Att blogga om sorg - ett modernt sätt att sörja?

Sammanfattning: Author: Helena Bjerndell and Jennie Vallin Title: Blogging about grief – a modern way to grieve? Supervisor: Lena Palvén Assessor: Elizabeth Martinell Barfoed The aim of our study was to examine what function a blog about grief can serve in the grief process and the impact blogging can have on the writer. In addition, we tried to find an explanation to why people choose to write about their private life in a public environment such as the Internet. The study was based on document analysis of three blogs and e-mail interviews with two other blog writers. To help interpret our material we have used the concepts of stigma and rationalization. We also used Cullberg's theory of crisis in order to better understand the underlying factors of grief. According to our results the most important functions of a grief blog seem to be a way to write about ones feelings and find others in similar situations. Common negative effects of blogging are mean comments from anonymous readers. But the positive effects seem to outweigh. What seems to motivate people to write about their private experiences in public has in our study proved largely to depend on a willingness to help others, a way to find like-minded people and a way to keep memories of the deceased alive.