TY - JOUR T1 - Tweeting Prayers and Communicating Grief over Michael Jackson Online JF - Bulletin of Science, Technology, & Society Y1 - 2010 A1 - Sanderson, James A1 - Pauline Hope Cheong KW - blogs KW - celebrity KW - internet KW - microblogging KW - popular culture KW - religion KW - social media AB - Death and bereavement are human experiences that new media helps facilitate alongside creating new social grief practices that occur online. This study investigated how people’s postings and tweets facilitated the communication of grief after pop music icon Michael Jackson died. Drawing upon past grief research, religion and new media studies, a thematic analysis of 1,046 messages was conducted on three mediated sites (Twitter, TMZ.com, and Facebook). Results suggested that social media served as grieving spaces for people to accept Jackson’s death rather than denying it or expressing anger over his passing. The findings also illustrate how interactive exchanges online helped recycle news and “resurrected” the life of Jackson. Additionally, as fans of deceased celebrities create and disseminate web-based memorials, new social media practices like “Michael Mondays” synchronize tweets within everyday life rhythms and foster practices to hasten the grieving process. VL - 30 UR - http://www.paulinehopecheong.com IS - 5 ER -