Perpetual Care in Cyberspace: A Portrait of Memorials on the Web

Abstract

This study describes memorials in the newly created “virtual cemeteries.” Web memorials ( N = 276) from three cemeteries were coded for demographics about the deceased, characteristics of authors, and issues of content, audience, and theme. While memorials were extremely varied, they were written frequently for the young ( M age = 47, SD = 24) and for more males than females. Most deaths were recent, but 7.3 percent had occurred more than twenty years prior to the posting of their memorials. Authors included family members, friends, and others who were typically younger or from the same cohort as the deceased. Most memorials were addressed to the community, but 28.3 percent were written to the dead. The majority of memorials were written as stories or celebrations but other primary themes included: grief/missing the dead, retelling the circumstances of the death, and guilt. Web memorials are discussed as a resource to the bereaved and researchers alike, providing the bereaved with an opportunity to create a public memorial regardless of their relationship to the deceased, time elapsed since the death or message content and allowing researchers better access to personal writings undertaken during bereavement.