Abstract
Deceased public figures are often said to live on in collective memory. We quantify this phenomenon by tracking mentions of 2,362 public figures in English-language online news and social media (Twitter) 1 y before and after death. We measure the sharp spike and rapid decay of attention following death and model collective memory as a composition of communicative and cultural memory. Clustering reveals four patterns of postmortem memory, and regression analysis shows that boosts in media attention are largest for premortem popular anglophones who died a young, unnatural death; that long-term boosts are smallest for leaders and largest for artists; and that, while both the news and Twitter are triggered by young and unnatural deaths, the news additionally curates collective memory when old persons or leaders die. Overall, we illuminate the age-old question of who is remembered by society, and the distinct roles of news and social media in collective memory formation.
Highlights
Deceased public figures are often said to live on in collective memory
The average mention frequency declined sharply, with an inflection point around 1 mo after death, from where on it decayed more slowly, eventually converging toward the premortem level. These two stages are consistent with a model that posits two components of collective memory: a constant baseline level of cultural memory built up during life, and an added layer of communicative memory that is sparked by death and usually decays in a matter of days according to a power law
Considering that most (8 out of 10) long-term boost coefficients for notability types are negative in Table 1, the distinction to be made is not that between leadership and the rest, but rather that between arts and the rest
Summary
Deceased public figures are often said to live on in collective memory. We quantify this phenomenon by tracking mentions of 2,362 public figures in English-language online news and social media (Twitter) 1 y before and after death. In the context of social media, the detailed analysis of highly visible individual cases, such as Princess Diana [24], pop star Michael Jackson [25, 26], or race car driver Dale Earnhardt [27], has revealed how people experience and overcome the collective trauma that can ensue following the death of celebrities. Such studies of individuals have led to deep insights at a fine level of temporal granularity, they lack breadth by excluding all but some of the very most prominent public figures.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
