What’s On Your Mind? Deathscape of Filipino Postmortem Remembrance and Mourning Practices on Facebook

Abstract

People’s lives have had a major shift since the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic all over the globe. Death and burial practices in the Philippines during the pandemic have been a challenge faced by the bereaved family. Due to the threat of the deadly virus, these public religious practices were posed with serious challenges and necessary restrictions. In previous years, studies that investigate the digital practice of postmortem mourning and grieving are limited (Lagerkvist, 2013; Mukherjee & Williams, 2014; Gamba, 2018). In the Philippines, digital mourning is a relatively new phenomenon and Sapalo (2021) contended that this phenomenon must be paid with keen attention to how it develops over the next months and even years. A total of 50 Facebook posts (n=4,187 words) were gathered from the Facebook timeline of ten (10) deceased Filipinos contracted by the COVID-19 virus and 31 Filipino digital mourners who have shared the said posts were interviewed. Using qualitative research through netnography, the present study examined the language used by Facebook users when mourning with their loved once, including the analysis of their memorial confessions as posted in the timeline of the deceased and its role in the healing process. Using frequency counts, the findings indicated that the dominant language used by users is English. Also, based on the thematic analysis, the participants’ posts disclosed the following confessional status when remembering and mourning in digital spaces: reminiscing memory with the deceased, honoring the dead in positive ways, emotional disclosure, supporting the bereaved family, and prayers for the deceased eternal repose. The participants likewise reported that their memorial posts are intended for significant functions such as diffusion of traditional rituals into virtual space, instill grief solidarity for healing, communal mourning in support to the bereaved and by illuminating the deceased’s legacy.