Let’s talk about social media. It’s basically taking over our lives at this point. It makes up so much of our lives in fact, that many people get caught up in the projection of an augmented and carefully edited personality on a social platform. People are becoming obsessed with other people’s lives to the point where you can have FOMO (fear of missing out) just because you see a picture online with a nice caption. This fear I feel plays into the capitalistic view of productivity, and the worth of people compared to objects in our society. I felt it was important to talk about the social media aspect of grieving because we have so much interaction in social spheres on the internet now, and that changes the dynamic of social spheres including how people are treated when they are grieving. Recently, the passing of Nipsey Hussle has been highly publicized and monitored through social media and other news sites. The tragic passing of Nipsey was not only recorded and put on social media for his family to stumble upon in his last moments, but his family’s first moments of grief after his death were shared on social media with no regard. The insensitive sharing of private moments on social media is a symptom of how we treat celebrities for sure, but another side of social media in regards to grieving is HOW you grieve on social media. I would argue that there are many different ways people cope with loss. Some isolate themselves, some push the issue/people away, some work on other things and keep their minds busy, and some express their emotions by reaching out to other people and remembering their loved one publicly. There has been some back and forth about this tragedy in particular with people feeling like Lauren London (Nipsey’s widow) should have been grieving publicly and showing how she felt on social media. The fact that people feel entitled to have an opinion about other people’s timelines of grief. As a society we police what people do, how they raise their kids, who they marry, and even how they deal with tragedy. Not even the death of a loved one is sacred. On a different note, social media can also be an outlet for someone during the grieving process, and I also appreciate how it can bring people together to show support for the families that are grieving loved ones. Social media is multifaceted in this way, and I am learning more every day that everything has its pros and cons.