[Air-l] Thoughts wanted on virtual grief-community

[Tasha Buch]

Dear list-subscribers on AOIR:

I am working on my thesis project which concerns a case study in a Danish
virtual grief-community called Mindet.dk [English: The Memorial]. This
community is a possibillity for bereaved to meet other people who have
lost a beloved one. The website contains functions as a official
guestbook, memorials, light a candle and private foras.



In our contemporary society death and grief is such a taboo. I undertake a
theoretical exploration of the ideas of community, death and griefing in
our society, together with an empirical study of community on Mindet.dk in
order to find out if the Internet can be a new space to fulfill a missing
function in our society.



I would very much like to hear from anyone who has experience or
interesting thoughts about what social aspects (negative aswell as
positive) the Internet can contribute to such a private theme as death and
grief.


Best,


Tasha Buch
Graduate Student
IT-University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Design, Media an Communication Program