uploading of videos, I chose to copy certain parts of the videos with subtitles into my analysis. Additionally, for the comments under the videos I made the decision to quote them to support my findings. It is important to note that after a while some older posts or accounts were no longer accessible, but this didn’t prevent me from continuing with the overall analysis. Furthermore, I follow the Association of Internet Research’s guideline for ethical decision making in internet research by Markham and Buchaman (2012). As they argue that internet research is not an objective machine and that internet activities are depending on definitions and experiences within different contexts (4). Markham and Buchman note that the research is obligated to protect the community, author or participant especially if they are vulnerable (4). During my research, I discussed and verified with my thesis supervisor how to address certain sensitive or personal concepts and elements to prevent confusion.

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In the following three chapters (chapter, 4,5, and 6), I will present my three case studies. Each of the case studies touches upon a different type of grief or death that is characterized as disenfranchised. Each grieving practice is then analyzed on a specific social media platform to examine what this online space affords for its visitors.

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Chapter 4. Visualizing perinatal loss: subversion of visual motherhood on

Instagram

“When did a baby become the coolest accessory a woman can have?” asked one of my friends, her baby in one arm, a dirty diaper in the other. “It’s like all the cool girls grew up, had really cool babies, and they all have beautiful Instagram accounts to prove it” (Przystup, 2017).

The online news and entertainment website Buzzfeed, recently published an article in which they critically mentioned the stereotypical and idealized images of “perfect” Instagram-mothers. Buzzfeed referred to the way that most of these “Insta-mommies” share cliché images online, such as the two examples illustrated in figure 1. In both of the two Instagram photos, a letter board is used. Through this board, these mothers seem to share personal updates and experiences about their pregnancy (Sphor, 2019). These images have a similar aesthetics; the use of a photographer, applying the same filters and addressing the same issues. It appears that a growing number of journalists begin to start noticing and criticizing this growing phenomenon of wanting to come across as being the perfect mother. Also, journalists emphasize the fact that this has negative effects on mothers that can’t live up to this norm that is present in this online space. As a result, they are trying to recreate these stereotypical images and become the “ideal” mother.

Figure 1: Stereotypical image referring to motherhood on Instagram, presenting a letter board. In this figure you can see two examples of typical Instagram images, as in both images a letter board is used. Interesting is that these two photos seem to have a similar aesthetic, either showing the infant or pregnant women, both use the letter board to convey a message, and showing bright and light colors. Retrieved from Pregant Chicken, 2019. https://pregnantchicken.com/letterboard-pregnancy/ and

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Hence, it seems that Instagram lends itself as the perfect online environment for creating and maintaining this idealized motherhood symbolization. The platform-specific features such as the sharing and liking of images are put to use by these women to present themselves to other users. Yet, critical media do emphasize the fact that this only shows one general image of how a mother should behave these days. In addition, critics touch upon the fact that on this platform, the most popular motherhood accounts are extremely identical – no images of baby’s spitting up, crying toddles or exhausted mothers that suffer from exhaustion and stress. Even the same captions, hashtags and professional photographer are being used. (Poltzer 2018, Abecassis 2018).

4.1 Understanding perinatal loss

This recent phenomenon is also taken up by the authors Tiidenberg and Baym (2017) as they have studied the performance of pregnant women on Instagram. The authors argue that on this platform, these group of women try to live up to the perfect mom image as they build upon this dominant motherhood discourse that is present on the platform (Tiidenberg and Baym, 2017, 1). Tiidenberg and Baym refer to this practice as “intensive pregnancy”, as it connects to the authoritative behaviors and norms on how mothers are expected to act (2). They suggest three dominant discourses namely; learn it, buy it, and work it, but also point to an unused counter-discursive potential by women who can’t live up to these dominant discourses (Tiidenberg and Baym, 2009, 5-10). As these women are modeled and transformed in a way that they have internalized a language to share about and visualize their own pregnancy (Tiidenberg and Baym 10-11). Additionally, the representation of flawless motherhood online tends to almost consist of normative rules and behaviors on how motherhood should be managed. Yet, mothers that are unable to meet these "rules", become left out, criticized, and feel that they don't fit the norm. Thus, this only excludes woman on the platform who have distinct opinions and ideas of how motherhood should be interpreted and visualized online. This underlines the idea of how the use of Instagram can reinforce generalized behaviors and clichés that also journalists and other media seem to notice and look into. As mentioned earlier, it appears that the phenomenon of the Instagram mother acting as partial influencer will only grow, based on the growing number of successful motherhood accounts (Calfas, 2018). Therefore, this idealized perspective will only be strengthening these dominant and generalized points of view. Thus, as a result, this only increases this normative behavior whereat other perspectives are being characterized as not fitting in or not being legitimatized among motherhood communities on Instagram.

