How to post and comment on social media about illness or death

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Whether it is posting a death announcement, a tribute, creating a memorial page or sharing updates about a loved one'south concluding illness, social media has empowered millions of people to grieve and memorialize their loved ones, friends, and fifty-fifty those they may not have known personally. However, the rules on how to write, and respond, to a social media post virtually a decease are still being written.

Nosotros've put together a list of full general guidelines to consider when crafting a post about a death on social media. Hopefully these suggestions are of some assist. And if y'all're interested, check out our slice on the best social media accounts to follow that deal with grief:

How to post about a loved one's death

  • Ensure that next of kin, close family, and friends have been notified about the decease first.

    • Don't be reactive. Take the time you demand to process and communicate to your inner circumvolve about the passing of your loved one.

    • Social media's ability to disperse information is a double-edged sword. Brand sure you are intentional about how extended friends and family are made aware.

  • Reaffirm your intention of the social media post.

    • A expiry announcement should be brusk and logistical in nature. Consider including the post-obit:

      • Create, post and link to the online obituary

      • Share the engagement, time, and location of the funeral and burial services.

      • Link to a memorial fund that individuals tin can donate to.

    • Since this is sensitive information, we encourage you to bank check your privacy settings on all of your social media sites and on devices (every bit privacy settings vary by device).

  • Follow your loved ones' wishes.

    • If available, follow their written instructions about how they wanted their social media presence handled.

    • Did they want their social media account(s) turned into a memorial page?

    • Did they want them removed?

  • Have into business relationship your loved one's presence on social media

    • If they were a high utilizer, then the postal service volition assistance inform their social community and help to share information about the funeral and burial services

    • If they were a low utilizer of social media, then a post would exist an ineffective style of notifying their social customs.

  • Identify the most effective social media sites for your postal service

    • Consider posting on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram if your loved 1 used these channels to maintain relationships with friends and family unit nearly and far.

    • Consider posting on LinkedIn if your loved one used this channel to maintain their professional relationships.

  •  Identify a trusted person to manage the social media sites on your behalf

    • When posting on social media there is always a take a chance for misinformation, negative comments and fraudulent behavior.

    • Identifying a trusted person to monitor the sites will aid to minimize these risks and maintain the intention of the mail service.

How to post a tribute

While online obituaries are nevertheless very common, tributes on social media honour both the person who has passed and the people grieving. Tributes provide a platform for a collective digital remembrance of the individual.

Below are a few examples of public figures posting tributes mourning the loss of loved ones and friends on social media, which yous tin utilize as guides for writing your ain:

Michelle Obama'south Instagram tribute to Rep. John Lewis:

View this post on Instagram

I've spent the morning reading tributes to the extraordinary life and legacy of John Lewis. And I'm awed past the fashion that, in 8 decades filled with such weight and consequence, he besides managed to keep things elementary and light. For him, the pursuit of lofty goals like justice and righteousness was about simply doing what's correct. His epic life story rightly fills the pages of biographies and college textbooks, yet he likewise chose to publish it as a comic book. And even every bit he spent a lifetime marching, and sitting in, and getting arrested, his anxiety kept on dancing. Congressman Lewis shows us that while the struggle and pain is all too real, fighting for each other—and paving the manner toward something better for our kids and grandkids—tin can and should be a source of real and lasting joy. May God bless his retention. And as we keep marching, may his defiant, delighted grin urge united states of america onward.

A postal service shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama) on

John Travolta's Instagram tribute to his beautiful wife Kelly Preston:

How to comment on a tribute

We oftentimes feel moved to comment on a tribute on social media simply may non always know what to say. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Post a message of remembrance or an appropriate photo of the individual to participate in collective grieving.

  • If y'all know the person personally, connect with them directly by responding in the medium in which you lot received the news. For example, if they posted on Facebook, directly message them your condolences.

  • If you lot know the person personally, offer to be a good listener whenever they are ready.

  • In an endeavor to be supportive to the grieving loved ane, avoid phrases like "they are in a better place". Instead, express empathy and sympathy by stating "I am lamentable for your loss or at that place are merely no words to limited what you are feeling."

How to post virtually a terminal disease on social media

When a person is diagnosed with a terminal affliction, whether that is a grandparent, parent, child or friend, information technology is devastating. It's important to think that at that place are strategies for coping with a last affliction and that everyone processes feelings near end-of-life differently. Some turn to social media to document their experience while edifice a support system along the way. Below are a few examples of how social media is beingness used during end-of-life:

  • These platforms not only support dying loved ones but also provide a network of collective grief supporters for their loved ones when they pass.

  • Experiences of death are becoming more than transparent every bit stories are shared online. The asymmetry of information that historically healthcare professionals had over the public is diminishing every bit social media and engineering science provides channels for sharing experiences.

  • Photos, videos, posts and comments serve every bit a memorial of loved ones during times before, during and after a loved one has passed.

Posting about illness or death is sure to exist one the most difficult updates to make on social media. We hope these tips volition help you feel empowered to mail service in a style that honors and respects your loved one's wishes.

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