#Funeral and Instagram: death, social media, and platform vernacular

AbstractThis paper presents findings from a study of Instagram use and funerary practices that analysed photographs shared on public profiles tagged with ‘#funeral’. We found that the majority of images uploaded with the hashtag #funeral often communicated a person's emotional circumstances and affective context, and allowed them to reposition their funeral experience amongst wider networks of acquaintances, friends, and family. We argue that photo-sharing through Instagram echoes broader shifts in commemorative and memorialization practices, moving away from formal and institutionalized rituals to informal and personalized, vernacular practices. Finally, we consider how Instagram's ‘platform vernacular’ unfolds in relation to traditions and contexts of death, mourning, and memorialization. This research contributes to a broader understanding of how platform vernaculars are shaped through the logics of architecture and use. This research also directly contributes to the understanding of death and digital media by examining how social media is being mobilized in relation to death, the differences that different media platforms make, and the ways social media are increasingly entwined with the places, events, and rituals of mourning.Keywords: Instagramplatform vernacularhashtagfuneralphoto-sharingselfie AcknowledgementsWe want to thank Mitchell Harrop for his assistance with data collection.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).FundingThis work was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects funding scheme (project number DP140101871); and the Institute for a Broadband Enabled Society.Notes on contributorsMartin Gibbs is a senior lecturer in Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne. His current teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of science and technology studies, and human–computer interaction, and are focused on the sociable use of interactive technologies. He is the co-editor of the book From Social Butterfly to Engaged Citizen, a new work on ICTs and civic engagement, recently published by the MIT Press and Chief Investigator on the Australia Research Council funded project Digital Commemoration. [email: martin.gibbs@unimelb.edu.au]James Meese is a research fellow at The University of Melbourne, working on the Australian Research Council-funded project Digital Commemoration, investigating contemporary practices of digital commemoration and their wider social and cultural implications. He recently completed his doctoral dissertation and investigated the cultural politics of copyright law and subjectivity. He also conducts research on mobile media, post-broadcast television, privacy law, media regulation, and sports media. [email: james.meese@unimelb.edu.au]Michael Arnold is a senior lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science Program at The University of Melbourne. His ongoing teaching and research activities lie at the intersection of contemporary technologies and our society and culture. In recent years, Michael's research projects include studies of social networking in six locations across the Asia-Pacific; high-speed broadband in the domestic context; ethical and governance issues associated with the electronic health record; digital storytelling by young aboriginals; and digital commemoration. [email: mvarnold@unimelb.edu.au]Bjorn Nansen is a research fellow in the Department of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne. He is a researcher of digital media and culture, with interests in technology adoption and innovation, screen and interface ecologies, family and children's media use, material culture studies, and critical theory of technology. His current research investigates young children and interactive media, broadband in the home, and digital commemoration. [email: nansenb@unimelb.edu.au]Marcus Carter is a Research Fellow in the Microsoft Research Centre for Social NUI at The University of Melbourne, investigating the ways that natural user interfaces (such as the Kinect) can create social experiences in the home. He is in the final stages of completing his Ph.D on Treacherous Play in EVE Online. [email: marcus.carter@unimelb.edu.au]