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For this chapter, I am going to look at the representation of this unrepresented group of women and their visualization of motherhood. This can be considered an example of what Tiidenberg and Baym describe as counter-discursive. These women have experienced perinatal loss, which refers to women who have lost their baby during the pregnancy, during giving birth, or within the first year of the infants’ life, and share their experience on the platform of Instagram (Kersting and Wagner, 2012). In doing so I argue that they have created a unique visual language to speak about motherhood as well as grief that both builds on the Instagram mother aesthetics but also subverts it. In sum I ask, how are women employing Instagram to speak and

visualize perinatal loss? To answer these questions, I firstly will offer context on how perinatal

loss has been studied. For this case study, I use the theory introduced by Kenneth J. Doka (1999) on disenfranchisement. Doka states that perinatal loss survivors struggle with social stigma and shame. Because this type of loss is still not fully accepted and socially supported by society (Doka, 1999, 37). Secondly, I use the feminist writings discussed in the book Interrogating

Pregnancy Loss: Feminists Writings on Abortion, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth by Lind and

Deveau (2017). The authors refer to perinatal loss as a socially embodied phenomenon and ongoing process. In which they acknowledge the element of uncertainty in relation to pregnancy (Lind and Deveau, 2017). In this book, authors Sukovic and Serrato state that pregnant women are expected to live up to a certain norm, as they have to deal with prejudices present in society (2017). This is also underlined by the author Bhave in the book, as she illustrates this with the term “non-mother”, as pregnancy loss survivors have to position themselves again after they expected to become a mother (Bhave, 2017, 85). Additionally, Gerber argues that there lies a deeper meaning in what it means to be a woman, as she states that they are often characterized as “reproducing containers” (Gerber, 2017, 48).

I bring insight from this literature to the empirical study of Instagram post related to perinatal loss. Here, as I mentioned before, I will build upon Tiidenberg and Baym’s study of intensive pregnancy by using a discourse analysis of images, captions, and hashtags on motherhood related Instagram account (3). They argue that intensive pregnancy is visualized and performed through the discourses of “buy it”, “learn it”, and “work it” on Instagram (Tiidenberg and Baym, 2017, 10-11). They underline that the combination of images, hashtags, and captions, as well as social media practices, can create a rhetorical power that influences and frame discursive hegemonies online (Tiidenberg and Baym, 2009, 11). Therefore, I align myself with this study by performing a similar analysis by performing a visual critical discourse analysis on perinatal loss on Instagram.

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These distinct theories and concepts will be used in order to answer the following sub questions: Firstly, what kind of motherhood-related images are these women referring to on Instagram?

And how does this reflect the key motivations that they have for using this platform? And, what kind of message does this group of women want to convey, when looking at the shared content?

Finally, how is the representation of abortion reflected on the platform, when looking at

abortion-related hashtags? These sub-questions are then used to answer the central question: What is Instagram affording for women who have experienced perinatal loss?

For the analysis I created a sample of Instagram posts around pregnancy loss, this means the images that are being shared and the accompanying comments that are presented on the platform, to seek how women who have gone through this type of loss express their grief on this social media platform. And examine how they deal with this contemporary visualization of the perfect mother on Instagram. In addition, I gathered all the data on the 12th_{of April 2019 and used the Instagram Scraper, a Digital Initiative data scraping tool. I} retrieved the Instagram posts through a hashtag query, using the hashtags: #stillbirth, #miscarriage, and #abortion in combination with the hashtag #perinatalloss. I consciously decided to query these three specific types of infant loss in combination with the general hashtag #perinatalloss, to retrieve the most relevant and useful findings for this research. For each of these queries, I gathered the first 100 most relevant results of that day. These results are based on the shared images, accompanied comments and used hashtags. Thus, the findings were based on three different data sets gathered from Instagram, with in total 300 results to analyze. I organized the datasets in separate Excel sheets to further examine the results in more depth. For the coming section, I will be examining the visual and textual content shared by this group of women. This part will be primarily centered around the use of cliché motherhood images and symbols. In doing so, I look at the phenomenon of the letterboard as a stereotypical image used by a large number of mothers to understand this kind of merger of behavior. For the second part, I will explore how this group of women are trying to confront others on the platform by sharing rather shocking, emotional, and intense images. In what follows, I try to understand to what extent these photos are used as a way to confront people and to let their voices be heard. Such as the sharing of images of premature babies and hospital admissions. Finally, for the last part, I look the use of hashtags around the subject of abortion as to seek to how this perinatal loss is represented on the platform.

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4.2 Repurposing clichés: letters boards, congratulation cards, and sonograms.

The first noticeable finding is the reproduction of stereotypical motherhood images. It seemed that women who have experienced perinatal loss, imitate and implement “typical” motherhood visualizations. This was especially apparent around the themes of stillbirth and miscarriage. In addition, there can be three main themes distinguished: the use of a letter board, images that refer to Mother’s day and the sharing of photos containing sonograms. To start with the letter board, the use of this object seems to allow woman to share the development of their pregnancy and functions as a way to keep others up to date on the platform. As mention earlier, the use of the letter board has become a popular and typical tool to present (future) motherhood. However, it seems that pregnancy loss survivors are similarly adapting this phenomenon of the letter board by using this cliché image in order to share their personal story with others. In addition, most of these images express their often emotional and painful experience that they had to endure. One of these examples is the reference to the term “I am 1 in 4”, both visible in the shared images as well as mentioned in the comments and caption. This term relates to the fact that that on an average 1 in 4 women experience a miscarriage (Mclaughlin, 2011). Therefore, by referring to this term presented on the letterboard, these women try to bring awareness to the fact that going through pregnancy loss is not something uncommon and abnormal. Further, it seems that the letter board is also used as a way for this group of women to share their feelings and struggles. One possible reason for is that this platform is primarily based around sharing and liking of images. Thus, actual communication can only be enabled by commenting under shared images or conveying a message through the photo itself. As for example illustrated in figure 2, one can see two perinatal loss related Instagram images presenting a letter board. These kinds of images use a stereotypical aesthetics similar to typical motherhood visualizations and are presenting a message to inform others with updates on their loss and grief (see figure 2).

Visualizing, Inscribing and Coping. Dealing with disenfranchised grief through social media